£1mn awarded to NHS charities by Greener Communities Fund, & more grant news
Melanie May | 29 May 2024 | News
A round up of grants awarded and available – including news of £1mn for NHS charities and their green spaces, and a bursary scheme to help inspire more schoolchildren in STEM.
£1mn in ‘Green Social Prescribing’ grants awarded to NHS charities
The recipients of over £1 million in funding grants to create and enhance green spaces have been announced by the Greener Communities Fund. The initiative, now in its second year, is a partnership between environmental charity Hubbub and NHS Charities Together, funded by the Starbucks 5p cup charge.
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Eight NHS charities will be awarded grants worth between £25,000 and £200,000 over a two-year period, to fund and support the creation of green spaces that will benefit communities with limited access to nature, including NHS workers, mental health patients and people who live in built up urban communities.
The eight recipients of the Greener Communities Fund in 2024 are:
- A sensory garden and mindfulness area for children with additional health needs in Dorset
- An exploratory garden for group activities including a vegetable patch, wildflower meadow and disability-friendly play equipment for children in Haringey
- A relaxing outdoor space for patients with long-term health conditions, dementia or mobility issues in Stockport
- A woodland space complete with yurts, kitchen, amphitheatre, allotments and outdoor plunge pools for hosting nature-based wellbeing groups in Cornwall
- A garden to facilitate nature-based rehabilitation for patients recovering from injuries in Bristol, which builds on a national test and learn project for Green Social Prescribing
- Therapeutic spaces at eight different sites to engage patients and community members through food growing and gardening activities in Lanarkshire
- A revitalised courtyard area within hospital grounds to provide a safe and flexible site for patients and staff to reconnect with nature and deliver horticultural therapy in Leeds
- A mosaic of wildlife habitats to increase biodiversity, and provide a safe space for therapy and wellbeing activities in Greenwich
The Greener Communities Fund has so far benefited over 52,000 people since its first round of funding in 2023 with nine charity initiatives already underway.
The fund was open for expressions of interest from NHS charities from August 2023 and shortlisted projects were invited to submit full applications by January 2024. The winning projects were selected by a grant panel including representatives from Hubbub, Starbucks and NHS Charities Together.
Last chance to apply for second year of Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship Programme
The scholarship is open to students from Black, African and Caribbean heritage from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds in Greater London and Greater Manchester, and aims to help close the attainment gap for Black British Students, increase social mobility, and support equal access to higher education.
The scholarship covers tuition fees, accommodation expenses, and other essential educational costs, removing financial barriers that may hinder these students’ academic journeys.
Eligible applicants who have applied for entry in September 2024 can apply for a scholarship at King’s College London here by 30 May 2024.
Eligible applicants who have applied for entry in September 2024 can apply for a scholarship at the University of Manchester here by 30 May 2024.
Bursary scheme opens to bring more young people to STEM
EngineeringUK is launching its STEM bursary scheme to help school students get creative and inspired by STEM through hands-on activities.
The bursaries will be awarded to schools with high proportions of students from groups underrepresented in the engineering profession.
Primary schools that meet the EngineeringUK Priority Schools criteria can apply for a bursary of £550 to take part in an experience with Neon – a website that helps primary and secondary teachers introduce their students to future STEM careers, raise their aspirations and explore the excitement of engineering through brilliant activities. Secondary schools can apply for a bursary of £750.
The second bursary – Big Bang at School Blueprint – will offer £500 to secondary schools to help inspire students engage in a STEM themed activity.
Primary and secondary schools can check their eligibility and apply at: www.stemfundingforschools.org.uk.
The deadline for applications for the Neon and Big Bang at School bursary scheme is 31 July 2024.
Leeds charity Ivison Trust selected as the overall winner of GSK IMPACT Awards 2024
Ivison Trust, a Leeds-based charity, was selected as the overall winner of the 2024 GSK IMPACT Awards for its work supporting parents and carers whose children are being sexually and criminally exploited from outside the family.
The charity was chosen as the winner from more than 500 charities across the UK. The Awards are delivered in partnership with The King’s Fund.
Now in its 27th year, the GSK IMPACT Awards recognise the outstanding work of small and medium-sized charities working to improve people’s health and wellbeing in the UK.
In total, there were 10 winners, awarded for their work improving health and wellbeing in their communities. Winners each receive £40,000 in unrestricted funding as well as expert support and leadership development provided by The King’s Fund. Ivison Trust wins an additional £10,000 as overall winner.
As well as Ivison Trust, they include Amma Birth Companions, AWARE NI, Care & Repair Cymru and Hamara Healthy Living Centre.
JPMorgan Chase commits further £40 million to help drive sustainable economic growth in UK
JPMorgan Chase has announced £40 million in new investments over five years to help connect young people and underserved communities to economic opportunities – bringing the firm’s total commitment since 2019 to £90 million.
JPMorgan Chase is increasing its support in two focus areas: financial health and careers and skills.
The £40 million aims to:
- Improve access to job opportunities (£24 million) by reducing barriers to entry-level positions and improving access to quality careers internally and supporting nonprofit organisations to help young people access better career guidance, employability support and training to start their careers.
- Help families build stronger financial futures (£16 million): The firm is supporting the development of easy-to-use financial management tools. For low-income groups that cannot access mainstream banking, JPMorgan Chase will support nonprofit organisations working to improve access to affordable credit and empower people to build buffers against financial shocks.
Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub’s Time After Time fund awards £500,000 to tech projects
Projects tackling electronic waste and supporting digital inclusion are being awarded a share of £500,000 from Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub’s Time After Time fund.
Eight projects have been selected from more than 120 entries by a panel of judges including TV presenter and environmentalist George Clarke, nonprofit Material Focus, digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation, plus Hubbub and Virgin Media O2. They receive grants of up to £100,000.
Winners include London’s Single Homeless Project, which has been awarded a grant of £52,600 for a project providing tailored digital skills training and rehomed devices to people experiencing homelessness. The devices will help people to access essential online services such as applying for jobs, locating food banks, booking medical appointments, and contacting loved ones.
Another winner, SOFEA in Oxfordshire,has been awarded a grant of £100,000, with which it will repair and upgrade second-hand smartphones, laptops, and tablets and provide them to disadvantaged young people across Oxfordshire, along with training to improve their skills to help them get into work.
The Time After Time fund — now in its second year — was established in 2022 in response to the nation’s growing e-waste problem. It forms part of Virgin Media O2’s sustainability strategy, the Better Connections Plan.
London Marathon Foundation to award further £500,000 to inspire activity in Essex as part of Ford RideLondon-Essex legacy
Ahead of the third edition of Ford RideLondon-Essex, the London Marathon Foundation has announced an additional award in principle of £500,000 to continue supporting communities across Essex to lead active and healthy lives. This brings the Foundation’s total funding awarded in Essex to £2.25 million since May 2022.
The 2024 Ford RideLondon-Essex will see the county welcome more than 20,000 riders to take part in one of three rides and two stages of the Ford RideLondon Classique, the UCI Women’s WorldTour professional race, between Friday 24 and Sunday 26 May.
The Foundation’s funding in Essex will continue to be managed by Active Essex, building on an existing partnership which has supported more than 39,000 residents to participate in physical activity in the past two years.
Since the beginning of the funding partnership in 2022:
- 337 grants have been awarded through the Find Your Active Small Grants programme and Places and Spaces programme, supporting residents of all ages to get active across Essex through a range of activities.
- 1,180 free bikes have been distributed to residents in Clacton, Jaywick, Colchester, Harwich & Dovercourt and Basildon, through the Essex Pedal Power programme.
- Funding has prioritised initiatives designed to reach those less likely to be active including children and young people, older people, disabled people or those with long-term health conditions and communities facing financial barriers to accessing physical activity.
Active Essex will use the new £500,000 to continue to build on the work already funded since the beginning of this partnership.
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation pledges to double public donations made to Soccer Aid for UNICEF
Soccer Aid for UNICEF has announced that every donation it receives this year will be doubled, up to £4 million, through its partnership with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The aim is to accelerate the fight against child wasting with CIFF’s support of Soccer Aid for UNICEF directly benefitting the Child Nutrition Fund.
Soccer Aid for UNICEF takes place on Sunday, 9 June, at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge Stadium.
Since 2006, when UNICEF UK Ambassador Robbie Williams co-founded the concept, Soccer Aid for UNICEF has raised over £90 million. With the support of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2024 is aiming to take the overall amount raised for UNICEF since the game began past £100mn.
RAFAKidz awarded funding from Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
RAFAKidz has been awarded funding to enhance its nurseries and give children from Armed Forces families more opportunities to learn and grow, through grants from the AFCFT on behalf of the MOD’s Armed Forces Families Fund.
Six RAFAKidz nurseries at RAF Boulmer, Brize Norton, High Wycombe, Leeming, Walter’s Ash and MOD Worthy Down will benefit from the funding, allowing them to improve their outdoor areas to give children more opportunities to learn and play.
The funding will also help the nurseries develop their Forest School provision.
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust awards grants that support the Armed Forces community. It has four broad funding themes: non-core healthcare services for veterans; removing barriers to family life; extra support, both in and after Service, for those that need help; and measures to integrate military and civilian communities and allow the Armed Forces community to participate as citizens.
All grants are awarded through specific programmes.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.