Grants to inspire activity in London, & for Greater Manchester’s music scene – plus more funding updates
Melanie May | 27 December 2024 | News
Grants recently made, and those still available – including funding to support projects inspiring activity in the capital, for artists in Greater Manchester’s music scene, and opportunities with Hilton Global Foundation.
£2.4 million awarded to inspire activity across the capital
The London Marathon Foundation has awarded £2.4million of grants to 43 projects that inspire activity in communities across London.
This takes the total amount the Foundation has awarded to more than £110 million since 1981.
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Among the grants is £80,000 to Carney’s Community, Wandsworth. The grant will help fund the renovation of the community centre, forming part of a larger project, which will transform the centre into a community hub for Battersea. Inclusive cycling charity Wheels for Wellbeing has also received £80,000, to support its delivery of inclusive cycling for people with disabilities in Croydon.
The Foundation’s Active Spaces Fund has awarded a total of £2.4 million to 43 projects across 18 London boroughs this year. Projects funded cover a wide range of sports and physical activities – from therapeutic yoga for young people, to tai chi for older people, horse riding for people with disabilities, and East Asian dance classes.
The Active Spaces Fund is for projects that take place in London (within the 32 borough boundaries and the City of London), and that support the Foundation’s priority audiences to be active (children, young people and underserved groups and communities). Expressions of interest can be submitted at any time across the year.
More information here.
Julia Rausing Trust supports 2024 BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal with £500k donation
Julia Rausing Trust has made a £500,000 donation to the 2024 BBC Radio 4 Christmas
Appeal with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity. The theme for the Appeal this year is ‘My Wish’ – because a safe home of one’s own should not be too much to wish for.
Julia Rausing Trust, formerly the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, has supported St Martin’s Charity since 2017, and this gift brings the total awarded to £1,960,000.
The money will go to support people experiencing homelessness across the UK, to access a safe home or to keep their current one, through the charity’s emergency grants programme.
Simon Fourmy, Director of Julia Rausing Trust said:
“Homelessness is sadly continuing to rise across the UK with rough sleeping numbers at record levels. Winter brings added pressure to those experiencing financial hardship which is why Julia Rausing Trust is once again partnering with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity which works to end homelessness by providing fast emergency funding to individuals. Last year, their Vicar’s Relief Fund helped over 7,000 people who were either homeless or at risk of imminent eviction and we encourage others to support this worthy campaign.”
Factory International’s Factory Sounds programme back for 2025
The programme supports those in Greater Manchester’s music scene, and applications are now open for 2025.
This year Factory International has partnered with adidas Originals to expand the Factory Sounds offering from ten to fifteen spots in the programme. The fifteen successful applicants will receive £1,000 each of financial support towards the creation of a new project, recording studio access, peer-to-peer support, networking opportunities and a series of regular masterclasses in artist management, promotion, fundraising and more.
Initially launched to support musicians through the Covid-19 pandemic, each year the programme selects a cohort of local talent, from musicians and technicians to label representatives and creatives, with a focus on championing under-represented voices and the grassroots community in the sector.
Also open for applications is the Factory International Fellowship, which offers six artists from the North the opportunity to shadow the creation of major new work at Aviva Studios, and the Spring 2025 Artist Takeover – for groups and collectives of South Asian artists from any discipline based in the North of England, who have a minimum of five years of professional practice.
The deadline for Factory Sounds is midday 20 January.
More information here.
Gusto Community Fund raises £30k for East Midland charities
The Nottinghamshire-based Gusto Community Fund has raised over £30,000 for 36 local charities, projects and initiatives in the East Midlands.
The Gusto Community Fund was launched by Steff Wright, Chairman of Gusto Group, four years ago, and in that time has donated over £130,000 to the local community. Gusto Group is a purpose-driven group of B Corp accredited companies in the manufacturing, construction and architecture sectors, including: Gusto Construction, Gusto Homes, Rototek and Studio-G.
Gusto Group employees and residents of Gusto Homes are invited to nominate good causes, projects or initiatives that benefit the local community. Once approved by Fund Administrators, employees and residents have the opportunity to each assign £250 to one of the nominations via an annual vote. There are no administrative costs, allowing 100% of the annual grant to be allocated to local community initiatives.
Those benefitting include: Beaumond House Hospice, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, Children’s Bereavement Centre, Collingham Food Pantry, Dementia UK and In Sam’s Name.
Hilton Global Foundation names Only A Pavement Away as grantee
Only a Pavement Away is one of a handful of global not-for-profit organisations selected by the Hilton Global Foundation to receive a grant as part of a record £4.2mn commitment to make a positive social difference for communities around the world.
The grant will enable Only A Pavement Away to place 300 people into hospitality jobs and provide 900 individuals with access to employment opportunities in the UK.
Launched in 2019, the Hilton Global Foundation works to create a better world for travel by supporting organisations tackling environmental and social issues such as poverty, career development and protection of the destinations where people live, work and travel.
As one of 16 Hilton Global Foundation grantees worldwide, Only A Pavement Away is now looking to host additional Passport 2 Employment Programmes in 2025, alongside its mentoring and skills support, to meet its aspiration of getting a further 5,000 people into work over the next four years.
Foundation grants are awarded throughout the year in accordance with tax and legal requirements.
More information here.
Zurich Municipal awards more than £20,000 for innovative diversity and inclusion initiatives
The public and voluntary sector insurer, with support of the Z Zurich Foundation, launched its Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion awards earlier this year with not-for-profit organisations invited to enter online and share what they do to celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Award winners
More than 300 charitable organisations entered the awards, and a panel of judges reviewed applications for innovation, impact, sustainability and scalability. The aim is for not-for-profit organisations to learn from others initiatives and potentially apply these within their own organisations. The winners of the awards are:
- Spark Inside (1st place): The top prize of £10,000 for ‘The Black Hero’s Journey (BHJ)’ initiative.
- The Birth Partner Project (2nd place): S econd prize of a £5,000 grant for its support for pregnant women and birthing people seeking sanctuary.
- YOPEY (3rd place): Third-place prize of £3,000 for its intergenerational community partnerships between schools and care homes.
In addition, Zurich Municipal awarded highly commended prizes to Strut Safe, Afrikindness, ABC to Read, Communitea Spaces and Whizz Kidz, – each charity received £1,000.
Unity Trust Bank announces recipients of inaugural Impact Grants totalling £30,000
Since its launch in September, the initiative received over 140 entries from socially-minded organisations across the UK. Due to the strength of applications, Unity has awarded £5,000 grants to six organisations rather than three – doubling the bank’s original promise.
The recipients are:
- Bee Wirral
- Church of the Martyrs Baby Basics in Leicester
- Compass Disability Services
- Cumbria Action for Sustainability
- Harbour Ayrshire
- Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust
The Unity Impact Grant initiative is part of the bank’s employee-led ‘Unity & Me’ programme, which was established to empower staff to deliver positive outcomes for employees, communities and the planet.
As part of the programme, Unity staff can take part in the bank’s voluntary salary sacrifice scheme, to help support charitable initiatives that deliver positive impact. The £5,000 Impact Grant for Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust was wholly funded by Unity staff donations.
Wider employee-driven fundraising activities this year have raised £20,500 for 24 good causes across the UK, including organisations that have been chosen directly by staff. The Impact Grant programme takes the total amount of charitable donations raised and donated by Unity to more than £50,500 – exceeding its 40th birthday goal.
Garfield Weston Foundation awards Prostate Cancer UK £1 million
As well as awarding the £1mn donation, Garfield Weston Foundation has also become a Founding Partner of the charity’s TRANSFORM trial.
Prostate Cancer UK’s £42 million TRANSFORM trial is designed to test multiple ways to screen men, so we reduce the number of men dying from a disease that currently takes 12,000 lives every year.
The first stage will involve around 12,500 men and will compare four potential screening options, including fast MRI scans, genetic testing to identify men at high risk of prostate cancer, and PSA blood testing. This will take around three years. In the second stage, the researchers will test the most promising option, or options, from the first stage to see how well the screening method detects cancer and reduce harms to men. This will include up to 300,000 men and take around six years, following which the men involved in the study will be followed up for at least 10 years to see the longer-term impact of screening. Men will start to be invited to take part in the TRANSFORM trial in spring 2025.
The Garfield Weston Foundation was founded by the Weston family in 1958, it gives money to support a wide range of charities nationwide. In total, it donates around £100 million each year. Alongside the Garfield Weston Foundation, TRANSFORM’s other Founding Partners are the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Movember, Omaze, Paddy Power and the Freddie Green and Family Charitable Foundation.
More information here.
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.