Emergency funding round for Black & racially minoritised organisations – & other opportunities
Melanie May | 31 March 2023 | News
The Phoenix Way has launched its first emergency round of grant funding for Black and racially minoritised organisations in England, who are working with and supporting children and young people and impacted by the current cost-of-living crisis.
£1million of funding is available, and applicants can apply for grants of £20,000 with a deadline of midnight on 8 May.
The Phoenix Fund was launched in 2020 in order to put racial justice at the heart of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund was devised and led by Black and racially minoritised community group leaders from across England and established with the support of The National Lottery Community Fund and Global Fund for Children.
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£2.4 million was distributed (£0.4 million in infrastructure support and £2 million in grants to 184 community groups) across all regions of England. However, around 1,400 applications were received, which demonstrated the high level of demand for this targeted funding opportunity.
In response, The Phoenix Way Partnership was formed in 2021 by the community members who led the development of the Phoenix Fund as a way of building on this work and creating a process which would support systems change.
CEO and Founder of the Ubele Initiative and convening partner of the Phoenix Way Yvonne Field, said:
“I am pleased that we are using a participatory approach as we are often excluded from grant making and are unable to influence the design and/or decision-making processes.
“We need to begin to shift these deep-rooted power dynamics and by distilling the learning, we will begin to create systems change longer term.”
Funders supporting this round include the Youth Endowment Fund and the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales. The Phoenix Way’s future funding rounds will open in summer 2023.
Yesterday (30 March) also saw Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales open a £3mn fund supporting small charities and CICs led by and working with people who face inequity because of their race or ethnicity. More on that here.
More funding opportunities
£15,000 Healthy Hearts grants available throughout UK
Community groups that are helping local people look after their hearts can now apply for a grant of up to £15,000 from national charity Heart Research UK. Grants will be awarded in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.
The grants are available for new and effective projects working with adults to promote healthy hearts with the aim to reduce the risk of heart disease in their community.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the world’s biggest killers, and the Healthy Heart grants aim to work preventatively within communities that may be marginalised or not have much access to health resources.
Projects should deliver health initiatives mainly focusing on one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as nutrition and healthy eating, physical activity, smoking, or alcohol.
The grants are available to registered charities with an annual income of less than £1mn.
Opening dates for applications for each region will be staggered, with Wales being the first to open on 30 March with a closing date of 27 April.
Since 2001, Heart Research UK has awarded over 300 community grants, directly benefiting the hearts of over 70,000 individuals and countless wider community and family members across all regions of the UK. Full list here.
Deadline approaching for Violence Against Women & Girls Cost of Living Fund
The Violence Against Women & Girls Cost of Living Fund closes for applications on 4 April.
Open to all London boroughs, grants of up to £30,000 are available to community-based organisations tackling violence against women and girls in London.
Organisations must be responding to the immediate impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on the women and girls affected by violence against women and girls that they currently support, and those they will come to support during the course of the grant period. For example, supporting: food security, essential items for women and girls, and/or their children, emergency hardship grants, supporting access to services and advice, and access to therapeutic support.
As well as funding direct support to women and girls, part of the grant can be used to support the organisation. This means some funding for core organisational costs, including but not limited to: salaries, rent and bills, and additional staffing capacity to respond to the crisis. Core costs will be considered up to a maximum of 50% of the total application amount.
Early stage grants for projects to restore & reuse historic buildings
Thanks to the support of Historic England, the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) will be offering early-stage grants to projects in England in 2023-2024. These will help charities and social enterprises develop their initial plans to restore and re-use historic buildings.
A team of Support Officers will also remain in place across the English regions, providing advice and support to applicants and grant-funded projects.
As part of this new funding, Project Viability Grants of up to £10,000 will be available. The AHF will be accepting applications from anywhere in England but will prioritise projects that involve the new use of a vacant building; help revive high streets; are in the top 30% most deprived areas; involve and support communities traditionally underrepresented among heritage asset owners; have a strong focus on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency; or contribute to local regeneration schemes.
New guidance will be available on the AHF website from 14 April. Further information can be requested by contacting England Development Manager, Laura Williams, at La************@ah****.uk.
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.