A monthly bulletin facilitated by your membership of the Rural Services Network highlighting a selection of current funding opportunities

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Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage – The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage is part of the £1.57 billion rescue package announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to safeguard cultural and heritage organisations across the UK from the economic impact of COVID-19.

The Fund will support organisations across the heritage ecosystem that were financially sustainable before COVID-19, have exhausted all other financing options, and are now at risk of failure.

• grants from £10,000 to £3million
• for organisations in England only
• funding must be spent by the end of this financial year, 31 March 2021

This programme will support organisations across the heritage ecosystem to ensure that by 31 March 2021, successful applicants can reopen or, if reopening under social distancing is not permissible or does not represent a value for money approach, to operate on a sustainable and cost-efficient basis so that they are able to reopen at a later date.

They are accepting applications from Thursday 30 July until noon on 17 August 2020.

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/culture-recovery-fund-for-heritage

Culture Recovery Fund Grants – Arts Council England

This fund offers financial support for cultural organisations that were financially stable before Covid-19 but are now at imminent risk of failure.

This funding is available to cultural organisations (both profit and not for profit) based in England that are properly constituted and are registered at Companies House and/or Charity Commission, and are able to produce at least one year’s full independently certified or audited financial statements.

Local Authorities, Universities and other Public Sector bodies who run or maintain cultural services can also apply. 

For this programme, they define ‘cultural’ as sitting within the remit of Arts Council England, however Library services are not eligible to apply.

Minimum grants of £50,000 up to a maximum of £3 million are available.

There are two rounds for this fund, although they expect to allocate approximately 75% of the overall budget to the first round. If you have an application ready in time for Round 1, they strongly encourage you to apply to this round.

• Round 1 opens for applications at midday on 10 August and closes at midday on 21 August
• Round 2 opens at 4pm on 21 August and closes at midday on 4 September

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/CRFgrants#section-1

Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England – British Film Institute

The BFI has released the guidelines for the £30m Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England to support non-profit and independent cinemas, which are facing prohibitive challenges in being able to reopen and operate while social distancing is in place and whose business has been heavily impacted following UK-wide closure since the end of March.

The fund which will be open from Monday 10 August until Friday 30 October, will be administered by the BFI as part of the government’s unprecedented £1.57bn support package to help Britain’s culture, arts and heritage organisations hit hard by the pandemic which has included the closure of all cinemas across the UK.

Open to award both non-profit and independent commercial cinemas, including mixed artform venues, funding will be directed at building-based venues that provide a year-round film programme; it is, therefore, not available for film festivals or touring operators.

The fund offers support via two strands addressing the high upfront health and safety costs facing venues and the challenges of financial viability in the early months of reopening as social distancing limits the number of cinema seats that can be sold at each performance. Cinemas are able to apply for grants from both strands which will be structured as follows:

• £3m for safety grants to enable cinemas (up to £10,000 per cinema) to put the necessary measures in place to ensure the safety of their workforce and the public; and/or
• £27m business sustainability grants (up to £200,000 per organisation) to support independent cinemas to operate viably under the restricted conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/culture-recovery-fund-guidelines

Respond and Reimagine Grants – The Art Fund

Respond and reimagine grants provide funding to help museums, galleries and cultural organisations respond to immediate challenges connected to the Covid-19 crisis and offer support to adapt and reimagine ways of working for the longer-term future.

Grants are available from £10,000 to £50,000 and 100% funding will be considered.

The Fund is happy to receive applications from UK public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives.

There are two rounds of the Fund remaining as follows:

• Round 2: apply by Monday 17 August 2020
• Round 3: apply by Monday 12 October 2020

https://www.artfund.org/supporting-museums/programmes/respond-and-reimagine-grants#:~:text=Respond%20and%20reimagine%20grants%20offer%20funding%20from%20%C2%A310%2C000%20to%20%C2%A350%2C000.&text=Respond%20and%20reimagine%20grants%20provide,for%20the%20lo

Covid-19 Community-led Organisations Recovery Scheme – Power to Change

This £9.5 million scheme is being delivered by Power to Change, Locality, The Ubele Initiative and Social Investment Business on behalf of the National Lottery Community Fund.

The Covid-19 Community-led Organisation Recovery Scheme offers grants up to £100,000 to community organisations in England who are facing financial difficulties caused by covid-19. The scheme is aimed at organisations delivering services in their local community to support people who are at high risk from covid-19, with an emphasis on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)-led or BAME-supporting businesses.

The Recovery Scheme will be open for applications as follows:

• Tuesday 4 August from 10am until 1pm
• Tuesday 11 August from 10am until 1pm

https://www.powertochange.org.uk/get-support/programmes/covid-19-community-led-organisations-recovery-scheme/

Later Life Inclusion Grants – Masonic Charitable Foundation

The Later Life Inclusion grants programme is open to local and national charities that are working to reduce loneliness and isolation in later life. Charities can apply for a small or large grant, depending on their income

Small grants are for smaller charities whose annual income does not exceed £500,000. They are to fund overhead costs. Small grants range from £500 to £15,000, and can be awarded over one to three years.

Large grants are for larger charities whose annual income exceeds £500,000. They are to fund projects and can be used for salary costs, activities, materials etc. Large grants start at £10,000 and usually range from £20,000-£60,000. They can be awarded over one to three years.

The first deadline for applications is 31 August with another round in October, however a first come first served basis will apply.

https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/later-life/

Children & Young People Grant – Masonic Charitable Foundation

This programme is open to national and local charities helping disadvantaged children and young people to overcome the barriers they face.

Charities can apply for a small or large grant, depending on their income.

Small grants are for charities whose annual income does not exceed £500,000. These grants are unrestricted. Small grants range from £1000 to £15,000, and can be awarded over one to three years.

Large grants are for larger charities whose annual income exceeds £500,000. They are to fund projects and can be used for salary costs, activities, materials etc. Large grants start at £10,000 and usually range from £20,000-£60,000. They can be awarded over one to three years.

The first deadline for applications is 31 August with another round in October, however a first come first served basis will apply.

https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/children-and-young-people/

National Lottery Project Grants – Arts Council England

The Arts Council has reopened this fund with a budget of £59.8 million available until April 2021. They have prioritised reopening this programme to help fund independent organisations, creative practitioners and freelancers as quickly as possible.

Grants of between £1000 and £100,000 are available.

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants

Change Makers – Comic Relief

This funding opportunity is about looking to the future and making a bigger change. Comic Relief are looking for organisations that will make a significant contribution to their sector – for example, whether that’s forging new ways of working in the wake of COVID-19, contributing evidence that will move things forward, cross-sector collaboration which recognises the way issues intersect, or advocacy and campaigning work. They are looking for change making efforts that are relevant to the social change themes of homelessness, forced migration, gender justice, mental health, and early childhood development. 

Organisations can apply in one of two categories:

• Small and medium-sized organisations that focus on equalitiesand are user-led. Your organisation must have an annual income of at least £75,000. User-led organisations are considered to be those where the majority of the leadership (i.e. at least half of senior team and trustees) are from the community(ies) the organisation serves.
• Other medium-sized organisationsbased in the UK.  In this case your organisation needs to have a minimum annual income of £250,000. 

20% of the available funding is ring-fenced for efforts led by and working with BAME communities.

Investments of between £150,000 and £600,000 are available for between 3 and 5 years. Applications will close at noon on 28 August 2020.

https://www.comicrelief.com/funding/funding-opportunities/change-makers/

COVID-19 Emergency Surplus Food Grant: phase 2 – WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme)

The aim of this grant is to provide vital financial support to small not-for-profit (NFP) organisations who can redistribute surplus food from the likes of retailers, wholesalers, and food manufacturers, to people in need or those considered vulnerable.

This £1 million grant scheme is open to micro-to-small sized NFP operations that currently operate food redistribution activity. Eligible applicants may apply for grants of between £5,000 and £15,000. The grant may be used to fund the eligible capital and revenue costs.

The grant can provide funding support to help deal with any increased demand and capacity issues, additional resource, or costs for transporting the surplus food from the food business to a charity or end beneficiary.

The closing date for applications is 28 August. Funds will be allocated on a first-come-first served basis and the programme may close sooner if all funds are allocated.

https://www.wrap.org.uk/content/covid-19-emergency-surplus-food-grant-phase-2

Coalfields Covid-19 Recovery & resilience Fund – Coalfields regeneration Trust

This Fund is an interim replacement for the Coalfields Community Investment Programme.

Grants up to £10,000 are available that can address local needs during the current period. Priority will be given to organisations that are delivering support services or have significantly adapted their services in order to respond to the current crisis and support vulnerable people.

The Eligibility Survey for this Fund closes on 28 August and the deadline for applications is 11 September.

https://www.coalfields-regen.org.uk/england/covid19-ccip-funding-support/

Postcode Community Trust

Postcode Community Trust has announced that applications for funding open on the 4th August 2020 for community groups and good causes across Great Britain. Applications will remain open until the 19th August 2020, with groups able to apply for awards from £500 up to £20,000 to support a whole host of activities that benefit their communities.

Postcode Community Trust provides funding in Great Britain under the themes 'Improving community health & wellbeing, Increasing participation in arts & physical recreation and reducing isolation'.

https://www.postcodecommunitytrust.org.uk/

Transforming Places through Heritage Grants – Architectural Heritage Fund

This programme supports projects that will contribute to the transformation of high streets and town centres in England helping them become thriving places, strengthening local communities and encouraging local economies to prosper.  It is part of a wider initiative to revive heritage high streets in England, alongside Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zones.

This programme is for individual heritage buildings in, or transferring to, community ownership. They will support charities and social enterprises to develop projects with the potential to bring new life to high streets by creating alternative uses for redundant or underused historic buildings in town centres.

A range of grants are available:

• Project Viability Grants: up to £15,000, for early viability and feasibility work, open now for applications.
• Project Development Grants: up to £100,000, for capital project development costs, open now for applications.
• Crowdfunding Challenge Grants: up to £25,000, to match fund crowdfunding campaigns, open now for applications.
• Transformational Project Grants: up to £350,000, for transformational capital projects. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2020.
• Community Shares Booster Grants: further information to be announced.

http://ahfund.org.uk/england

UK Theatres Small Grants scheme

The UK Theatres Small Grants Scheme is a capital fund that awards up to £5,000 to theatres across the UK run by charities and not-for-profit groups that can clearly demonstrate the value capital improvements to their theatres would make to their work in local communities.

Priorities include projects that address urgent building repairs, improve operational viability, introduce environmental improvements, and enhance physical accessibility.

Please note that applications for technical equipment and refurbishment of soft furnishings are a low priority for the scheme.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, the scheme will now be able to support theatres to cover the additional costs of reopening after several months’ closure, including making adaptations for increased hygiene and social distancing measures.

Round 16 of the scheme is currently open. The deadline for applications is 5 October 2020.

http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/uk-theatres-small-grants-scheme

Farming Recovery Fund – Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

The Farming Recovery Fund provides assistance to farmers whose agricultural land has been damaged by flooding and declared a natural disaster by the Government. The Fund provides financial assistance up to 100%, with a minimum grant level of £500 and a maximum grant level of £25,000.

The Environment Agency confirms that exceptional flood incidents occurred as a result of Storm Dennis which impacted the UK on Saturday 15 and 16 February and brought strong wind and significant heavy rainfall followed by further heavy rainfall up to 29 February.

The rainfall led to exceptional catchment and river responses with record breaking peak river levels and flooding occurring across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, North and East Yorkshire.

Applications to the fund must be completed by 1 September 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/farming-recovery-fund-extension-2020

Zoos Support Fund – Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

If you run a licensed zoo or aquarium in England and are experiencing severe financial difficulties because of lost revenue, you can apply for a grant of up to £100,000.

How much you get will be based on your animals’ needs. You can use the grant to cover animal-care costs that you cannot lower such as:

• keepers’ wages
• animal feed and bedding
• veterinary care and medicines
• electricity and heating
• waste removal

If Defra approves your application, you’ll get payments over a maximum of 3 months.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-zoos-and-aquariums

In addition, on 27 June Animal Welfare Minister Lord Goldsmith announced that: “Zoos and aquariums in England are set to receive up to £100 million to help mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.”

This is described as: “ a major expansion of a £14 million initial relief fund announced in May and will run until the end of March 2021 to ensure the necessary long-term support is in place to help with severe financial difficulties.”

Further details are set to be provided in due course.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-rescue-package-for-englands-zoos-and-aquariums

Places of Worship protective security funding scheme – Home Office

The places of worship protective security funding scheme is a government commitment in the 2016-2020 Hate Crime Action Plan. It provides funding for protective security measures to places of worship and associated faith community centres that are vulnerable to hate crime.

This scheme has been designed in accordance with government advice on coronavirus. The application process has been changed this year to allow the scheme to launch without applicants needing to attend their place of worship or engage Designing Out Crime Officers to undertake site assessments at this point in time. Due to the impact of coronavirus, both the process and timetable must remain flexible and is subject to change.

The deadline for bids is 9 August 2020. Applicants can submit bids for up to 3 protective security measures. You will be required to contribute 20% of the total cost of the security measures. The maximum government funding available to any place of worship or associated faith community centre is £56,000.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/places-of-worship-security-funding-scheme

Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

Gigabit-capable broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and the Government “is committed to a vision of a digitally connected Britain.”

Homes and businesses in rural areas of the UK may be eligible for funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband when part of a group scheme.

Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 100Mbps can use vouchers worth £1,500 per home and up to £3,500 for each small to medium-sized business (SME) to support the cost of installing new fast and reliable connections.

More information is available via the website.

https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/

Grant schemes for electric vehicle charging infrastructure – Office for Low Emission Vehicles

The government offers grants to support the wider use of electric and hybrid vehicles via the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). This includes:

• The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) provides grant funding of up to 75% towards the cost of installing electric vehicle chargepoints at domestic properties across the UK.
• The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge-points, for eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations.
• The On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) provides grant funding for local authorities towards the cost of installing on-street residential chargepoints for plug-in electric vehicles.

For more information visit the website below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles

Covid-19 Emergency Fund – Seafarers UK

Seafarers UK is a leading provider of grants to maritime charities and charitable maritime projects, working to help serving and ex-serving seafarers and their families who are experiencing hardship.

Under the Covid-19 Emergency Fund, applications are welcomed from organisations delivering services to seafarers and their families. The following list provides some of the reasons why you may want to make a grant application to the Emergency Fund:

• Individual hardship
• New service
• Additional operating costs
• Loss of organisational income
• Liquidity or cash flow issues
• Risk of organisational or service closure

https://www.seafarers.uk/helping-you/grant-funding/

Covid-19 Emergency Funding (including Coronavirus Community Support Fund) – The National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund has launched a £200m fund aimed primarily at small to medium organisations in England. The fund is part of the Government’s £750m financial support package for charities and social enterprises announced by Government on April 8. They will distribute the Government funding alongside National Lottery funding, to support organisations to continue to deliver services to people and communities affected by COVID-19.

The application you need to fill in is the same whether your funding comes from the Government or from the Lottery.

They can fund activities supporting people and communities affected by COVID-19. They can also help organisations overcome any acute financial difficulties they’re facing because of the pandemic.

They are looking to award funding between £300 to £10,000 or funding over £10,000 to cover your spending for up to six months after award.

There will be high demand for this funding, and the Lottery say they will have to make some tough choices. They expect the funding to be heavily oversubscribed and anticipate only being able to support a proportion of applications.

You can only apply once for COVID-19 emergency funding in England.

If you’re planning to apply for the Government allocation of funding to the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF), you must apply by 12 noon on 17 August 2020 when this fund will close.

After this, you can still apply for emergency National Lottery funded grants in England to help your community through COVID-19. They will be focusing on funding for organisations supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, specifically for user-led equality groups supporting:

• black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee (BAMER) communities
• lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer + (LGBTQ+) communities
• disabled people.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/covid-19/learn-about-applying-for-emergency-funding-in-england

Covid-19 Support – Sport England

Sport England have made up to £210 million of funding available to help the sport and physical activity sector through the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

The package, which is a combination of National Lottery and government funding, includes:

• A Community Emergency Fund. This aims to deliver immediate funding to those most in need and builds on the success of similar previous funds such as the Flood Relief Fund. It's specifically targeted at organisations, including those not currently supported by Sport England, who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus. Organisations can apply for grants between £300 and £10,000. Please note that this fund is temporarily paused to new applications.
• A £55 million Sector Stimulation Sport England believe financial support will be needed to support and stimulate the sector while restrictions are being lifted, and that organisations will need help getting back to business and back to delivery. Part of this pot, £20m, has formed the Tackling Inequalities Fund, which is designed to minimise the impact of coronavirus on the activity levels of people from under-represented groups, ensuring that the participation gaps don’t widen during this period.Details on how they propose to use the remainder of this funding will be set out in the coming weeks.
• A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 well established partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England. 

Alongside this, given cashflow concerns in the sector, Sport England have also agreed to?consider requests to release six months of the coming year’s funding (50% of awards) to their partners, meaning additional funding will be available sooner.

More details on each of these funding streams can be viewed via the website.

https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/coronavirus-funding-and-flexibility

Crowdfunding support for clubs & organisations – Sport England

Sport England have committed another £1 million to combating the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) on sports clubs and community activity groups, in the form of match funding through Crowdfunder.

This ‘Active Together’ partnership with Crowdfunder follows a successful collaboration from November 2018, which saw them committing to match fund 23 projects up to the value of £15,000 each.

This time they are matching crowd funds of up to £10,000 raised by clubs and organisations hit by the coronavirus crisis – and is in addition to the up to £210 million coronavirus support package already announced.

To be eligible, organisations must be:

• Local sports clubs
• Charity, community, voluntary and social enterprise sector organisations that deliver sport and/or physical activity in their community – including organisations that are not solely or primarily sports organisations – for the benefit of people residing in England.

https://www.sportengland.org/news/%C2%A31-million-crowdfunding-support-clubs-and-organisation

TDS Charitable Foundation

The TDS Charitable Foundation is a charitable incorporated organisation and is registered as a CIO with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

In 2020 -2021 the Foundation is looking to support projects which focus on one of the following themes:

• Promoting knowledge of landlords’ obligations. The Foundation state: “It is clear that the growth of the private rented sector has been fuelled in recent years in part by the rise of the ‘accidental landlord’. This is often a person who owns property but who is required by circumstances to let the property.  These landlords tend to be inexperienced and not fully understand the obligations that they have to meet as a landlord.”
• Promoting knowledge of tenants’ rights & responsibilities. The Foundation “is aware that many tenants are not fully aware of their rights and responsibilitiesand the Foundation will invite proposals which will help educate tenants about their rights and responsibilities.”

The maximum grant available is £10,000 and the deadline for applications is 25 September 2020.

https://tdsfoundation.org.uk/#apply-for-funding

Financial support for businesses during coronavirus – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Public Health England

You can find out more details about the government’s support for businesses through this website which includes:

• the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
• a Self-employment Income Support Scheme
• a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses
• business rate relief
• small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
• grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
• the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

Information on all these items can be found via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Neighbourhood Planning Grant Funding – Locality

You can apply for three types of grant funding if you are preparing a Neighbourhood Plan:

• Basic Grant Funding: All groups undertaking a neighbourhood plan are eligible to apply for up to £10,000 in basic grant. As well as applying for a basic grant, you can also apply for technical support (provided you meet the eligibility criteria) to help you with your neighbourhood plan.
• Additional Grant Funding: Groups meeting the eligibility criteria are able to apply for additional grant of up to £8,000 (in addition to the basic grant). This will take the total amount of grant available to you to £18,000.
• Affordable Housing for Sale Grant Funding: This is a new element to the programme, and it is running as a pilot scheme. The pilot began in 2019-20 and will continue in 2020-21. If you are wishing to bring forward affordable housing for sale you may be eligible for further grant funding of up to £10,000 to help develop these ideas.

All grants are now open.

https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/about/grant-funding/#affordablehousing

Development Grants & Impact Grants – Youth Futures Foundation

The Youth Futures Foundation is committed to transforming employment for young people. They recognise that achieving this systemic change will be a team effort involving a broad range of employers, government, funders and organisations working with young people. Their activities and grant giving are designed to reflect this. In response to Covid-19 they have acted swiftly to develop an emergency funding response:

1. They have significantly increased funding available for development and impact grants to rapidly increase youth employment provision
2. They are launching an emergency levelling up youth fund to support young people from the hardest hit communities

Their rolling grants programme is designed to find, fund, support and evaluate promising practice. Funding will go to organisations working with young people aged 14-24 to help overcome barriers to finding meaningful work. They are looking for approaches that can be tested, evaluated and, where proven to be effective, expanded to more young people.

The Foundation want to partner with organisations that share their values and are committed to learning, investing in good practice and sharing what works to transform the youth employment landscape.

Two types of grant are available:

• Development Grants of between £30,000 and £150,000 per annum over 1-2 years.
• Impact Grants of between £100,000 and £1.2 million per annum over 1-5 years.

https://youthfuturesfoundation.org/grants/

Coronavirus response fund – Big Society Capital

A £100 million programme of loans and investment has been announced by Big Society Capital to help get much-needed emergency funding to social enterprises, charities and small businesses in disadvantaged areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The new measures include:

• A new Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund, managed by Social Investment Business (SIB), to enable social lenders to provide emergency loans to affected social enterprises and charities without requiring personal guarantees and charging no fees or interest for 12 months.
• Smaller, emergency loans will also be made available on the same no fee, no interest for 12 months basis to small businesses and social enterprises in more deprived areas.
• Up to a further £50 million which Big Society Capital will reprioritise and repurpose over coming months to address emerging funding needs among social enterprises and charities, either through the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund or alternative funding vehicles as appropriate.

https://bigsocietycapital.com/latest/100-million-response-announced-to-help-social-sector-organisations-through-the-coronavirus-crisis/

Rural Community Energy Fund – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

The Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) is a £10 million programme which supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects, which provide economic and social benefits to the community.

RCEF provides support to rural communities in 2 stages:

• stage 1: grants of up to £40,000 for a feasibility study for a renewable energy project
• stage 2: grants of up to £100,000 for business development and planning of feasible schemes

RCEF is being run by 5 regional Local Energy Hubs. If you would like to register your interest for the scheme, or would like further information, please contact the relevant hub for your area.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rural-community-energy-fund

Places to Ride – British Cycling

British Cycling is working closely with Sport England to develop a national network of new cycling facilities which meets local demand, making use of a £15 million investment programme called Places to Ride.

The funding is available to any organisation that is developing cycling activity in their community and can be used for anything from equipment packages to activate your local space, through to a brand-new cycling facility. The programme is open until January 2021.

Large scale grants (£50,000 - £500,000) are available, typically for new facilities or significant improvements to existing venues, small scale grants (£1000 to £50,000) for equipment, cycle storage, small-scale facilities or venue improvements. Equipment packages are also available to activate your local space.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/placestoride

Cornerstone, Gateway & Foundation Grants – National Churches Trust

The National Churches Trust has three grant programmes currently open:

• Cornerstone grants. The Cornerstone Grant Programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 towards the cost of urgent structural repair projects costed at more than £100,000 including VAT. The Trust will also consider projects that introduce kitchens and accessible toilets to enable increased community use, costed at more than £30,000 including VAT. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project cost. The next deadline for applications is 2 November 2020.
• Gateway grants. The Gateway Grant Programme offers grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 towards project development and investigative work up to RIBA planning stage 1, to support churches preparing for a major project, and in developing their project to the point at which they can approach a major grant funder. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project costs for this phase. The next deadline for applications is 10 September 2020.
• Foundation grants. The Foundation Grant Programme will offer grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards urgent maintenance works and small repairs identified as high priority within a recent Quinquennial Inspection or Survey Report. Also, small investigative works and surveys. Project costs should not exceed £10,000. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis from the end of January 2020. The final opportunity to submit an application will be 30 October 2020.
• Preventative maintenance micro grants. If the cost of booking maintenance services is a problem, the National Churches Trust, with its partner the Pilgrim Trust, can offer grants towards the cost of a building's maintenance services. You could receive up to 50% of the cost of works (excl. VAT) up to a maximum grant of £500. The cost of your service must not exceed £1,000 (excl VAT).

http://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/our-grants

Energy Redress Scheme – Energy Saving Trust

Energy Saving Trust has been appointed by Ofgem to distribute payments from energy companies who may have breached rules. The funds can pay for anything from making a home more energy efficient, to providing advice that helps consumers keep on top of their bills.

Energy Saving Trust has developed an open application process for charities seeking funding from the Energy Redress Scheme. Successful projects will be selected with input from an independent panel of experts and could cover a range of locations across England, Scotland and Wales.

The amount of funding available through the scheme varies throughout the year and will be reviewed on a quarterly basis in October, January, April and July. Eligible charities that have registered interest in the scheme will be notified when funds become available.

The minimum grant that can be requested is £20,000 and the maximum amount is the lesser of £2 million or the total value of the current fund.

The scheme can fund projects lasting up to two years, can fund 100 per cent of the project cost and can cover revenue and capital measures.

https://energyredress.org.uk/apply-funding

Comic Relief Community Fund (England) – Groundwork UK

The Comic Relief Community Fund (England) is offering grants to grassroots community organisations with an income of less than £250,000.

There are two types of grants available to organisations whose work delivers on one of Comic Relief’s four strategic themes:

• Children Survive & Thrive: projects that support children under the age of 5 to reach their potential and have the best start in life.
• Fighting for Gender Justice: projects that improve equality for women, girls and the LBTQI+ community and initiatives that help people affected by domestic violence, abuse or exploitation due to their gender.
• A Safe Place to Be: projects that support people who are rebuilding their lives because of homelessness or forced migration.
• Mental Health Matters: projects that support good mental health in communities, improve access to support and tackle stigma and discrimination.

Funding is available to help you develop your organisation through a Capacity Building Grant (up to £500) or to deliver projects through a Project Delivery Grant (up to £4000).

Administration of the local funding is being managed by community charity, Groundwork, which specialises in transforming communities and the local environment for the better.

This is a rolling programme and applications can be made at any time.

https://www.groundwork.org.uk/national-grants/comic-relief-community-grants/

Veterans’ Foundation grants

Many armed forces charities struggle to raise sufficient funding to support serving and former members of the British Armed Forces’ and sometimes their dependants who are in need. The Veterans' Foundation has been created to establish a new and nationwide source of funding to help these charities.  It acquires its funds through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations.

The trustees of the Veterans' Foundation will disburse funds to Armed Forces charities and charitable activities.

They will support projects that:

• Reduce homelessness
• Increase employment
• Provide welfare and medical support
• Increase confidence and social integration
• Reduce dependence on drugs and alcohol
• Support other charitable activities that may be needed

You can apply for grants of any sum up to a maximum of £30K. Trustees will also consider a bid for a spread grant, i.e. £30K as £10K for each of the next three years. Please note that the trustees are likely to award more small grants than large grants. They will consider a range of factors including the service or item being applied for, the number of beneficiaries, the importance of the grant to the applicant charity and the needs of the beneficiaries.

https://www.veteransfoundation.org.uk/

Church Conservation Grants – Morris Fund

Grants between £500 and £5000 are awarded to churches, chapels and other places of worship in the United Kingdom for the conservation of decorative features and monuments, but not for structural repairs.

Grants will be awarded to support smaller programmes of work concerned with the conservation of decorative or non-structural features such as:

• stained glass windows
• sculpture
• furniture
• internal monuments and tombs
• wall paintings

The decorative feature, monument, etc must date from no later than 1896 (the year of William Morris’s death). The next deadline for applications is 31 August 2020.

https://www.sal.org.uk/grants/morris-fund-conservation-grants/

Heritage Impact Fund – Architectural Heritage Fund

The HIF offers tailored finance for charities, social enterprises and community businesses across the UK to develop sustainable heritage at the very heart of vibrant local economies.

Loans from £25,000 to £500,000 are available for up to three years with tailored terms and both flexible and incentivised interest rates for impactful projects. These could include both capital and interest repayment holidays.

HIF supports applicants across the UK who are undertaking a capital project or are looking to build upon or scale-up an existing enterprise.

The HIF is a joint initiative with contributions from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

http://ahfund.org.uk/hif

First Steps Enterprise Fund – Asda Foundation

First Steps Enterprise Fund (FSEF) is a £300,000 pilot fund to support community organisations. The Social Investment Business manage this fund on behalf of the Asda Foundation.

Funding is available for community organisations (charities and social enterprises) based in England that are looking to take on their first loan to help them grow and become more sustainable. Particular preference is given to organisations that work in the following areas:

• Older people
• Health and wellbeing
• Employment for young people

Funding packages of up to £30,000 are available (90% loan and 10% grant). The loan element is charged at 5% (fixed) to be repaid over a period of 4 years with an optional capital holiday for the first year. Up to £50,000 is available for exceptional cases.

https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/firststeps

Cultural Impact Development Fund

This £3.7 million fund provides small-scale repayable finance to socially-driven arts and cultural organisations. The Fund is supported by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment through the Growth Fund programme, with finance being provided by its partners Big Lottery Fund and Big Society Capital.

The aims of the fund are to:

• Enable risk-taking, ambitious organisations in the arts and cultural sector to take on small-scale repayable finance in order to achieve social outcomes;
• Increase the capability of arts and cultural organisations to articulate, achieve, monitor and evaluate their intended social impact.

The Fund offers unsecured loans (and revenue participation agreements, where appropriate) between £25,000 and £150,000 with repayment terms of one to five years and interest rates ranging between 5.5% and 8.5%.

The investment window is open until August 2021.

https://www.artsculturefinance.org/our-funds/cultural-impact-development-fund/

Emergency Essentials Programme – BBC Children in Need

Family Fund Business Services are working in collaboration with BBC Children in Need to deliver the Emergency Essentials programme supporting children and young people living with severe poverty as well as additional pressures such as domestic violence, disability or poor health in the family.

The programme can deliver or fund critical items such as:

• Gas or electric cookers
• Essential household items
• Furniture and kitchen equipment
• Children’s beds and bedding
• Washing machines
• Fridges and freezers
• Baby equipment
• Clothing in exceptional or emergency situations.

Applications must be completed by a registered referrer who is part of an organisation that is supporting the family or young person and capable of assessing their needs.

https://www.familyfundservices.co.uk/emergency-essentials/

HS2 Community and Business Funds – Groundwork UK

Two funds are available to local communities to help with the disruption that will be caused by the construction of Phase one of HS2 between London and the West Midlands; the Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund. The objective of these funds is to add benefit, over and above committed mitigation and statutory compensation, to communities and local economies along the route.

The administration of these funds is managed on behalf of HS2 Ltd by the charity Groundwork who will ensure both funds remain available for applications throughout the construction of Phase One.

https://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/hs2funds

BlueSpark Foundation grants

Schools, colleges and community groups in England can apply for grants to Blue Spark Foundation for a wide range of projects. The Foundation value academic, vocational, artistic and sporting endeavour in equal measure but are particularly keen to support projects which will help enhance the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people.

Many grants will be under £2,000, most will be under £5,000 and only in a few cases will grants exceed £10,000.

Projects which could be supported include drama, music, sport, art and design, debating, public speaking, academic education, vocational training, community projects, enterprise projects and educational excursions. This list is illustrative and not exclusive as to the types of project that the Foundation support.

http://bluesparkfoundation.org.uk/

Family Fund – The Family Fund Trust for families with severely disabled children

The Family Fund helps families across the UK who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under. You can apply to Family Fund subject to a number of criteria which include that you are the parent or carer of a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under and that you have evidence of entitlement to one of the following: Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit.

See the website for more details.

https://www.familyfund.org.uk/

Landfill Communities Fund – SUEZ Communities Trust

SUEZ Communities Trust (formerly SITA) provides funding awards of up to £50,000 to not-for-profit organisations to undertake work that is eligible under the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF). Applications are considered for three areas of work which qualify for funding through the LCF. These include:

• Public Amenities
• Historic Buildings, Structures or Sites
• Biodiversity

Projects can be supported that make physical improvements at sites located in any of 100 funding zones around qualifying sites owned by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.

http://www.suezcommunitiestrust.org.uk/

Tesco Community Grants – Tesco and Groundwork

Bags of Help is Tesco’s local community grant scheme where the money raised by the carrier bag charge in Tesco stores is being used to fund thousands of community projects. The projects must meet the criteria of bringing benefits to the community. Grants of up to £2,000 are available.

Bags of Help is always open for applications from charities and community organisations. Applications are assessed by Groundwork to ensure they are eligible. In areas where application numbers are high, Tesco colleagues will shortlist the projects to determine which go forward to the customer vote.

Three community projects in each local area will be voted on by customers in Tesco stores throughout the UK, with projects changing every other month. Following the vote, the project that received the most votes in its area will receive a grant of up to £2,000, second place receiving up to £1,000 and third place up to £500.

https://tescobagsofhelp.org.uk/

Help the Homeless grants

Help the Homeless makes grants to charitable organisations with the aim of helping homeless people return to the community and enabling them to resume a normal life. Grants are available to small and medium-sized charitable organisations to fund the capital costs of projects with grants of up to £5,000. The quarterly deadlines for grant applications each year are: 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December.

http://www.help-the-homeless.org.uk/

Grants to support repair and conservation of war memorials – War Memorials Trust

War Memorials Trust grants support repair and conservation works undertaken following best conservation practice. Almost all war memorials are eligible for support and custodians/owners can find information about eligibility and processes on the website.

Grants are available between 25% and 75% of eligible costs and are likely to be considered up to a maximum grant of £5,000 for non-freestanding war memorials while freestanding, non-beneficiary war memorials may be considered up to a maximum grant of £30,000. There is no minimum award. 

War Memorials Trust seeks to help all war memorial custodians, whatever the nature and size of their war memorial by facilitating repair and conservation projects. Details on current eligibility and deadline dates as well as how to apply can be found at the web address below.

http://www.warmemorials.org/grants/ 

Football Foundation grants

The Football Foundation provides grants for building or refurbishing grassroots facilities, such as changing rooms, 3G pitches, fencing, portable floodlights, pitch improvements and clubhouse refurbishment. The Fund is available to football clubs, schools, councils and local sports associations and gives grants for projects that:

• Improve facilities for football and other sport in local communities.
• Sustain or increase participation amongst children and adults, regardless of background age, or ability.
• Help children and adults to develop their physical, mental, social and moral capacities through regular participation in sport.

Grants are available for between £10,000 and £500,000.

http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/funding-schemes/premier-league-the-fa-facilities-fund/