Active Communities Funding - open for applications!

The People’s Health Trust Active Communities fund is now open for applications in Wokingham, West Berkshire, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough, and Bracknell Forest. Local groups and organisations with great ideas to make their communities even better places to live can apply for funding to turn their ideas into reality.

Active Communities, which is funded through The Health Lottery, is a programme for community groups and not-for-profit organisations with an income of less than £350,000 a year or an average of £350,000 over two years. It is for projects lasting up to two years and seeking investment of between £5,000 and £50,000.

The Active Communities fund is for small and local projects, genuinely designed and run by local people. Small means a group of people on an estate, or in a few streets or villages. Examples of projects that have been funded previously include: a women’s volunteering group run by and for Bengali women, a computer skills support group run for and by older people and support for local people to become community organisers.

The application process has two stages beginning with a short online form. There is step-by-step guidance to help you along the way but if you need any support, you can call 020 7697 4021 or email apply@peopleshealthtrust.org.uk.

The deadline for stage one applications is 1pm on Wednesday 24 August 2016.

Courtesy of RVA

FUNDING NEWS - AUGUST 2016

Caring for Carers Grants
The Bupa UK Foundation’s Caring for Carers offer three types of grants that support practical projects to support unpaid adult carers (Over 25 years old).  The grants are as follows: 
• Small grants – up to £15,000
• Medium grants – between £15,000 - £50,000
• Large grants – over £50,000
The deadline for applications is Fri 12th August.  For more information please click here.  
  
Digital Arts and Creative Ageing
Funding and a support package is available to projects that demonstrate how digital technology could increase their service capacity to enable those over 65 to access the creative arts in order to benefit their general health and wellbeing.  Successful applicants will receive: 
• Up to £90,000 funding (depending on requirements and the number of successful projects)
• 18months of project delivery support from the funder
• A support package including mentoring, marketing and communications advice and networking opportunities
The deadline for applications is Tues 16th August by midday.  For more information please click here. 
  
Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF)
The following grants are available to preserve or renew buildings that are architecturally / historically significant, that have failed to a new use on the open market: 
• Project Viability Grants – Up to £3000 to cover 50% (or less) of the cost of a study too explore the potential uses of a building in its current condition.  There is no deadline for applications
• Project Development Grants – Up to £25,000 to cover 50% (or less) of the cost the development and co-ordination of a project to reach the start of site work.  The deadline for applications is Weds 17th August.
For more information please click here.
  
Power to Change Community Business Fund
Grants of £50,000 - £300,000 are available to local, community led businesses aiming to increase their social impact and sustainability.  The grants can be used for capital costs or project related revenue.  The fund opens for applications on Weds 27th July and closes five weeks later.  For more information please click here. 
  
Boshier – Hinton Foundation
Grants of up to £2,000 are available to help improve the quality of life for those with disabilities, learning difficulties and their families.  Applications are welcomed from individuals, their families or institutions providing facilities and advocacy for children and adults with special educational or other needs.  There is no deadline for applications.  For more information please click here. 
  
Big Lottery Fund’s Celebrate England Grant
Grants of £300 - £10,000 are available for one-off inclusive community events. The fund has been created in response to 60% of the participants in a YouGov poll stating that they cannot remember celebrating as a community.  Applicants must demonstrate that they are inclusive, and priority will be shown to events drawing together communities to share diverse cultures and can demonstrate that there is demand for the activity in the local area, and that the project will be led by people within the community.  There is no deadline; awards are made on a first come first served basis.  For more information please click here.

The Ulverscroft Foundation
The Ulverscroft Foundation supports projects which will have a positive effect on the quality of life of visually impaired people (blind and partially sighted) or people with a print disability.

Their  funding is channelled via recognised organisations which help visually impaired people, for example, libraries, hospitals, clinics, schools and colleges; social and welfare organisations.
For further information including how to apply please click here:
http://www.foundation.ulverscroft.com/guidelinescolour.htm 

Holiday Grants for Children

The purpose of this scheme is to provide children with a recreational holiday or outing they would not otherwise have the opportunity to access. This means that they will not fund trips where the primary purpose is education. You must make a clear case for the financial need of the individuals attending as well as the organisation applying. 

Applications can be made for grants towards a single trip, which could be residential or a day trip, within the UK for children aged 13 and under who are from areas of high deprivation*, are experiencing disadvantage, or who have a disability. They will consider trips for children who live in deprived circumstances within an otherwise affluent area, according to the National Indices for Deprivation, but the case for support must be clearly explained.
Further details can be found here: http://www.henrysmithcharity.org.uk/holiday-grants-for-children.html 

The Arts Council – New Funds
The Arts Council is launching 3 new funds that will focus on improving resilience and sustainability across the sector and access to art and culture for older people. New Funds

Celebrating Age: Supporting organisations to become open, positive and welcoming places for older people. As well as taking arts and culture into places where older people will find it easier to engage.  

Business Support: Increasing knowledge and understanding of business support within the cultural creative sector. 

Building Resilience: Supporting up to four external organisations or consultancies who will work on different approaches to improve resilience and long term sustainability across the sector.   

The Jane Tomlinson Appeal
The Jane Tomlinson Appeal was first established by Jane Tomlinson CBE in 2006 to stand as her fundraising legacy.

The Appeal looks to support charitable organisations with a focus on children's or cancer related activities, services or operations. Funding will normally be considered for capital and revenue costs for both specific projects and for general running/core costs

Grants are awarded for amounts from £250 to a maximum of £10,000. The awarding of grants will depend on a number of factors including purpose, total funding requirement and potential sources of other funds including, in some cases, matched funding.

Normally one-off grants are awarded but, in exceptional circumstances, a new project may be funded over two or three years, subject to satisfactory reports on progress

The following are examples of areas of work which fall within the Appeal's grant policy:
• Capital building / renovation / refurbishment works for residential, nursing, respite care and schools
• Play schemes and play therapy schemes
• Day and social activity centres including building costs and running costs
• Support for families, including respite schemes
• Independent living schemes
• Support in the community schemes
• Hospices
• Minibuses
• Advocacy projects
• Research (cancer or children related illness)
October - Applications to be submitted by 9th September
Applications can be submitted anytime, however applications submitted one month before the trustees meeting in April and October will be considered at the next available meeting.

http://www.janetomlinsonappeal.com/the-appeal/grant-applications/

BBC Children in Need: Small Grants

Children and young people of 18 years and under experiencing disadvantage through:
1. Illness, distress, abuse or neglect
2. Any kind of disability
3. Behavioural or psychological difficulties
4. Living in poverty or situations of deprivation
Projects we fund make differenced in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments.
In our Small Grants programme we are looking for projects where a relatively small amount of money can make a big difference for children and young people. We are unlikely to fund applications which top up funding for salaries or larger projects where a small grant would only make a marginal impact on its success.

Who can apply? 
• Not-for-profit organisations that work with disadvantaged children and young people of 18 years and under who live in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
• If you currently have a Small Grant you can apply for further Small Grant funding to keep running the same project or for a different project. You will need to be able to provide convincing evidence of the differences our grant has made to the lives of the disadvantaged children and young people you have worked with. Please note you can usually only have one application assessed in any 12-month period.
• If you currently have a Main Grant you can also apply for a Small Grant as long as it is for work with a different group of children and young people. Please note you can usually only have one application assessed in any 12-month period.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/xLpTYtkMTtXJyptb96s4lM/small-grants-should-i-apply

Veolia Environmental Trust
Grants of up to £75,000 are available to not-for-profit organisations with an environmental or community project, within five miles of a Veolia Environmental Services Facility (To see if you are in an eligible area please click here.) Match funding of 25% or more is required.  Eligible projects will be one of the following: 
• A community building or room
• An outdoor space
• A play and recreation area
• Support biodiversity
The deadline for applications is 12noon on Fri 26th August.  For more information please click here.
  
MTV Staying Alive Foundation Awards
Grants of up to £12,000 are available to community based organisations that are led by young people (aged 15 – 27) who work to prevent HIV.  As well as grants, the fund also offers: 
• Staying Alive programming and teaching kits
• A small fund to buy technical media equipment
• A local mentor
• A personal grant manager
• Training and development
Eligible projects will promote accurate information about HIV and AIDS for young people, alleviate the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS and encourage, through innovation, young people in the community to protect themselves from HIV infection.  The deadline for applications is Sun 28th August.  For more information please click here. 
  
Will Charitable Trust
Grants of £5,000 - £20,000 are available to provide care services from people suffering from cancer and their families.  Charities must have either a proven track record of successful work in their field, or provide convincing evidence of ability if they are a newer organisation.  The deadline for applications is Weds 31st August.  For more information please click here. 
  
Patagonia Environmental Grants
Grants of £7,000 - £12,000 are available for projects with innovative approaches to protecting local habitats.  Applications from grassroots activist organisations taking direct action will be prioritised.  The deadline for applications is Weds 31st August.  For more information please click here. 

News courtesy of Norfolk Community Action & Slough CVS

What do you want to celebrate?

Up to £10,000 in new funding is available for local communities to celebrate.

In a recent Big Lottery Fund survey, six out of ten people* said they have never or cannot remember ever coming together to celebrate with their community. Big Lottery Fund wants to help change this with a new funding programme, Celebrate.

With £5 million available across the UK we’re calling on local groups and organisations of all shapes and sizes to apply for funding to hold events or activities that will bring people together and celebrate what makes their local community special.

It could be to celebrate something in their local history or a local community hero, to mark something important to their community like Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday, or simply to get to know their neighbours better.

Applications for funding open  6 July 2016. To be eligible, applicants must be part of a constituted group which has its own bank account. We welcome applications from voluntary or community organisations, schools and statutory bodies, particularly those who have never considered the Big Lottery Fund as a potential source of funding.

Organisations are encouraged to submit their applications early to avoid disappointment as once funds have been allocated, Celebrate will close to new applications.

What would you celebrate in your local area?

For more information and to apply for a Celebrate grant please visit our website.

Funding News - JULY

Heritage Lottery Fund Grants
The following grants are available from the Heritage Lottery Fund: 
• Transition Fund – grants of £10,000 - £100,000 are available to organisations wanting to achieve significant strategic change to become more resilient and sustainable to better manage their heritage project.  Applications are welcomed at any time.
• Start Up Grants – grants of £3,000 - £10,000 to set up new organisations to look after heritage, or engage people with it.  This can also be used for organisations who are taking on new heritage responsibilities.  Applications are welcomed at any time.
• Sharing Heritage – grants of £3,000 - £10,000 are available for exploring and sharing a community heritage.  Applications are welcomed at any time.
• Our Heritage – grants of £10,000 - £100,000 for any project connected to national, regional or local heritage.  Applications are welcome anytime.
• First World War Fund: Then and Now – grants of £3,000 - £10,000 are available to projects that help people to learn about the heritage of the First World War.  Applications are welcomed at any time. 
• Young Roots – grants of £10,000 - £50,000 for projects engaging young people with heritage.  Applications are welcomed at any time.
For more information about these funds please click here.

Barchester Healthcare Foundation
Up to £5,000 are available for activities which reduce loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged.  Eligible groups will work with older people and/or adults with a physical or mental disability whose health and / or social needs cannot be met through the public sector or themselves.  Applications are welcome at any time.  For more information please click here.

Bruce Wake Charitable Trust
Grants are available to not-for-profit groups providing activities for the disabled.  Favoured applications will include one of the following: 
• Beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries are physically disabled wheelchair users
• Improving access for wheelchair users
• The sporting and leisure activities involving disabled wheelchair users
Applications are welcomed at any time.  For more information please click here.

The Rayne Foundation
The Rayne Foundation makes grants to charitable and not-for-profit organisations across the UK tackling a variety of issues.

As an independent funder, an important part of our role is to support work which is untried and which may have uncertain outcomes but which has clear objectives. We favour work which could change the way that we tackle issues in society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation.

The overall theme underpinning our work is bridge building that connects people and communities. We are interested in the arts, health and wellbeing, education – in its widest sense, and social issues. We also have a number of areas of special interest.

We receive many more applications than we can fund and for this reason have a two-stage application process to reduce the time and effort you spend making your application.
http://www.raynefoundation.org.uk/ 

NEW - Funding News Update June 2016

Local Community Projects Fund

The Local Community Projects Fund helps organisations based in local communities to deliver projects or provide equipment to people in need at the heart of our local communities.

Who do we support?
Local Community Projects Funding is offered to organisations supporting people in need. Any not for profit organisation can apply, however, larger organisations with a turnover in excess of £300,000 are unlikely to be successful.

What type of project can we support?
We are interested in projects that improve resilience within your community of interest. This can include sessional activities/respite support, equipment for sessional activities, trips and residential breaks. We are also interested in new approaches and innovative ideas as well as sustainable approaches to supporting your community of interest. We do not fund running costs or continuation of existing and ongoing work.

All projects must support a community of interest, ie people who are: 
• Disabled or suffering chronic illness
• Living in poverty
• Voluntary carers
• Homeless
• Isolated older people
• Other demonstrable significant need
The maximum grant that we can give is £2,000.
https://www.greggsfoundation.org.uk/grants/local-community-projects-fund 

Money Advice Service

In support of the UK Financial Capability Strategy, the Money Advice Service is today launching a new fund of up to £7 million, to help understand more about how to improve financial capability. The fund will be available to organisations to help them pilot new approaches to improving financial capability and evaluate their projects.

Launching across the UK, the What Works Fund will provide financial support for projects which are focused on building evidence of the types of interventions that can make a measurable difference to people’s financial capability.

Funding will be available for the evaluation of existing interventions as well as piloting and evaluating new approaches. There will also be funding available to scale up existing programmes which have already demonstrated results to test the effectiveness of the project when reaching a wider group of people.

http://www.fincap.org.uk/what_works_funding 

Boshier-Hinton Foundation

The Boshier-Hinton Foundation exists to improve quality of life for people with disabilities or learning difficulties, and their families, in any part of the country, by making donations to charitable institutions providing facilities and advocacy for children and adults with special educational or other needs: or by making donations to other registered Charities: or by making donations to local community charities or other agencies in any part of the country whose objects are no wider than the charity's own, or to any charity for particular purposes which fall within the Foundation's objects.

http://www.boshierhintonfoundation.org.uk/apply.php

Blagrave Feedback Fund
The Blagrave Feedback Fund to support improved listening, learning from, and support to, young people.

What is it?
Small grants of between £1,000 and £4,000 to assist organisations with a particular aspect of
gathering feedback from service users or advancing work in this area.

Who is eligible?
Charities with a turnover of at least £50,000 pa working to support young people aged 11-25 in the counties of: 
• Berkshire
• Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
• Wiltshire
• Sussex
Small grants are available of between £1,000 and £4,000 to assist organisations in Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and Sussex that work with young people aged 11 – 25 to carry out projects gathering feedback from service users or advancing work in this area.

To find out more, visit our website. The deadline for applications is 31 July 2016.
http://www.blagravetrust.org/applying-for-a-grant/ 

Character grants

Applications now open for character grants worth £6 million and aimed at schools promoting traits such as resilience and respect.

This year’s character grants - a scheme that began in 2015 to fund schools and organisations promoting traits such as resilience and respect - are aimed at schools that use activities such as sports, debating or music to provide a rounded learning experience for children. From today, schools, colleges and organisations can apply for a share of the £6 million fund.

Applications are open to:
• Schools
• Colleges
• Universities
• Local authorities
• Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE) organisations or other profit or non-profit organisations
Proposals must be provided on a ‘not-for-profit’ basis and must be designed to work within or in partnership with school(s) and/or college(s) in England. By ‘partnership’ we mean that the provider must (at a minimum) engage with the relevant school or college where each young person attends to assess whether the proposed activity or provision will help to underpin success in school and work. We would expect schools and colleges to be named in any bid.

Organisations have until 23 June to submit a proposal for grant funding. Grants are expected to be awarded by the end of September.

Grants for the Arts

Grants for the Arts is our open access funding programme for individuals, art organisations and other people who use the arts in their work.

We offer awards from £1,000 to £100,000 to support a wide variety of arts-related activities, from dance to visual arts, literature to theatre, music to combined arts.

Grants for the Arts is a rolling programme with no deadlines. Decisions on applications for £15,000 or less take six weeks. Decisions on applications of over £15,000 take 12 weeks.

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/applying-grants-arts

Information courtesy of Slough CVS

Apply now for cash awards to help Berkshire’s nature projects

Residents’ groups, village societies, conservation groups or any other group in Berkshire working on a local nature and wildlife project, no matter how big or small, can apply for cash awards to support their work. The closing date for applications to the Dorothy Morley Conservation Award is 31 May.

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is calling on all local community and environmental groups to apply for the Dorothy Morley Conservation Award 2016. Applicants will have the chance to win the award with £1000 grant to go towards the winning project. One runner up will also receive a grant of £500. Judging will be held in June and the winners announced in July. 

Dan Akam, Berkshire Community Wildlife Officer, explains: “The groups could be working on their own site, or another location that is open to the public. In previous years the cash awards have supported groups digging wildlife ponds, planting hedgerows and trees, making new trails and enabling wildlife to thrive close to where they live.”

Visit Dorothy Morley Conservation Award for full details, or email dmaward@bbowt.org.uk. Application packs are also available from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, Woolley Firs, Cherry Garden Lane, Maidenhead, SL6 3LJ. More information from Daniel Akam, Community Wildlife Officer, 01628 829574 ext. 202. 

The Dorothy Morley Conservation Award scheme highlights all the superb work done by volunteers for the benefit of their local community and wildlife. Successful winners in the past find that the publicity and the grant had a really positive effect on the popularity of their local green spaces and for the communities that use them.

The Mumbery Nature Reserve Volunteers in Wargrave received the Dorothy Morley Conservation Award in 2014. Ian Bradley from the group explained what happened next:  “The award really helped put Mumbery nature reserve on the map. The funding enabled us to create a new interpretation board giving information about the reserve and what to look for throughout the year.  The Piggott School Sixth Form design students helped with the design work; it's great to get everyone in the community involved.”
The bi-annual Dorothy Morley Conservation Award scheme is a tribute to the memory of dedicated conservationist Dorothy Morley who lived near Newbury. It was set up in 2000 and continues to support local groups and their projects thanks to the outstanding generosity of the Morley family.

Community Education Fund - Round 30

The West Berkshire Council Community Learning team is pleased to invite bids for Round 30 of the Community Education Fund for projects to be delivered from 1^st August 2016 - 31st July 2017. This fund is focused on developing Adult Education opportunities for adults (19+) and families in West Berkshire. 

The funding available covers the following areas:

Adult Education (non-accredited)

Government funded Adult Education includes non-accredited learning which is designed to help adults (19+) gain a new skill, improve health and wellbeing, re-connect with learning, gain employment, prepare for progression to formal courses or learn how to support their children’s learning and development. 

Adult Education (accredited)

Government funded Adult Education includes provision which is accredited and where the qualifications are part of a regulated framework approved by the Skills Funding Agency, for learners aged 19+.  Applications are invited to deliver qualifications which support learners without level 2 qualifications, learners without GCSE English or Maths at grades A*to C or for learners who are unemployed and on active benefits

For more please see further details on our website. 

To apply, read the guidance notes and complete the CEF 30 bid form at the bottom of our website and email this to aclteam@westberks.gov.uk by 5pm Wednesday 22nd June 2016.

   

Contact the Community Learning team, if you have any queries on the fund or the application process. Tel: 01635 519060 or email aclteam@westberks.gov.uk