Funding Opportunities

Merseyside Funding Information Portal

The Merseyside Funding Information Portal http://www.mfip.org.uk/ is constantly updated with funding opportunities for all types of organisation.  28 new funding opportunities were added this month.

Simply go to the page, enter a keyword or phrase relating to your funding needs, e.g. children, older people, environment, etc. and a list of relevant articles will appear for you to focus on. You can also use the navigator to look for articles on specific funding sources or information. 

Funding opportunites added to the site this in the last month include Warm Front, the Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust UK which awards grants to charitable organisations, and Google Grants, which offer grants to organisations that promote community service. Please see the website for even more funding opportunites.  

The site also offers a factsheet library on sustainable funding approaches and Tendering and Procurement Support

Simply log on to: 
http://mfip.org.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

to find out more.

Mustard Seed Grants - UPDATED

Mustard Seed grants of up to £5,000 are available to faith groups that are involved in social action in the community; the grants can support new ventures, or help groups to develop existing work to improve the level of provision. Thanks to a recent high-value donation to the Mustard Seed programme, we now have additional funds to support eligible projects, and we are actively seeking new applications before the end of the year.

Grants are available to all faith groups, but the first point of contact for potential applicants should be the local Church Urban Fund Diocesan Link Officer in the relevant Church of England diocese; contact details for Link Officers can be found at http://www.cuf.org.uk/diocesan_contacts.aspx.

The Church Urban Fund grants team, based at CUF’s central office in Church House, can also answer any queries. For contact details, go to http://www.cuf.org.uk/contactus.aspx

Full details about the programme, including eligibility, contact details and how to apply, can be found on our website at http://www.cuf.org.uk/mustardseed.aspx

Communitybuilders

Communitybuilders is a £70m investment fund that aims to build more cohesive, empowered and active communities.

Communitybuilders will invest in the sustainability of multi-purpose, inclusive, community-led organisations (sometimes known as Community Anchors). These organisations can be the platform to support empowered communities by:

providing a place for community activities to take place
providing and running local services
stimulating community involvement and enterprise
generating independent sources of income
There are three elements to the Communitybuilders programme: Feasbility which provides grants and business support; Development which provides grants, one-to-one mentoring and business support; and Investment which provides loans and grants and business support.

For further details: http://www.communitybuildersfund.org.uk/about-the-fund

The Family Fund

The Family Fund helps families with severely disabled children to have choices and the opportunity to enjoy ordinary life. They give grants for things that make life easier and more enjoyable for the disabled child and their family, such as washing machines, driving lessons, hospital visiting costs, computers and holidays. The Fund is a registered charity, helping around 50,000 families in the UK with £30.5 million in grants a year.

See www.familyfund.org.uk/

Latest Funding Opportunities

The Criminal Justice Board has launched a new scheme to help local communities have a say in how recovered assets are spent in their area. Community Cashback provides funding for projects that reduce crime and involve communities in restoration of those involved in crime. It also allows local people to vote on which projects receive funding. Each county has £95,000 to allocate to projects. Deadlines differ in each area. Find out how it works, the criteria for selection or suggest a project for funding by visiting the Community Cashback homepage.


The Rayne Foundation’s Social Welfare and Development grants provide funding for projects that improve the quality of life for older people and also those that help refugees contribute to their community. There are no deadlines for applying or maximum grants awarded although the average grant is £13,000. Complete the e-guide in order to assess eligibility, read the guidelines, or download the stage one application form. For more information, phone 020 7487 9650.

The Charles Hayward Foundation primarily provides community projects with capital funding of between £5,000 and £20,000. Their current focus is on projects that work in criminal justice or those that support older people. Preference is given to areas of deprivation across the country and projects that are preventive, rather than service provision. A small grants programme of under £5,000 is available to projects in north-west England. For more information, read the guidelines, follow the application process described and phone Dorothy Napierala on 020 7370 7063.

Third Sector Hardship Fund open for applications

Building on the £42.5 million package of measures in the Government's Real Help for Communities Action Plan, the Hardship Fund offers an additional £16.7 million of support for third sector organisations in England delivering front line services to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in society.

The Hardship Fund offers grants between £50,000 and £250,000 to third sector organisations that are suffering financial hardship that is impacting on their ability to deliver front line services in health and social care, housing support, education and training and advice, information and guidance. To apply, organisations must have a turnover of £200,000 a year or more.

The Hardship Fund will be administered by the Community Development Foundation (CDF). More information about how to apply and the guidance notes for applicants can be found on the CDF website via the link below or by calling 0113 246 1561.
Hardship Fund

The government’s £15 million Real Help for Communities:
Targeted Support Fund (grants element) open from May 1st. Small charities, which offer vital local services to those most in need during the recession can come forward and get their hands on essential funding.

Whether it’s a local employment agency helping people back into work or a counselling service expanding its staff to meet demand, these grants will immediately support those services which make a real difference to the lives of local people.

Part of the government’s Third Sector Action Plan Real Help Now, the Targeted Support Fund is a one year programme focused on the fifty areas of England that are most at risk of increased deprivation during the recession.
Local services in these areas, with an annual income of £30,000 to £250,000, can apply to their nearest local funder for grants of £10,000 to £40,000.
The programme is funded by the Office of The Third Sector in the Cabinet Office and administered by the Community Development Foundation. It will support a range of services relating to information and guidance; health and wellbeing and employment. Further information on the scheme is available via the links below.

Community Development Foundation
Real Help for Communities: Targeted Support Fund

Awards For All - £42.5m Lottery funds for small community projects across England.
The updated Awards for All programme from the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) has opened, with each country now running its own updated programme. Awards of between £300 and £10,000 are available for grass-roots social and environmental projects that benefit local communities in England.
Applications must be submitted at least 3 months before a project starts and the project must be complete a year after the date of the letter confirming the grant.
Visit the Awards for All website for more information about schemes throughout the UK.

Nationwide Foundation offers £3.2m
No deadline for small grants, deadline of 31st May 2009 for investor programme. The Nationwide Foundation has launched a £3.2m grants programme for charities dealing with financial exclusion, housing issues and homelessness. Elderly people and victims of domestic abuse will be the fund's main beneficiaries.
The Investor Programme will offer 3 year grants of up to £300,000 to charities with annual incomes of up to £10m. One-off grants of up to £5,000 for charities with incomes below £500,000 will be offered through the small grants programme. Learn more about the application process at the Nationwide Foundation website



£5,000 available for youth-led media projects
Applications open from May 1st 2009
Communication charity the Media Trust has launched a £1.2m fund offering grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to small charities to run youth-led media projects.
Mini Mediabox is for grassroots and community organisations with a relatively small turnover, designed to enable smaller organisations that help young people to communicate through print, TV, film, radio and online. Full guidelines and application forms are available from the Media Box website

Grants to improve neighbourhood security
The Safer Homes Fund has been launched by the government in association with Community Alliance organisations Bassac, Development Trusts Association and Community Matters. This will provide grants between £10,000 and £100,000 to develop safety programmes and support new, locally-run social enterprises, particularly in areas of high crime. For application details, visit the Community Alliance website

Sport England Funding Changes
Sport England has launched a new website which outlines the new available funding streams. The application forms are all available for downloading and the process is explained in simple terms, making it easier, and quicker, to apply.
The funding programmes are Small Grants, Sportsmatch, Innovation Fund, Rural Communities (this is the first of their themed funding rounds) and Sustainable Facilities Fund. For more information please see the Sports England Website.

Local Food Grants Available
Grants of between £2000 and £300,000 pounds are available to organisations such as community groups, social enterprises, parish and town councils and schools, to fund food-related projects that make locally grown food more accessible and affordable to local communities. For more details see www.localfoodgrants.org/index.php/grants

Peter De Haan Grants Available
The Peter De Haan Charitable Trust supports charitable organisations whose objective is to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK. There are three funding categories: Social Welfare, The Environment and The Arts (grants are not available for the promotion of a specific religion). Grants can be for up to three years and can be applied for on a continuous basis. See www.pdhct.org.uk/home.html

Grundy Homes Charity Offers Assistance in Southport
The Grundy Homes Charity is able to distribute assistance, financial or otherwise, to people over 60 who are resident in the Southport area. Bequests have included home safety equipment and adaptations to bathrooms. Southport-based clergy are asked to approach with details of any parishioners in the area who may require assistance. Contact roddykes@aol.com or call 01704568466.






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Welcome

Welcome to our new funding opportunities page. This page provides links to outside agencies that may be able to help your church and community. These links are provided for information purposes and the Diocese cannot be held responsible for dialogue between individuals, groups and outside agencies.