Thanks to Berkshire’s Council for Voluntary Services for the information contained in this article – Slough CVS, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell inVOLve.

MSE Charity

Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity has announced the theme for its January 2024 grant round is ‘Living with Long Term Challenges’. Deadline: Applications are expected to open on 15 January 2024 and close on 16 February 2024.
This grant round will offer grants of up to £8,000 to support projects focused on improving and delivering personal financial life skills to people living with Long Term Challenges, such as:
• Dementia
• Autism
• Learning Difficulties
• Disabilities
• Caring Responsibilities
• Mental illness
• Brain injury / stroke
Small to medium-sized non-profit organisations with a constitution can apply, including UK registered charities, community interest companies, social enterprises and credit unions. To be eligible, applicants must be based in the UK, looking for funding for UK based activities, have an annual income of less than £750,000 and unrestricted reserves that are less than six months of their running costs.
Applications are usually invited twice a year: in winter and autumn.
Please note that each grant round is limited to the first 40 accepted applications. Previous rounds have closed within a couple of weeks of opening.

The Margaret Dobson Further Education Trust

The Margaret Dobson Further Education Trust was founded from an investment by the late Mrs Margaret Dobson. It was intended as an attempt by her to help young people and others with learning disabilities and other special needs to fulfil their potential, both in educational and practical skills.

The Trust seeks to achieve this by making grants to other charities which are providing services with similar aims. Decisions are made by the Trustees after consideration of written applications. Applications are accepted from UK-registered charities.
The focus of the Trust is the support of organisations’ for young adults with a learning disability, to give them practical skills to better prepare them to be able to lead independent lives.
• Projects that benefit young adults with a learning disability to give them skills to live more independent and fulfilled lives
• Salaries
• Equipment
• Printing and marketing where part of a specific project
• Running costs where it can be shown that the charity may close if not supported at this time.
With limited resources at our disposal, the Trustees will prioritise applications from projects which meet at least two of the following criteria:
• Designed for, and aimed, at people with learning disabilities aged 16 to 25
• Offer the opportunity for people to gain transferable life skills, which may include how to access
support
• Offer employment experience
• Build in accredited training
• Enable social interaction with other people and allow self-expression and confidence-building.
• Applications from smaller organisations which are demonstrating an entrepreneurial approach to a locally identified issue.
The Trust is not large and grants of up to £5,000 are given. The Trustees like to see that an effort has been, or is being, made to source funding from elsewhere. They will only fully fund if necessary

Deadline: 1st January to 31st March

Screwfix Foundation

The Screwfix Foundation is a registered charity set up in 2013. We are passionate about making a difference to communities across the UK. We are a grant giving charity with a clear purpose to support projects that improve, repair and maintain homes and community facilities used by those in need throughout the UK.
The Screwfix Foundation currently offers local registered charities and not for profit organisations funding up to the region of £5,000.
Before applying for funding from The Screwfix Foundation, your organisation MUST:
• Be a registered charity or not for profit organisation.
• Help those in need. This could be by reason of financial hardship, sickness, distress or other disadvantages in the UK.
• Be looking for funding to support projects that relate to the repair, maintenance, improvement or construction of. homes, community buildings and other buildings.
Screwfix Foundation | Screwfix

Deadline: All applications are reviewed individually by our team on a quarterly basis, the review dates are in March, June, September and December.

King Charles III Charitable Fund

The Fund awards small grants of up to £5,000 per year to approximately 100 community-based organisations each year. To apply for a small grant, your organisation must:
• Be a UK-registered non-profit organisation
• Have an annual income of less than £1 million
• Have completed two years of activity
• Have less than 6 months free reserves
• If seeking funding for a project, the total cost of the project should not exceed £200,000
The Trustees oversee all grantmaking, awarding grants across six funding themes:
• Environment: We support organisations working to protect and promote the environment through efforts including habitat restoration, species conservation, carbon savings and sequestration and circular economies.
• Countryside: We support non-profit organisations investing in the economic and environmental future of the countryside. This includes grants to support sustainable and regenerative agriculture, nature friendly farming practices and a brighter future for those who live and work in rural communities.
• Social Inclusion: We support non-profit organisations working to promote social inclusion for vulnerable and marginalised communities through projects that relieve poverty, loneliness and other social issues.
• Health and Wellbeing: We support non-profit organisations working to improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities. Our grants have enabled people with disabilities, those facing life limiting illnesses and people from disadvantaged and marginalised communities to benefit from improved physical and mental health.
• Heritage and Conservation: We support the preservation of historic and culturally important buildings and traditional craftmanship, together with the sustainable regeneration of communities and the built environment across the globe.
• Education: We support education, training and employability opportunities through which young people and adults can fulfil their potential. This includes grants to non-profit organisations working to narrow the attainment gap, support broader education through music, the arts, sports and outdoor pursuits, as well as investing in teachers continuing professional development. Deadline: Applications will next open 8th – 22nd February 2024.

Berkshire Community Foundation – Vital for Berkshire

Our Vital for Berkshire fund aims to support charities, community groups and projects that work to tackle the most salient and pressing issues within Berkshire’s communities at any given time.
We invite applications for grants of up to £5,000 from charities, community groups and projects that support vital needs in Berkshire, such as (but not limited to): physical and mental health, supporting young and vulnerable people or groups, combating isolation, tackling poverty and disadvantage, offering equal opportunities for all, and more.
Deadline: The fund closes 10am Tuesday 13th February 2024

Don’t Forget: Berkshire Community Foundation – Tackling Poverty in Wokingham

Managed on behalf of Wokingham United Charities, the Tackling Poverty in Wokingham Borough fund is now open for applications. Grants of up to £10,000 will be available.
The fund is designed to support voluntary, community groups and charities in breaking the cycle of poverty amongst individuals and families in Wokingham Borough. The work might include supporting:
• Access to education and training
• Access to employment
• Money managing and debt advice
• Mental health and well-being
• Access to food and other provisions
Deadline: The fund closes 10am Tuesday 13th February 2024

Greene King – Proud To Pitch In Fund

About Us: We’re donating 10p from every pint of Greene King IPA and 50p from every 4x500ml can pack sold* to support local clubs from the ground up, with cash grants to help them continue the sport they love.
Criteria: For registered charities, community groups, social enterprises, community amateur sports clubs, and other organisations to deliver grassroots sports activities that positively impact local communities. Priority will be given to organisations that can demonstrate how their sports club or project benefits members of the local community, and projects that will have a long-term impact.
Grant Size: £4,000
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2024

Tesco Stronger Starts

If you are a school, registered charity or not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for up to £1,500 with Tesco Stronger Starts to fund projects that provide food and support to young people across the UK.

Delamere Community Grants

Applications close on Thurs 29th February.
The Delamere Dairy Foundation is an independent registered charity with a clear purpose of giving back to local and wider communities through the provision of discretionary grants and other financial assistance. Applications for grants of up to £5,000 are welcome from charities and organisations whose purpose fits with the objects of the Delamere Dairy Foundation for the benefit of the public.

Rewilding Innovation Fund

Applications close on Thurs 29th February.
This exciting fund helps to foster the scale and ambition of rewilding projects, enabling large-scale restoration of ecosystems. We want to remove barriers to rewilding across Britain. Whether your site or project is in the early planning stages or looking to try out a new approach, you can apply. We choose the projects we consider will have the highest impact on people and nature, on land and sea, with opportunities for shared learning with the Rewilding Network. Funding of up £15,000 is available for projects based in Britain covering cover at least 40 hectares of contiguous land.

Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust – Elderly Grants

About Us: Established in 1979, the Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust was set up with two distinct beneficiaries in mind; to prevent cruelty to equines and relieve any suffering and stress to such animals; and/or to provide social services and help for the relief of the aged.
Criteria: Applications are welcomed from charities supporting the elderly frail. Whilst the Trustees recognise that people aged over 65 traditionally may have been considered old, this arbitrary age cut-off rarely defines true old age in the modern era. Applications are therefore expected to demonstrate clearly defined benefits to older people who are frail. For more information on frailty please see: https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/introduction-to-frailty. At the next round of applications, the Board of Trustees will be focusing support to projects dedicated to addressing the needs of older people with advanced dementia (and their carers) in domestic, community and formal care settings in the UK.
Grant Size: Not stated
Deadline for applications: 6pm on 9 February 2024

National Forest Society Grants

About Us: The Forest Society Grant scheme will fund new ways to engage with National Forest residents and communities and those within the immediate surrounding area.
Criteria: Grants are available to businesses, voluntary
and community groups and charities for projects that support the health and wellbeing of residents and communities within and around the National Forest. Your projects should support new and diverse audiences, increase participation, and use local woodlands and linked greenspaces to harness the benefits of spending time outdoors and connecting with nature to improve our wellbeing.
Grant Size: £2,000 to £4,000
Deadline for applications: 19 February 2024

Community Tree Planting Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Grants are available for community groups, charities, community interest companies, schools, and other organisations to support tree-planting projects across the United Kingdom. The Tree Council and Network Rail are once again working in partnership to deliver a programme of community tree planting for the 2023/24 tree planting season. We will award funding for projects in three bands; Main grants for projects between £2,500 and £5,000, large grants for projects between £5,000 and £15,000, and/or flagship grants for projects over £15,000.
If you are interested in applying, please email grants@treecouncil.org.uk to find out more.

Boots Charitable Trust

About Us: Supporting local communities across the UK. Boots Charitable Trust is an independent registered charity wholly funded by Boots UK Limited. We want to be there to care for people, customers and communities everywhere and that’s why in 2023, we expanded the Trust’s reach to support projects across the UK, as well as in our home county of Nottinghamshire.
Criteria: Registered charities can apply for grants of between £100 and £10,000. Grants of up to £5,000 are available for smaller voluntary organisations whose income is less than £5,000 per year, who are not yet required to register with the Charity Commission.
To be eligible, projects must meet at least one of Trust’s four funding priorities:
• Health: Community healthcare, such as homecare or support for sufferers of medical conditions, and health education and prevention
• Lifelong learning: Local literacy and numeracy projects
• Community development: For example, supporting councils in providing voluntary services
• Social care: Personal, social or community activities or schemes.
The funding can be used for most expenditure items, including salary and running costs. Large building or construction projects will not be funded, although minor structural improvements and refurbishments would be considered.
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: 28 February 2024