Connecting Communities in Berkshire

Leave a comment 31/01/2019 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

Information courtesy of Slough CVS, Reading Voluntary Action & Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham Involve

Big Lottery Fund — Reaching Communities

Reaching Communities make grants of over £10,000 in England, supporting organisations with great ideas that enable communities to thrive.

The grants are awarded to voluntary and community organisations or social enterprises for up to five years. They can fund project activities, operating costs, organisational development and capital costs.

Find out more about the Big Lottery Fund — Reaching Communities

If you are interested in attending a one-to-one session with Rochelle Buisson, Funding Officer – Thames Valley at Slough CVS, please leave your name, organisation and telephone number here

Windrush Taskforce and exceptional payments

In April 2018, the Home Secretary established the Windrush Taskforce to make immediate arrangements for those who needed help to confirm their immigration status and make it easier to access support.

As part of the support the Taskforce offers, there are a few urgent and exceptional cases where it is appropriate to provide financial assistance in advance of the launch of a Windrush compensation scheme in 2019. This policy will remain in place until the compensation scheme is operational.

For a case to be considered under this exceptional payment scheme they must fulfil the following conditions:

The person is part of the Windrush cohort (as defined in the Commonwealth Taskforce Scheme);
There is a compelling reason why this cannot wait for the full compensation scheme; and
The circumstances of the claim are exceptional – (should support the claimant’s life, dignity or ability to return to the UK in an urgent circumstance).

Other factors to be considered where relevant:

Whether the claimant has previously been denied entry to the UK;
Whether the claimant has access to alternative funds or there are other exceptional circumstances;
The cost should normally be less than £5,000.

Anyone who considers they may be eligible for this assistance should contact the taskforce at Freephone: 0800 678 1925 or email: commonwealthtaskforce@homeoffice.gov.uk

Once a request for an urgent and exceptional payment has been received, the Vulnerable Persons Team within the Taskforce will undertake an initial assessment. This will be considered and prioritised; we aim to advise the claimant of the outcome within ten working days and earlier if possible, with payment made no later than 14 days after if the application is successful.

Download the full guidance here.

£10M Veterans’ Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £10M to support Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Autumn Budget 2018. This Fund is being delivered by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which also delivers the £10M per year Covenant Fund.

The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund aims to give veterans more choice and control over their own personal recovery journeys; enabling veterans to take part in activities that are personally meaningful, while receiving good support with their mental health and wellbeing needs.

The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund has two programmes, the Positive Pathways Programme; and the Strategic Pathways Programme.

EU Settlement Scheme Grant Funding

The Home Office has up to £9 million of grant funding to be awarded to voluntary and community sector organisations willing to support vulnerable EU citizens and their family members with making EU Settlement Scheme applications.

Projects can bid for up to £750,000. Funding will be from 1^st April 2019, and all funding must be spent within the 2019/20 financial year.

The deadline for applications is 1^st February 2019 (12 noon).

Find out more about the EU Settlement Scheme Grant Funding

Heart Research UK and SUBWAY Healthy Heart Grants

Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations to support new, original and innovative projects that actively promote a healthy heart and help to prevent, or reduce, the risk of heart disease in specific groups or communities in the UK. https://heartresearch.org.uk/apply-for-grants/healthy-hearts/

People’s Postcode Trust: open 6 to 20 February 2019

The next round of People’s Postcode Trust funding will open on 6 February 2019. Projects should be related to the following themes:

Poverty prevention
Human rights
Combating discrimination

You can find examples of previous funded projects here.

Who can apply Registered charities can apply for a grant of between £500 and £20,000. Constituted groups (unregistered) and community interest companies can apply for grants of up to £2,000 for projects of 12 months. All groups must have a constitution and their own bank account. The People’s Postcode Trust do not fund:

costs unrelated to the project
restricted membership organisations
projects that promote religion
schools, play groups and PTAs.

For a full criteria list, see the link below.

How to apply The funding is in two stages:

Stage 1 is an expression of interest (EOI) of 500 words about your project.
Stage 2 is a more detailed application.

For further information and how to apply click here (the application will appear on this link from 6 February).

Greggs Local Community Projects Fund – open until 28 February 2019

The Greggs Local Community Projects Funding is open for applications until 28 February 2019. They are looking to fun projects that improve resilience within your community. This can include sessional activities/respite support, equipment for sessional activities, trips and residential breaks.

Please note that they do not fund running costs or continuation of existing and ongoing work, or organisations with a turnover of more than £300K. All projects must support a community of interest, that people who are:

disabled or suffering chronic illness
living in poverty
voluntary carers
homeless people
isolated older people
have other demonstrable significant need.

Successful applicants should be able to demonstrate improvements against at least one of the following Key Performance Targets to be successful for a grant:

beneficiaries have decreased social isolation
beneficiaries report improved health and wellbeing
beneficiaries report improved resilience/coping mechanisms
beneficiaries have improved life skills
beneficiaries have improved opportunities.

Further information

Grants of up to £2,000 are available.
Please complete the online application form. You can expect a decision within 8 weeks of the closing date.
Applications are now open: Round 1 closes on 28 February, with decisions being announced on 25 April.

More information and online application form available here.

Raising the Next Generation funding – open until 1 March 2019

The MSE Charity gives grants to not-for-profit organisations that deliver activities which make a lasting impact on how people think, behave and manage their money.

The next funding round entitled ‘Raising the Next Generation’ opens for applications on 4 February and is open until 1 March 2019. Grants will support projects focusing on building financial capability skills through schools-based work or work with migrants, lone parents, victims and survivors of domestic abuse and family outreach services.

Grants of up to £7,500 are available for registered charities, CICs and other voluntary organisations.

Access the grant eligibility quiz here.

See here for more information and the application process.

Children’s Summer Playschemes Funding

Each year the trustees of the Woodward Charitable Trust set aside funds for summer playschemes for children between the ages of 5-16 years.

Trustees only fund programmes that run for a minimum of 2 weeks or 10 days across the summer holidays.
Grants can only be paid to registered charities. If you are not a registered charity, please give full name and address of a registered charity who has agreed to accept a grant on your behalf. Please note we will need a copy of their most recent audited accounts.

Most grants awarded are in the range of £500 to £1,000.

Preference is given to:

small local playschemes that provide a wide-ranging programme of activities
schemes that involve a large number of children
schemes catering for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or that have a disability
schemes that are inclusive such as projects that work with children from a range of backgrounds, abilities and race
schemes where past users are encouraged to come back and help as volunteers

Find out more about the Children’s Summer Playschemes

Heathrow Communities Fund: Communities Together

Are you working to boost the community spirit in your neighbourhood? Do you have ideas for creating a community garden, starting an arts festival, tackling loneliness amongst old people, boosting health and fitness or cleaning up the streets where you live? If so, you could qualify for a grant from our Communities Together programme.

Grants up to £2,500 per year for up to two years for charities, voluntary groups, schools, colleges, and Community Interest Companies working on in Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond, Runnymede, Slough, Spelthorne, South Bucks, or Windsor and Maidenhead.

The Round 2 deadline is on 24th April 2019.

Find out more about the Heathrow Communities Fund: Communities Together

Children in Need: Small Grants

Children in Need’s Small Grants programme is open to charities and not-for-profit organisations applying for any amount up to and including £10,000 oer year for up to 3 years. Deadline 3rd March 2019. Further information can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4fJVTzz5QmQx5rx0S4NVg0Q/small-grants

BlueSpark Foundation

BlueSpark Foundation is a registered charity which supports the education and development of children and young people by providing grants, mostly up to £2,000, for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects.

They provide funds for projects which might not happen at all or would only happen on a lesser scale without their support. Most projects which they support are likely to be initiated or undertaken by schools, colleges or community groups. However, individuals may also apply for a grant and BlueSpark may undertake or initiate projects in its own right.

Find out more about the BlueSpark Foundation

Postcode Lottery Grants

Charities and community groups can now apply for grants of between £500 and £20,000 from various funds from the Postcode Lottery.

There are three trusts which focus on different areas:

People’s Postcode Trust supports projects aimed at promoting human rights, employability and combatting poverty
Postcode Community Trust focuses on initiatives that benefit communities through the delivery of grass-roots health and wellbeing programmes
Postcode Local Trust looks for applications that aim to improve biodiversity and outdoor spaces.

The closing date for all of them is 20^th February 2019.