A new funding scheme will soon be opening to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in England improve their energy efficiency.

The VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme is part of a package of over £100 million of support being delivered by the Government to help front line delivery organisations with the increased cost of living.

This scheme will have two elements:
• Eligible organisations will be able to apply for the cost and delivery of an independent energy assessment. This will help them identify how to reduce their bills and where to get further support.

• Organisations with an energy assessment may then be eligible to apply for a capital grant to install recommended energy efficiency measures in their premises.

Full eligibility criteria will be published when the scheme opens, but organisations must be based in England, be a VCSE, deliver frontline services and not be suitable for blended finance or loan support through other schemes. Priority will be given to organisations for whom energy is the biggest concern and those directly supporting individuals and communities with critical needs, particularly those related to the rising cost of living.

Applications for free independent energy assessments will open in December. Applications for the installation of energy efficiency measures will open in January 2024.

Practical support will be available to help organisations manage capital installation projects. All measures will need to be installed and paid for by March 2025.

More information will be available on www.vcseenergyefficiencyscheme.org.uk soon but interested groups can register to be alerted when the scheme goes live by visiting:
www.groundwork.org.uk/vcseenergyefficiencyscheme.

The Community Champions Awards recognise the amazing and valuable contributions local residents make to West Berkshire. They are an opportunity to say thank you to people who have done something special for their local community and will honour those individuals and community groups who have gone above and beyond to support residents throughout West Berkshire this year.

The award categories for 2023 are as follows:

• The Pat Eastop MBE Junior Citizen of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year
• Community Group of the Year
• Lifetime Achievement Award

“The Community Champion Awards are really important to us. It’s a great chance to say ‘thank you’ to the people and groups who help and support others in West Berkshire.

These awards celebrate those helping their communities and honour those who do good things in our district. The Community Champion Awards recognise our unsung heroes in all their forms and the quality of nominations is always high. I would urge residents to take a few moments to nominate these wonderful people undertaking great work in our communities, no matter how big or small.

To nominate someone or for further details please click here.

Deadline 11th December 2023

The Henry Smith Charity – Strengthening Communities

The Strengthening Communities grant programme aims to support small, grass roots organisations who are embedded in the community, working within the most deprived areas of the UK. Through this grant programme we want to make sure that our funding reaches organisations that provide services which are widely accessible to the whole community and respond to, and address the needs of the people living in it.
We fund established organisations with a track record of delivering services directly to beneficiaries and want to fund work that enables:
• People from across the community to participate in activities which improve connectedness, opportunities and wellbeing
• People who are excluded, vulnerable or facing other forms of hardship to have access to community-based services that support positive lasting change
• A stronger, active, more engaged community.
UK only, both physically based and working within or immediately next to an area within the 10% most deprived areas in England and Scotland and within or immediately next to an area within the 15% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland and Wales. £20k – £70k per year for 1-3 years.

Strengthening Communities Grants from The Henry Smith Charity Deadline: Rolling

The Chapman Charitable Trust

The Chapman Charitable Trust makes grants of either £1,000 or £2,000 to UK registered charities which:
• promote physical and mental wellbeing
• conserve our natural environment and promote the sustainable use of resources
• increase the accessibility of the arts, especially for young people
We only support registered UK charities and if you are not a UK charity then regretfully we cannot consider an application from you (unless you are an educational or research establishment with charitable status).
Examples of applications we will not consider include those related to:
• Individuals and their welfare, whether in the UK or abroad, including sponsorship of education, research or travel
• Community Interest Companies (CICs)
• Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)
• Cooperative Societies and not-for-profit organisations
Deadline: Ongoing. Applications are reviewed twice a year, in March and September. Applications received before the beginning of those months will be considered at the relevant meeting.
Chapman Charitable Trust. Deadline: Rolling

UK Government – Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)

Decarbonisation of homes and small non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. Upfront capital grants of up to £7,500 to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems including heat pumps and biomass boilers. Open to organisations, including companies, and individuals. Grants £5,000 to £7,500. Closing 31 Dec 27. Click here for more information.

The Community Ownership Fund

About Us: The government is providing £150 million over 4 years to support community groups in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets and amenities at risk of being lost.
Criteria: UK community organisations to take on the sustainable ownership of community assets such as community buildings, community shops and parks that are at risk of being lost to a local area.
Grant Size: Charities can bid for grants of up to £50,000 in revenue funding, and the government will match fund up to £250,000 in capital costs.
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2023

Find out more about The Community Ownership Fund

The Hinrichsen Foundation

About Us: This is a charitable incorporated organisation mainly devoted to the promotion and funding of new music.
Criteria: Funding is available to support those undertaking projects to promote music, particularly contemporary music, in the UK. Multi-year partnerships may be considered and applications may come from individuals, organisations, or charities.
Grant Size: one-off small grants (generally £500 – £2,500) or for larger projects or concert series (generally £2,000 and over).
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2023

Find out more about The Hinrichsen Foundation

Gardening With Disabilities Trust

About Us: We aim to help people back into gardening in spite of disability. We give out grants so that people can adapt their gardens and make gardening possible.
Criteria: Typically we can pay for raised beds, poly tunnels, greenhouses
tools, small-scale garden adaptations such as access pathways, plants, shrubs and compost. We cannot pay for fencing, gates, seating, clearing, ongoing maintenance, turfing,
and/or tree removal.
Grant Size: Not stated
Deadline for applications: Rolling fund

Find out more about Gardening With Disabilities Trust

The Hubbub and Starbucks Nature Fund

Together with Starbucks, Hubbub is offering 50 groups up to £6,000 of funding to develop green space initiatives and increase access to nature. Groups will be partnered with a local Starbucks store, who will support projects in a number of ways.

We will support groups to create or enhance green spaces. Applications must meet the criteria and relate to any one or more of these four themes:
• Increasing Access: To bring green space to an area where there is limited access to nature, e.g., by creating or enhancing a community garden, a green roof, increasing biodiversity in an urban area, or other similar ideas. And/or to encourage a particular demographic who might not otherwise or rarely access an existing green space to visit.
• Brining People Together: To bring people together and create community connection in/around a shared green space. Think activities like community growing, plant sharing, coffee and chats, or youth activities.
• Upskilling the Community: To teach community members new skills and encourage health and wellbeing through spending time in green space. Think workshops and/or events taking place in green spaces, how-to guides on increasing nature connection, or training around nature-based activities.
• Building Climate Resilience: To make an existing space more climate resilient and engage the local community on climate issues. Think changes to buildings and urban spaces that increase resilience to heatwaves, drought, coastal flooding, or sea-level rise, while creating community connection in the green space.
The Nature Hubs Fund is part of Hubbub and Starbucks’ wider ambition to build stronger, greener communities across the UK. This fund will improve access and connection to nature in the communities Starbucks serves, by creating green spaces within a 5km radius of Starbucks stores.

Hubbub – The Nature Hubs Fund

Deadline: Applications close on Thursday the 11th of January, 3pm

Archive Resilience Grants

Applications close Fri 19th January. Grants of up to £20,000 are available to public sector bodies, registered charities, and other not-for-profit organisations in
the UK to support archives to be adaptable, resilient and sustainable, and contribute to communities and the economy. Learn more.

Wilfred Francis Southall Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We award grants to charities that are registered
in the UK and working in the areas of quaker work / witness, peace / reconciliation, environmental action / sustainability, and/or social action.
The majority of our grants are for one-year and we will consider appeals for both core and capital costs. Generally speaking, we look most favourably upon grassroots initiatives and projects that encourage wider support of the categories listed above and where grants of up to £5,000 will make a quantifiable difference. We also prefer charities who make good use of volunteers, who show creativity and innovation in their work and who promote social justice, inclusion, diversity and challenge structural inequalities and injustice. Learn more.

Matthew Good Foundation

About Us: Since 2011, we have been empowering employees of the John Good Group to support many good causes in the UK and around the world by nominating good causes for funding. However, in 2021, our tenth year, we wanted to extend our impact and allow small charities, community projects and social entrepreneurs to come straight to us.
Criteria: Projects that have a positive impact on communities, people or the environment.
Grant Size: share £15,000 between 5 shortlisted projects
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2023
Find out more about the Matthew Good Foundation

Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity

About Us: Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity has announced the theme for its January 2024 grant round is ‘Living with Long Term Challenges’.
Criteria: 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.
Grant Size: up to £8,000
Deadline for applications: Applications are expected to open on 15 January 2024 and close on 16 February 2024.
Find out more about the Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity

Newly Opened: Music for All

Working with Children Age 0-4 – This award is open to community group applicants, providing music-making opportunities to young-people aged between 0-4. We welcome applications from groups operating in caring as well as more formal educational settings. A grant of up to £2150 is available for this award. Applicants should be able to demonstrate ways in which they nurture underprivileged young talent through their work.

Groups Working with those Experiencing Financial Hardship – This award is open to community group applicants, providing music-making opportunities to those facing financial hardship of any age group and background. A grant of up to £2150 is available for this award. Applicants should be able to demonstrate ways in which they nurture musical talent through their work.

Choral Groups – This award is for community-based groups providing choral singing opportunities. We welcome applications from groups operating in caring, community and formal educational settings. A grant of up to £2150 is available for this award. Applicants should be able to demonstrate ways in which they nurture underprivileged individuals through their choral singing work.

Electric Guitars – Open to applications from groups using electric guitars to support communities in deprived or marginalised areas and developing music education for those living in the area. Please note that the electric guitars are not supplied with amplifiers or cases.

Ukulele Bundle – This bundle offer is open to applications from community and educational groups working with deprived or marginalised communities and developing music education for those living in the area. Please note that a bundle offer of 3x soprano, 1x tenor and 1x bass-baritone ukuleles will be awarded to each successful applicant. NB no cases are provided.
Behinger Multi-purpose Headphones – This headphone offer is open to applications from community and educational groups working with disadvantaged communities and developing music making opportunities within their area. Please note that a bundle of 25 headphones will be awarded to each successful applicant.

Funding for Music Projects | Music Grants – Music for All | Music For All

Deadline: Applications for these awards categories should be made by 8am Monday 18 December 2023.

Cosaraf Charitable Foundation

Grants of up to £2,000 are available to charities, housing associations, schools and social services providing support for individuals and families across the UK who are in financial need. The Grant will support individuals and families who have exhausted all other sources of funding and are struggling with everyday costs, such as basic living expenses, household items and utilities, work or education-related expenses, or rent arrears.

Priority will be given to:
• The most financially excluded people
• Families over individuals
• Those with caring responsibilities
• Items that will make the most difference to the individual/family’s long-term future.
Other than in exceptional cases, Hardship Grants will only be made available for:
• Household items (white goods and occasionally other items i.e., sofas, wardrobes etc.),
• Basic living expenses (utilities or food)
• Work or education-related expenses (interview clothes, school uniforms, laptops)
• Rent arrears and council tax arrears, but only where there is a clear and obvious risk of homelessness (for rent arrears involving a social landlord please outline what support has already been offered to your tenant)
• Contribution to immigration-related costs, where the current immigration status directly causes financial hardship to the applicant.
Hardship Grants – COSARAF

Deadline: Applications can be made at any time and are assessed every six weeks.

Thanks to Berkshire’s CVS’s for the information contained in this article – Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve and Slough CVS

A report this month published in the Rural Services Network detailed the response from the government to the EFRA (Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs) Committee report which was published in May. 

Despite the EFRA Report finding worrying conclusions as a result of its research, the Government has found that the specific mental health needs of rural communities ‘do not require targeted action and consider that existing provisions are sufficient to safeguard rural mental health.’ Do you agree?

Key findings of the EFRA Inquiry and recommendations are:

• Rural Communities’ needs are not fully reflected in mental health policy and services and national NHS planning.
• NHS mental health services are often not fairly accessible for rural communities, with services largely centred in towns and cities creating barriers to access, compounded by the limitations and weaknesses of rural public transport and digital connectivity.
• Far too much avoidable demand ends up at the door of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in rural areas because of a fundamental lack of social infrastructure and youth services.

To read the full article from RSN Online click here.

At CCB we know the importance of having local spaces and accessible places for the community to socialise in and make those important connections that improve our mental health and make us feel less isolated. That is why we are busy putting together a two-year project to deliver more Warm & Welcoming Places in our rural communities, where residents can spend time with others in comfortable surroundings with access to refreshments and activities of interest. If you’d like to know more about the ambitions of our project you can read more (and possibly donate) on The Good Exchange. Click here.