Thank you to Berkshire CVS’s for the information contained in this article; Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Slough CVS and Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve.

Newly Opened: Berkshire Community Foundation – Vital for Berkshire

We invite applications 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.

When reviewing applications, the following is taken in to consideration:

• Project matches the fund’s criteria
• Amount of funding received in the previous 12 months
• Project timelines
• Outstanding monitoring reports.

If you are interested in applying for funding, please check the who can apply page to see if your organisation is eligible. An Eligibility Quiz is available at the bottom of this page – fill in the Quiz to receive a link to an online Application Form.

• If you have not been funded by BCF before, it is suggested that you also submit a Letter of Recommendation from an organisation you have worked closely with, e.g. your local Centre for Voluntary Services, your Local Authority or a fellow charity.
• Applicants will be informed of the Grants Committee’s decisions by the end of March 2022.
• Please note that Berkshire Community Foundation receives many more applications than we have available funding for, and we cannot guarantee the success of any application.
• We will not consider applications without the required supporting information submitted by the closing date.

Vital for Berkshire Fund – Berkshire Community Foundation (berkshirecf.org)

Next Deadline: Our Spring 2021 round of Vital For Berkshire funding is open for applications from Tuesday 4th January 2022 till 10am on Thursday 10th February 2021.

Wooden Spoon Charity
Projects must fall within Wooden Spoon’s Vision Statement: “Our aim is to make a positive impact on the lives of children and young people through our commitment to quality charitable work”

Schools, charities and not for profit organisations in the UK can apply for funding for equipment that helps mentally, physical and socially disadvantaged children. The funding is made available through the Wooden Spoon Society’s Grants programme and has in the past provided funding for sensory rooms and gardens; playgrounds and outdoor spaces; specialist equipment and facilities; and projects that promote health and wellbeing. 

There is neither a minimum nor a maximum grant level. However, it is unlikely that a project of a physical nature that is under £5,000 will have sufficient substance and scale to qualify under the ‘projected lifespan’ rule. Wooden Spoon’s contribution may be up to 100% of the cost, though beneficiary organisations will be encouraged, where practicable, to raise a proportion themselves.

In exceptional cases a project spend of less than £5,000 may be approved if it can be shown that without Wooden Spoon’s grant the project would not go ahead or if the making of the grant would result in the region concerned being able to leverage substantial additional support or publicity for Wooden Spoon in the area.

Apply for a grant: Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby | Wooden Spoon.

Next Deadline: Rolling

ESFA Community Training Grants: Thames Valley Berkshire

We want to support projects in Thames Valley Berkshire as the area is home to some of the many deprived local authorities such as Slough and Reading, resulting in higher levels of unemployment and economically inactive individuals. Through the ESFA Community Training Grants we hope that localised solutions can be implemented in the Thames Valley Berkshire area to address these issues and to ensure that residents can access the employment opportunities being created in the local economy.

Thames Valley Berkshire:

• West Berkshire
• Reading
• Bracknell
• Wokingham
• Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
• Slough

Community Training grants between £5,000 and £20,000 are available for projects supporting people who are unemployed or economically inactive, move closer towards employment.

We fund a range of innovative projects which help prepare participants for work by providing opportunities to learn and upskill in anything from industry-specific training to developing soft-skills. Participants must be over 16 years or age and eligible to work in the UK.

• Expression of Interest applicants must be either third sector organisations or small organisations (less than 49 employees).
• Your organisation must have an annual turnover of less than €10 million Euros, please see currency convertor.
• Participants must be over 16 years of age and eligible to work in the UK.

ESFA Community Training Grants: Thames Valley Berkshire – Groundwork

Next Deadline: Applications for the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP are open . The deadline for this round of funding is 10 am, Friday 21st January 2022.

The Beaverbrook Foundation

One of the areas that the Foundation has increasingly concentrated on has been supporting small charitable projects; recognising that it is often more difficult to raise a few thousand to refurbish a church hall than it is to raise millions for a major public building. Our experience shows that it is often the small donations to the small charities that make a big difference.

The Beaverbrook Foundation makes charitable donations based on the following criteria:

• Donations can be made for capital expenditure, i.e. to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as buildings, fixtures and fittings, machinery, furniture and other equipment; for revenue/running costs; and for special projects.
• The trustees will not normally consider grants to cover expenditure that has already been incurred or committed.
• The Trustees promote the concept of match funding, and may make a payment conditional upon the applicant obtaining the remaining funding from other sources.
• The Trustees are able to make grants to all faith organisations, and are not willing to discriminate against any charity due to its focus on race, nationality, sexual orientation or age.
• Grants are made, at the discretion of the Trustees, for charitable purposes including those that would have reflected the interests of the first Lord Beaverbrook.
• We only accept applications for donations from registered charities.

Grants – Beaverbrook Foundation

Screwfix Foundation

Grants are available to UK registered charities for projects that fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and community facilities for those in need across the UK. Further details here: https://www.screwfix.com/help/screwfixfoundation/

The True Colours Trust

UK Small Grants

This programme is designed to support excellent local organisations and projects that work with:

disabled children and young people;
children and young people with life-limiting conditions;
and their families.
It provides grants of up to £10,000, although many grants are smaller than this.

The programme is open to applications at any time. We aim to respond to your application with a final decision within six weeks. Further details here: https://www.truecolourstrust.org.uk/small-grants-uk/

Social Enterprise Support Fund

Essential financial support for social enterprises recovering from COVID-19.  Applications open Monday 28th February. 

Provides grants to help social enterprises rebuild from COVID-19. Established in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and five social enterprise support agencies.  

‘We want to reach the most marginalised communities and to promote inclusion. We want to support social enterprises that are helping communities affected by COVID-19 to recover, and to help social enterprises themselves to recover and rebuild their trading.’ More information here: https://socialenterprisesupportfund.org.uk/

Morrisons Foundation

Grants are available to registered charities for new projects which directly improve the lives of local people or communities, especially those that are vulnerable or disadvantaged, in England, Scotland or Wales. Further details here: https://www.morrisonsfoundation.com/grant-funding-request/

Co-op Community Fridge Fund
Deadline: 2 February 2022
Grants are available to non-profit organisations across the UK to establish a new Community Fridge to minimise food waste.  Not-for-profit groups across the UK can now apply for grants of £4,000 to cover all costs associated with establishing a new Community Fridge.

Arts Council England – Let’s Create Jubilee Fund
Deadline: N/A
Grants are available to local not-for-profit groups in England delivering creative and cultural activities as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations in June 2022.

The BlueSpark Foundation
Deadline: N/A
Grants to schools, community groups, clubs, societies and not-for-project organisations which support the education and development of children and young people. The majority of grants awarded will be up to £2,000 but a handful of grants up to £5,000 may be considered.

Shanly Foundation COVID
Deadline: N/A
Registered charities, sports and social clubs and community organisations that help individuals and benefit the local community, including support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the homeless, those with mental health issues and people with physical disabilities, injury or life limiting illness in Bucks, Herts, Surrey and Berks. 

Dying Matters Community Grants Programme 2022

Hospice UK is providing grants to support community-led and culture projects which aim to open up conversations about dying, death and bereavement in new and creative ways at a grassroots level.

Two types of grants are available:

• Small grants up to £999 to run smaller scale activities such as a one-off workshop of poetry, singing, art, crafting, etc.
• Larger project grants between £1,000 and £5,000 to enable larger scale community projects such as theatre productions, community murals or photography exhibits.

Registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIO) and community interest companies (CIC) can apply.Deadline for applications is 21 February 2022 (5pm)

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Newly Opened: Music For All

Are you working in groups and educational organisations within your community? We support projects and initiatives bringing music to communities.

If your group could benefit from a “helping hand” to get established so it can really fulfil its potential and evolve into a sustainable music programme, we can help you.

This round of applications allows for three different types of projects:
1) Projects which are based on electric guitars and/or ukuleles.
2) Projects based on analogue synthesisers.
3) Projects to benefit those with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

• We only support applications within the UK and Ireland
• You are not eligible to apply if you are only in the UK for study purposes
• You will require the support of an independent referee
• We do not fund retrospectively
• We prioritise applications to those most in need
• The process takes around 3 months from application to outcome notification

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

Next Deadline: January 28th 2022

Newly Opened: Sport England – Queens Platinum Jubilee Fund
This fund will make awards, using National Lottery funding, of between £300 and £10,000, from a total pot of up to £5m.
We want to mark and help celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year by supporting projects that bring a community together and provide opportunities for people who may be less physically active.
Therefore, we want organisations to consider how they could work more collaboratively across their community, in order to make the biggest possible impact.
We always have more applications than we’re able to fund and so our priority is to support projects working with people in disadvantaged communities.
We also recognise the pandemic may still be affecting the delivery of projects, either in how they’re delivered or how much they cost to deliver.
You should make sure you consider any such additional cost or delivery changes to ensure you can achieve your aims.
Funds are available for project costs such as facility hire and coaching, as well as for small capital improvements.
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund | Sport England

The Thames Valley Police Museum are holding open mornings on Wednesday’s between 10.00am – 12.00pm you can pop along without making an appointment or paying a visitors fee.

The museum is based in the White House, at The Thames Valley Police Training Centre in Sulhamstead, Nr Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4DX.

The Museum’s collections include displays on the Great Train Robbery and the history of Thames Valley Police.