A free online course to get you job ready in #Slough.
Funding Opportunities in September 2020
Tesco’s Bags of Help Covid-19 Communities Fund
The fund is open till the 18th September 2020 to registered charities, & community organisations, schools, health bodies, Parish, Town and community councils, social enterprises, social housing organisations across the UK. Grants of £500 are available to organisations that support vulnerable groups whose demand for services has been increased or disrupted, or which need to put new services in place. tescobagsofhelp.org.uk
Cash 4 Clubs
Grants from £500 to £5000 are available for local sports clubs throughout the UK to improve facilities, buy new kit and equipment, gain coaching qualifications and increase sporting opportunities. Apply by 8th September 2020: cash-4-clubs.com
COVID-19 Support
Grants are available to UK registered charities and organisations with charitable status that are working to make a difference to the lives of disabled children and their families in the UK. The grant helps organisations to adapt their services to the new situation and to continue or resume supporting families safely. Please refer to the new guidelines
& apply online. Deadline: 21st September 2020. truecolourstrust.org.uk/small-grants
Individual & Community Project Funding
Many projects and initiatives take place throughout the UK that all aim to bring music to their community. Most would benefit from a “helping hand” to fulfil their potential in
becoming truly sustainable music programmes. Grants are available of up to £500 for individuals & £2500 for communities. Deadline Nov 1st 2020: musicforall.org.uk
Asda Foundation COVID-19 Grants
Grants are available for care homes, hospices, hospitals and homeless shelters supporting residents/patients in facilities in the UK, who are struggling and unable to provide their own toiletries either through lack of funds or access to family support as a result of the current restrictions. Maximum Value: £500
The ASDA Foundation’s grants programmes aim to support grassroots charitable organisations working at the heart of its stores’ communities. Registered charities, community groups, voluntary organisations and other not-for-profit organisations in the UK can apply for support with initiatives that will make a real long-term difference, benefiting the wider community. network.org.uk/asda-foundation
Hardship Fund
The British Red Cross Hardship Fund aims to address acute hardship and suffering to the those who are vulnerable, providing a short-term financial safety net for people most impacted by the pandemic. The fund aims to support up to 13,000 of the most vulnerable over a three-month period. Hardship Fund Info here
Magic Little Grants 2020
The fund will be awarding grants of £500 to community projects to support and inspire people to participate in sports or exercise. The primary aim is improving the physical health of participants. Groups must have an income below £250,000 or be less than one year old.
They are happy to support projects that support people to stay active during social distancing, such as online fitness classes delivered via video conferencing software or Youtube.
Applications will receive any funding within two months of submitting a complete application. The deadline for applications will be 31st October 2020.
Read more
Comic Relief Covid-19 Community Grant – open until end of December 2020
Grants of up to £4,000 are available for local grassroots organisations with ‘lived experience’ to respond to the current local need as a response to the Covid-19 emergency, and it may also assist charities through short term organisational recovery.
Who can apply?
Your organisation must be a grass roots, not for profit voluntary or community organisations (including registered charities/companies) with an annual turnover of under £250,000 and include members with lived experience. Please note that they are particularly interested in receiving applications from charities who support BAME and LGBTQ communities, who have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 crisis. For further information please click here.
More than a Pub: The Community Pub Business Support Programme
Want to take ownership of your local pub and run it for the benefit of the community? Need help getting it into community hands? The More than a Pub programme provides business development support to enable the community control of pubs in both rural and urban communities across England. For further details please click here.
Allen Lane Foundation
Grants are available to small registered charities, voluntary groups and charitable organisations in the UK for work that makes a difference to people’s lives as opposed to simply alleviating the symptoms or current problems and should aim to reduce isolation, stigma and discrimination. For further information please click here.
This post will be updated regularly over the month so please keep checking in with it our thanks goes to Berkshire’s brilliant VCS’s for the source of our funding news – Reading Voluntary Action, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve, Slough CVS and Volunteer Centre West Berkshire.
The KFC Foundation Community Grants
The KFC Foundation is funding applications for £200-£2000 from organisations which:
• Benefit young people aged 11-25 years old.
• Supports those in a position of social disadvantage (i.e. care leavers, those experiencing homelessness, young carers, young parents, young people at risk of or with experience of the criminal justice system).
• Empower young people by providing spaces that allow young people to feel safe and secure, helping them to unlock talent, build life skills, provide mentoring and improve their chances to gain meaningful employment.
• Are local to a KFC restaurant? (Find Your Local KFC)
• Will demonstrate positive results from their project within 12 months of our funding being received.
Expressions of interest must be submitted via a two-minute video and a short application form by the 25th September 2020. See https://www.kfc.co.uk/kfc-foundation-community-grants
The Rag Doll Foundation – Cultural sector work with children and young people
Rag Doll Foundation supports quality arts engagement projects where the concerns of childhood can be heard. A variety of art forms can include: dance, drama, ceramics, creative play, film, music, puppetry and storytelling. Eligible projects need to support equality of opportunity, can include families. Preference for projects committed to listening to children and allowing the perceptions and feelings of children to be better understood. The main interest is in applications involving early years, those for older children (up to 18 years) will also be considered. Next deadline to apply for small grants to £1,500 by 30 October 2020. Main grants up to £50,000 over 3 years follow a rolling programme. See http://www.ragdollfoundation.org.uk/portfolio/grant-giving
Masonic Charitable Foundation
Children and Young People grant
Open to charities helping disadvantaged children and young people to overcome the barriers they face. For large grants (£10,000 to 60,000 for one – three years) apply by 31 October 2020. Next deadline for small grants (£1,000 to £15,000 for one- three years) 23 December 2020. https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/
Later Life grant
Open to charities working to reduce loneliness and isolation in later life
For large grants (£10,000 to 60,000 for one – three years) apply by 31 October 2020l. Next deadline for small grants (£1,000 to £15,000 for one- three years) 23 December 2020. https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/
Bracknell Town Council Annual Community Grants
Grants up to £6000 available to local organisations involved in delivering valued services to the Bracknell community. Apply by 1st October 2020. Find details, guidance and application form on https://bracknelltowncouncil.gov.uk/services/community-grants/
The Parish Council offers grants for purposes that it considers to be ‘in the interests of, and will bring direct benefit to, their area, or any part of it, or all or some of its inhabitants” Applications for 2021 will open in September 2020. Applications for 2021 will open in September 2020. For details see http://warfieldparishcouncil.gov.uk/Grants_25300.aspx
Church’s Preventative Maintenance Micro-Grant
Listed & unlisted churches and meeting houses can apply for grants of up to £500 (excl. VAT) towards the cost of building’s maintenance services. The grant covers up to 50% of the cost of works. To be eligible Churchs can book one of the following services through the MaintenanceBooker website for:
• Rainwater goods maintenance;
• Lightning protection system repairs;
• Asbestos removal;
• Masonry repairs and high level maintenance.
Rolling programme see https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/preventative-maintenance-micro-grants-apply
COVID Small Grants Programme
Grants up to £2000 are available to help local organisations respond to the immediate needs of relaunching or adapting their service and activities following lockdown. These include preventative measures such as physical barriers and screens, PPE; consultancies to assist with relaunch activities; training of trustees, volunteers or staff and developing marketing materials to promote relaunch or changes to service or activity. Eligible applicants must be working in the area of benefit. See earleycharity.org.uk for details and to apply. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Warfield PC Grants
The Parish Council offers grants for purposes that it considers to be ‘in the interests of, and will bring direct benefit to, their area, or any part of it, or all or some of its inhabitants” Applications for 2021 will open in September 2020. For details see warfieldparishcouncil.gov.uk/grant
ESFA Community Training Grants
There is a need for positive interventions to ensure all those furthest from the labour market can access the employment opportunities being created in the local economy. Third sector and small organisations in the Thames Valley & Berkshire can apply for grants between £5,000 and £20,000. Application deadline is extended to 25th October, or apply by 19th October to get feedback on how to strengthen your application: groundwork.org.uk/apply
Safety At HoME IN BERKSHIRE – safe & well visit from royal berks fire & rescue
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s aim is to reduce deaths and injuries from fires, water, road traffic collisions and other emergencies.
We work with all of the communities we serve by raising awareness of fire, road safety and preventative measures. Our aim is to help everyone to minimise the risk of fire and ensure that you know what to do if a fire should start. A Safe and Well Visit is a free service that we provide to eligible residents. Safe and Well visits are tailored to individual needs, relating to health and wellbeing, as well as fire risk reduction. A Safe and Well visit will take place in the home and can be arranged at a convenient time.
To find out more and book a safe and well visit click here: rbfrs.co.uk/safety-at-home
How village halls can be rearranged so they are safer for everyone
by Phillip Vincent, Action with Communities in Rural England
A new, visual reference guide to help those reopening community centres, including village halls, has been published by IF_DO in partnership with Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) and Clarion Futures
Reopening public spaces in compliance with government guidance is a complicated and daunting affair for the uninitiated. No more so than for the 10,000+ voluntary committees who manage village halls across rural England.
How these buildings can be rearranged so they are safe for everyone who uses them is a particularly important consideration. That’s why ACRE has teamed up with architects IF_DO to produce a visually impactive, and easy to use publication that can be referred to alongside specialist support and advice for village halls offered by ACRE Network members.
Covid-19 Safer Community Centres is a free-to-use guide funded by Innovate UK that sets out clear stages of how to safely reopen community centres and village halls across the UK. Visual diagrams illustrate the spatial adaptations required for hiring and other essential services to recommence as safely as possible.
The guide features the measures Hewish and Puxton Village Hall near Weston Super-Mare have taken to prepare for reopening.
Deborah Clarke, ACRE’s Rural Evidence and Village Halls Manager said, “Over the past few months we have been extremely busy interpreting government guidance and providing information to ACRE Network members to make sure village hall committees receive the support they need to safely reopen. This visually attractive guide prepared by IF_DO is an excellent addition to the information already available to village hall committees”.
Thomas Bryans, Director, IF_DO, said “Covid-19 is above all a public health crisis, but it is also one of design. How we occupy and use space have become profound and urgent questions, and design has a vital role to play in helping to answer them. With prolonged or intermittent social distancing likely to be required for the foreseeable future, it is essential that village halls and other public spaces can be adapted to enable their operation in a way that mitigates the risk of transmission. We are delighted to have received funding from Innovate UK to realise this project, and to partner with ACRE and Clarion Futures to develop the Safer Community Centre guide. We are hopeful that it will be of benefit to community groups around the country, and that it will help people to come together again.”
If you help to run a Village Hall or Community Building in Berkshire and are looking for further support please contact our Community Buildings Advisor Kate.Meads@ccberks.org.uk to find out more about our membership service and how we can help.
Supply of affordable homes in the countryside threatened
By Philip Vincent, ACRE
Over two thirds of rural communities in England may not be able to secure any new affordable houses in the future, a coalition of organisations, led by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), has warned.
We are deeply concerned that the government is looking to water down requirements to provide affordable housing – a change that will disproportionately disadvantage many living in the countryside.
For many years, affordable homes could be built in rural communities using two planning policies – as a requirement on open market developments and rural exception sites. However, these mechanisms could be lost because of changes proposed to the current planning system. Such a move would be catastrophic for smaller villages where property prices are already well beyond the reach of many households.
The change is in contradiction to the Prime Minister’s pledge to ‘give the people of this country the homes we need in the places we want to live, at prices we can afford’ as expressed in the Planning White Paper.
ACRE’s Chair, David Emerson CBE said, “We are deeply concerned the government is looking to water down requirements to provide affordable housing – a change that will disproportionately disadvantage many living in the countryside. For communities already struggling to retain the employees and owners of local businesses this is a body blow, quite apart from its impact on the customers and providers of local services and the volunteers who provide the social support for vulnerable residents”.
Rural communities in England already suffer a chronic and acute shortage of affordable homes to buy and rent. Someone living in the countryside on low earnings needs to spend nine times their income to buy a home in the lower end of the market. Only 8% of the housing stock is social housing, compared with 19% in urban areas. And last year, fewer than 6,000 new affordable homes were built in smaller rural communities – equivalent to less than one new affordable home in each village. To read the rest of this article from ACRE please click here.
Connecting Communities in Berkshire 