Connecting Communities in Berkshire with the Thames Valley Collaborative Housing Hub are running a FREE short online course on Community-led housing in June. This course is supported by Wokingham Borough Council Adult Community Learning.We are aware that development and new houses are currently being built throughout the Thames Valley on a large scale but are they really affordable or accessible to people growing up or working in your village or community?
Community-led housing is housing built on a not-for-profit basis by a community to meet its own needs. There are a number of different approaches to community-led housing, all resulting in homes built for the community but with different processes and levels of involvement.This short online introductory course will enable participants to understand the differences between the various models of community-led housing. It is aimed at Parish & Town Councillors, land owners and anyone from both rural and urban communities interested in exploring the options for providing affordable housing for people with a connection to their community. Rural exception sites are now quite well-known and at this session we will examine them in the context of other options, including self-build, community land trusts and co-operatives.
Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. This includes email deception and phone-based scams as well as online fraud – particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations.
Fraud poses a major threat to the UK. It’s a crime that the finance industry is committed to tackling, but it’s also one that requires the combined efforts of every sector, both public and private, to overcome.
Many people may already know the dos and don’ts of financial fraud and scams – that no-one should ever contact them out of the blue to ask for their PIN or full password, or ever make them feel pressured into moving money to another account. The trouble is, in the heat of the moment, it’s easy to forget this.
During these difficult times, it’s especially important that you remain vigilant and guard against criminals using the publicity around coronavirus as a chance to target you with fraudulent emails, phone calls, texts messages or social media posts. For advice and to read more please click here.
The Vital Signs Survey is back! We are excited to announce that Berkshire Community Foundation’s Vital Signs Survey for 2020 is open! The results of this survey are vital as they impact the focus of our grant-making for the next year. PLUS you could win a grant of £1,000 for the charity of your choice! To complete the survey for this year and enter the prize draw, just click here: berkshirecf.org/vital-signs
Post Office makes access to cash products available faster
‘Payout Now’ – a voucher based product sent by SMS text, email or post to self-isolating customer who can share it with a trusted individual to withdraw cash on their behalf
‘Fast PACE’ – a service that allows a customer to arrange for a trusted individual to collect the cheque from them, cash it at Post Office, and return with the cash.
Customers of UKs banks, building societies, credit unions need access to cash simply and speedily during this national emergency
Information courtesy of Berkshire’s CVS’s – Slough CVS, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell Involve and Reading Voluntary Action.
The Shanly Foundation The Shanly Foundation has set up a Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund of £150,000 to help organisations who are working directly against the Covid-19 pandemic. The Shanly Foundation primarily support community organisations in the counties outside North, West and South London such as scouting and guide groups, and local charities. In light of the Cornavirus pandemic they are now only accepting applications from organisations who are directly involved in the fight against Covid-19, or who are supporting the most vulnerable during it. Read more
England and Wales Cricket Board funding Cricket clubs and leagues can now apply to two funding schemes designed to help them through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency Loan Scheme The England and Wales Cricket Board Emergency Loan Scheme aims to support affiliated cricket cubs during the COVID-19 crisis by providing funding to assist clubs to cover any shortfall in essential day-to-day running and maintenance costs until normal recreational cricket activity can be resume. Return to Cricket Grant Scheme The Return to Cricket Grant Scheme aims to provide cricket clubs and leagues with assistance in exceptional circumstances, where other potential sources of financial support are not available, e.g. constitutionally a loan is not an option or there is a high risk of default in paying back a loan. Read more
Morrisons’ Foundation COVID-19 Homeless Support Fund The Foundation has pledged £500,000 towards the Homeless Support Fund. The fund is designed to support registered charities caring for the homeless during the coronavirus emergency and ensure help gets to those who need it most. Grants up to £10,000 are available to cover three broad areas:
Outreach and support for rough sleepers, including provision of essentials
Support Adoption for Pets They support charities and not-for-profit organisations whose main activity is either the rescue and rehoming of UK pets or the provision of temporary support to ensure pets can remain with their owners. They give grants up to £10,000. They will currently only fund:
Vet bills
Boarding costs
Food
Salaries of (non-furloughed) animal care staff
Utilities and consumables
This is a rolling programme, with complete applications reviewed as quickly as the team is able to. Read more
Schroder Charity Trust Grants up to £5,000 are available for UK charities supporting education, communities, the environment, health, arts and culture, international development, heritage, and the armed forces. The deadline is 30th April 2020. Read more
Alpkit Foundation Grants up to £500 are available for individuals or organisations serving those affected by the Covid 19 emergency. Read more
Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation has launched its Coronavirus Response Fund to support smaller charities during the Covid-19 outbreak. The £100,000 fund will make donations of £250 to £2,000 to charities that are helping UK communities to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Charities can apply for support with running costs, staff and travel costs as well as volunteer expenses. Read more
Tesco Bags of Help Tesco Bags of Help is responding to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis by setting up a new short-term fund to support local communities. Due to the need to respond quickly to the emergency we have created a streamlined application process and payment process to make it easier to get funds distributed quickly. If your application is successful the fund will provide a single payment award of £500 to organisations who are supporting vulnerable groups. The programme is set up to support organisational need in this time of crisis rather than fund specific projects. Read more
#IWILL FUND Grants of up to £10,000 to help young people support each other during bereavement. Express an interest before 12pm (noon) on 31 July 2020. Read more
The Yapp Charitable Trust – core funding for small charities
The Yapp Charitable Trust has invited small UK charities affected by the impact of Covid-19 to apply for grants of up to £3,000.
Who can apply?
Registered charities who have been established for a minimum of 3 years, with a total annual expenditure of less than £40,000, who are undertaking work that focuses on one of these priority groups:
Elderly people.
Children and young people, aged 5 – 25.
People with physical impairments, learning difficulties or mental health challenges.
Social welfare – people trying to overcome life-limiting problems of a social, rather than medical, origin (such as addiction, relationship difficulties, abuse, offending).
What can you use the money for?
They only make grants for ongoing core funding, which they define as costs associated with regular activities or services that have been ongoing for at least a year. They cannot not fund new projects, extra services or additional delivery costs. This includes creating a paid post for work that is currently undertaken on a voluntary basis or rent for premises that are currently cost free.
BCF Vital for Berkshire Coronavirus Funding – applications open
Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF) have launched their Vital for Berkshire Coronavirus Funding to support groups in Berkshire who are working with those most affected by the impact of coronavirus. You can find more information on the BCF website. The funding is open for applications from 31 March 2020.
It has also changed the funding requirements for individuals and organisations currently in receipt of funding. Its statement reads:
“We will offer individuals and organisations working in the cultural sector new financial support during this crisis, totalling £160m. We have re-purposed all our investment strands to be able to offer this support. These emergency funding streams will be open to applications very soon.”
It will make £90m available to its National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs). “We hope organisations will use this funding to reboot their creative work, but we also understand it may be required to alleviate financial pressures on NPOs,” the funder said. It is making £50m available to organisations that are not in receipt of regular funding from the Arts Council. Organisations who have applied to National Lottery Project Grants are still able to apply for this support. ACE will be making £20m available to individuals.
Persimmon Community Champions Support Organisations Working with the over 70’s
Each of the Persimmons 31 businesses and head office are giving up to £2000 each every month.From 1st April for the foreseeable future, donations will focus on organisations that support the over-70s – a vulnerable group in our society that need support at this time. Persimmon has a Thames Valley office with an operating area which covers Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex. Persimmon has current developments at Winnersh, Bracknell and Thatcham and has built retirement homes in Wokingham and Maidenhead. How to apply? If you are a charity or community group working with older people you can apply. How to apply? Click below to apply and complete the online form. Tell Persimmon – why your group or charity, which works with or supports the over-70s, deserves a donation. – how much you want them to donate. – the name and location of the initiative so that they can ensure the right business receives your request. Click Here To Apply
Co-op Community Dividend Fund Deadline: 24th April, 2020 Grants are available to support local causes and make a positive difference across the central region of England.
Souter Charitable Trust Deadline: 24th April, 2020 Grants are available to registered charities for projects engaged in the relief of human suffering in the UK or overseas, particularly those with a Christian emphasis and ethos.
A B Charitable Trust Deadline: 26th April, 2020 Grants are available for small to medium-sized charities registered and working in the UK that defend human rights and promote respect for vulnerable individuals in the UK.
AHF Transforming Places Through Heritage Programme – Project Development Grants Deadline: 27th April, 2020 Grants are available for charities and social enterprises in England to help fund development costs of projects that will create alternative uses for redundant or underused, community-owned historic buildings in town centres.
Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) – Project Development Grants Deadline: 27th April, 2020 Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to cover some of the costs of developing and coordinating a building project and taking it towards the start of work on site.
Awards for Young Musicians Deadline: 27th April, 2020 Grants are available for the UK’s most talented young instrumentalists in any genre, aged five to 17 years of age who, because of financial need, may be prevented from fulfilling their creative potential.
Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust – Early Years’ Preventative Work Deadline: 28th April, 2020 Grants are available for registered charities to support work that will improve the life chances of some of the most disadvantaged children (aged 0-3 years) in England and Wales by investing in early intervention and preventative work.
Connecting Communities in Berkshire 