Funding Opportunities in September

Leave a comment 11/09/2024 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust

Applications close on Mon 30th September.
We are committed to awarding grants to those most in need. For this round of funding, we are focusing on projects which provide food education and/or cooking skills. The maximum amount available is £5,000. To be eligible to apply you must be a registered charity with an income and expenditure which meets our requirements and your project must not be on the list of what we don’t fund. Only one application form per charity will be considered.

Christmas Connections Funding

Applications close on Friday 11th October.
Grants of up to £750 are available for small charities and community groups bringing together people over 65 at Christmas. These grants are for organisations connecting older people between 9th December until 2nd January. Priority will be given to organisations working in deprived areas and where activities are taking place over the Christmas holiday period. Please review the grant guidance before applying. Examples of activities funded include the provision of a meal on Christmas Day, group social events, and/or support for day centres providing services over the festive period, etc.

Local Nature Grants

Applications close on Tues 24th October.
This scheme is designed to provide young people with an opportunity to take the lead on projects that involve their local nature and natural spaces, to aid young people in realising their influence to affect positive change, to have their voices heard, and see their ideas come to life. We therefore fund innovative projects that are designed and led by young people in the UK. Adult applicants should develop their proposal alongside young people and the projects should seek to empower local young people to enact changes they want to see, such as increasing access to natural spaces and improving understanding of their local biodiversity. This grant is purposefully broad and welcomes novel ideas, with a maximum award of £1,000 per proposal.

The Naturesave Trust

Applications close Thurs 31st October.
Our funding focuses on small environmental projects for charities, social enterprises and grassroots community groups whose activities are based within the UK. The theme of this funding window is energy efficiency. We are looking for grant applications up to £5,000 from organisations who are working to promote a more sustainable approach to energy efficiency through insulation, solar panels, lighting initiatives, cooking solutions, new equipment, energy audits, heating projects, workshops, etc.

Barchesters Charitable Foundation

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Our funding focus is on connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community. We support applications that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged. We help small community groups and local charities with activity projects, equipment/materials for use by members, member transport, and/or day trips, outings, activities/group holidays in the UK. Our grants for groups range from £100 up to £2,000.

The Earley Charity – Capital Projects Programme

30 September 2024. The Earley Charity’s Capital Projects Programme has reopened for a second round of funding. By Capital we mean bricks and mortar such as new builds, extensions and large-scale refurbishments. The programme has a budget of £105,000 and is open to local organisations that work in or predominately serve the Earley Charity’s area of benefit. The Trustees intend to support several projects through the programme and are happy to accept bids for either full or part funding. They are particularly interested to hear from organisations that have not received funding from the Earley Charity before.

Eligibility criteria: In the first instance Trustees are seeking Expressions of Interest from local organisations that have well-developed plans for a distinctive capital project which may be supported through this programme.

To be eligible you must be able to demonstrate the following:

your organisation works in or predominantly serves the Earley Charity’s area of benefit*;
you have confirmed planning permissions in place;
your project is due to start and/or complete between now and the end of 2025.

Area of Benefit: In practice, this means all of Earley (Lower Earley and “old Earley”), the northern part of Shinfield, Winnersh, south Reading (including Whitley), east Reading (including Newtown), central Reading (as far west as the Reading West railway line), Sonning and lower Caversham. Please see our website for a detailed map http://www.earleycharity.org.uk/Map.aspx

The Wakeham Trust

We usually make VERY SMALL grants to VERY SMALL projects. We don’t have formal grant criteria, but we are normally looking for leverage (in the sense that we make small contributions to projects nobody else will touch, in the hope that they can sometimes turn into something big).

So about 50 years ago we started backing pregnancy advisory services, women’s shelters and rape crisis centres, because they were new and unpopular with other funders (indeed, we had a run-in with the Charity Commission at that stage, which did not like pregnancy advisory services); now, we seldom back them, because they have become mainstream. If things are new in a particular area then they can still meet our criteria – a lot of community action is intensely local, and the fact that something has been done elsewhere does not mean it is well-established in the places that apply to us.

Some projects that were mainstream back then have become unpopular with big funders right now – often because they can’t tick the right number of boxes (in terms of criteria like diversity and or impact statements). These criteria can make sense when evaluating big organisations, but they can be impossible for small ones to meet. So we also try to fill that gap.
Our original objective when the Trust was set ups to help projects that encourage Community Service by young people to their own neighbourhoods (along the lines pioneered by Dr Alec Dickson, who founded Community Service Volunteers).

In 2023 we are still supporting many of the same sorts of micro-scale community projects, though we have added education (in its broadest sense) to our list of priorities. Our core goal is to help small groups of people who are getting together to make a difference for others. We don’t support self-help groups, however useful they are to their members.
Where we do make quite large grants, mostly in the field of education, we usually seek to get match-funding from other organisations, so that our grants can release much bigger funding streams than we could provide by ourselves. Our goal when we support education projects is to support excellence in teaching – at all levels, from universities to primary schools. We focus on things that can give students a broader experience – getting away from the examination treadmill.

We normally give grants to projects where an initial £125 to £2,500 can make a real difference. In general, we look at what it is costing per-head to reach the people the project is helping.

W.G. Edwards Charitable Foundation

Registered charities, from large institutions to small community-run organisations, providing care for older people (65+ years) in the UK. Capital projects, refurbishment and for equipment, in addition to innovative schemes for ongoing care and projects, such as IT for the elderly, fitness classes, lunch clubs, gardening projects, etc. Grants £1000 to £3000. Deadlines 10 Mar, 10 Jun, 10 Sep and 10 Dec. Spend in year ending Apr 23 was £130k.

Awards for All

About Us: The National Lottery Awards for All England programme supports amazing community-led projects.
Criteria: They can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
• bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
• support people, communities and organisations facing more demands and challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Grant Size: £300 to £20,000, for up to two years
Deadline for applications: Ongoing. Apply at least 16 weeks before you want to start the activities or spend any of the money.

Thank you to Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve, Slough CVS & Reading Voluntary Action for the information contained in this article.

Meet our newest team member!

Leave a comment 15/07/2024 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

David Jennings joined our team at the beginning of the month (July 24) as our new Project Development Officer (taking over from Maria who recently switched roles to Rural Housing Enabler).

David’s work will focus on developing new projects and initiatives that support implementing action plans created through the 21st Century Community Halls programme. Here we ask David to introduce himself and tell us more about his background.

Can you tell us what made you interested in the role of Project Development Officer at CCB?

I admire the purpose of CCB to inspire community action and to deliver projects and services to improve rural health and wellbeing, reduce rural poverty and disadvantage and increase rural digital inclusion and social connectedness. I am already one of the recipients of these as a member of CCB for both Chaddleworth and Great Shefford village halls. As a customer, I have benefited from the 21st Century Community Halls programme so I was excited to be able to use my own professional skills to support and develop the project for CCB.

What are you hoping to achieve in your first six months in the post?
That’s what I’m working out at the moment…only in day three of the role!

What are you most excited about in your new position?
I am passionate about improving quality in local Berkshire communities: to improve our communication, resolve the issues we are facing, increase our collaboration and to get stuff done.

What do you enjoying doing outside of work?
I like to walk the dog, cycle and garden. I have also recently started paragliding again. I am a trustee for four Berkshire charities as their treasurer (Chaddleworth Village Hall, GreatShefford Village Hall, Chaddleworth and Shefford Schools PTFA, The Bakers Trustcovering fuel poverty), I edit the Chaddleworth News parish newsletter and I am the Clerk and Responsible Finance Office for Chaddleworth Parish Council.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
I would like to provoke and reward people’s empathy towards each other and for our ‘pale blue dot’ (Carl Sagan). ‘When we have the wisdom to use mercy and compassion instead of force…we human creatures will finally be on the right path’ (Leslie Thompkins, DC Comics).

Funding Opportunities in July

Leave a comment 01/07/2024 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

Lloyds Bank Foundation – Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations

This programme is for small and local charities and CICs with an income between £25,000 to £500,000 that are led by and working with Deaf and Disabled people who are experiencing poverty. Organisations can apply for a three-year unrestricted grant of £75,000.We support a wide and diverse range of health charities. In partnership with our grant holders, we contribute to lasting positive change in our society.
This programme is aimed at registered charities and CICs which are led by and working for Deaf and Disabled people. Your organisation will work directly with Deaf and Disabled people over the long term to support them to have more choice and control over their lives, access their rights and entitlements and challenge the barriers they face.

Your work will be based on a social model of disability and you will be able to show how this understanding shapes the work that you do, and enables people to have their voices heard.

Successful applicants will receive a grant of £75,000, over three years (£25,000 per year). The grant will be unrestricted, so organisations awarded funding will be able to use the grant to support any costs that further your organisation’s social purpose.

Deadline: The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday, 28 August 2024.

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grant making for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Using a wide range of research including insight from Motability Foundation grantees, other disabled people and representative organisations, community transport has been identified as a priority area for support.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

To help address this problem now, charities and organisations working in the Community Transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million at any point before March 2025 to improve the impact of community transport for disabled people.

Deadline: March 2025.

Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity

About Us: The MSE Charity gives grants to UK not for profit organisations that deliver activities which make a lasting impact on how people think, behave and manage their money.
Criteria: UK not for profit organisations
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: A new two-stage application process is being introduced with outline proposals accepted from 19 June up to 31 July 2024, or sooner depending on the number of proposals received.

Warm Spaces in Slough

If you run a Warm Space in Slough, where people are welcome to come for a chat and a cuppa, you may be able to get new supplies. SSE has donated £500 for items such as tea bags, coffee, sugar, biscuits, squash and hot chocolate for visitors to enjoy.

Those in charge of operating a Warm Space can contact Mark Clements at office@communitycafe.uk to request items and he can also supply Warm Space posters if needed for display purposes.

The Screwfix Foundation

Grants are available to UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations for projects that improve, fix, and repair buildings, homes and facilities specifically used by people in need across the UK.

Matthew Good Foundation – Grants for Good Fund

A small number of grants are available for local community groups, charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises in the UK for projects that have a positive impact on communities, people, or the environment.

Application deadline: 15th September 2024

2024 Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund (Main Grants)

Capital grants are available for village halls in rural areas across England to enhance, upgrade, extend, improve, and construct halls so that, as a result, new activities can take place bringing communities together.

Application deadline: N/A

Sport England – Movement Fund (with crowdfunding)

Grants are available for formally constituted not-for-profit organisations in England who can raise their initial funding through a crowdfunding campaign for projects that improve physical activity for people and communities who need it most with particular interest in opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity.

Application deadline: N/A

The True Colours Trust

The True Colours Trust provides grants to help support families, children and young people in the UK with complex disabilities and/or life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. The Trust seeks to bring about better lives for children and their families through a broad mix of research, advocacy, service delivery and innovation.

Their grant-making is focused on the following areas:

Improving service delivery and support offered to children with complex disabilities, their families and siblings in the UK.
Strengthening palliative care services for children and their families in the UK.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development / job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience / sustainability.

The Archer Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We are a UK charitable grant-making trust based on Christian values, which give funding to a small UK charities. If your organisation, in one way or another, provides aid or support to a defined group of disadvantaged or marginalised people, and if a grant of between £1,000 and £5,000 will make a big difference to support your work, you may meet our funding criteria. We prefer to support organisations working in areas of high unemployment and deprivation and we favour charities which make good use of volunteers. Find out more and how to apply.

Music & Heritage Funding

Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Funding is available for UK charities, not-for-profit and exempt organisations working in the areas of music, especially chamber music, composition and music education, or in heritage and crafts. The application form will request information about your organisation, the project and your finances, so please ensure that you have gathered this information in sufficient time to submit the application before the deadline.

Baily Thomas Charitable Fund

Applications close on Thursday 1st August.
Grants are available to voluntary organisations, charities and schools in the UK to assist with the care and relief of children, young people and adults with learning disabilities. We also support those undertaking research into learning disability. We offer small grants below £9000 and general grants above this.

Electricals Recycling Fund

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
This fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. We fund two types of projects; those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals (up to £100,000), and those seeking to innovate new collection methods (up to £50,000). If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding.

West Berkshire Veolia’s Sustainability Fund

is back this year offering up to £1,000 worth of funding to help support people across West Berkshire to improve the environment!
Veolia’s Sustainability Fund will support inspirational ideas that aim to make a positive change towards their local communities.
The purpose of the fund is to support non-profit organisations, community groups or individuals that help transform their local community through enhancing biodiversity, promoting sustainable waste behaviours, protecting or preserving resources and the environment, or using recycled, reused or reclaimed materials.
If you have an idea to help improve your local community, apply before 30 September. Find out how you can bring your ideas to life by clicking on the title above.

Newly Opened: Morrisons Foundation – Community Spaces Fund

In celebration of Morrisons 125th Anniversary, the Foundation is delighted to have created the ‘Community Spaces Fund’.

This exciting new fund will see 125 charities receive a share of £1 million with grants of up to £8,000 each to enhance their community space facilities, making a difference for many more years to come.

We know how important it is for communities to have a place to meet, socialise, learn and provide care to others. We also know that funding new equipment, making renovations or creating new spaces can be difficult for local charities.

That’s why we’ve created this new fund and are asking Community Champions in all of our stores to look for opportunities to help charities who provide a community space and will be able to make a real difference with a cash boost of from the Morrisons Foundation.
1. From 17th June to 14th July, Morrisons Community Champions will identify charities that provide a community space that benefits their local area
2. Recommended charities will receive an invite from their Community Champion to complete an online form which must be completed no later than 14th July 2024. The form is for recommendation purposes only and does not guarantee that a grant can or will be awarded
3. Recommendations are verified and reviewed by the Morrisons Foundation from 15th to 31st July 2024
4. Throughout August 2024, together, Morrisons colleagues, Community Champions and the Morrisons Foundation will choose up to 125 charities to receive a grant
5. Successful charities will be notified via email. At this point charities should provide a recent bank statement and letter to confirm the bank details via email to the Morrisons Foundation within 14 days to enable payment by BACS
6. A presentation of the grant will take place at the Morrisons store/site that recommended the successful charity
To be considered, organisations must:
– Be recommended by their local Community Champion
– Be registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales (CCEW) or the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland (OSCR)
– Have submitted their accounts on time to the CCEW or OSCR within the past three years
– Be applying for a grant of no more than £8,000 to fund a project which enhances a space that will have a lasting impact in the local community
– Submit the online recommendation form provided by their local Community Champion by 14th July 2024
– Be applying for a project that will be completed by the end of 2024

Deadline: 14th July

Abri Community Fund

We believe the best ideas often come from the people who know and live in our communities. And we’re committed to supporting and investing in our communities. Which is why we have a £90,000 Community Fund available to help make your community a better place to live.
You can apply for up to £3,000 to support a project in one of our communities across the south of England (find out more about where we operate here). The rising cost of living is having a big impact on our customers and communities, so we will be prioritising applications that consider the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Although we are keen to support projects that help everyone in the community, it’s important for applicants to demonstrate how you’ll specifically be able to support customers living in Abri homes.
We recommend you submit your application as early as possible along with all the supporting documents.
Applications will be considered by our funding panel, which is made up of customers and those living in our communities. And we’ll share whether you’ve been successful within four weeks of the window closing. For successful applicants we will aim to make payment eight weeks after the window closes, subject to all supporting documentation being received and due diligence checks being completed.

Community Funding (abri.co.uk)

Deadline: Opening1st-21st July

Leeds Building Society Foundation

About Us: Our focus is to support those in need of a safe and secure home.
Criteria: Grants are only for capital expenditure. Grants to registered charities with a turnover of less than £1 million for projects which address one or more of the following themes:
• Financial stress – projects that help with bills or debt stress.
• Security and refuge – projects that support emergency accommodation.
• Quality and suitability of housing.
• Health and wellbeing support for those experiencing homelessness.
Grant Size: Between £250 and £1,000
Deadline for applications: 9 September 2024

Greenham Trust’s Planting Programme 2024

Local schools, councils, charities and community organisations are invited to apply for free trees and hedging plants for planting in the autumn.

Applications are now open for Greenham Trust’s Planting Project, and will close on 31st July 2024.

Click below for full details of the project and how to apply.

Activity for All

Grants of £1,000 are available to help children stay healthy and active this summer.

Applicants must be a sports or holiday club with a priority on supporting children with access to physical activity, providing more equipment and opportunities and/or providing healthy, nutritious food to keep active.

Tesco Stronger Starts

If you are a school, registered charity or not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for up to £1,500 to fund projects that provide food and support to young people across the UK.

Every three months, three local good causes are selected to be in the blue token customer vote in Tesco stores throughout the UK.

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

50 Ways we have Supported Communities in Berkshire in the last 50 years.

Leave a comment 19/06/2024 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

In September 1973 our charity was born at an inaugural meeting and the decision was taken to establish Berkshire Community Service Council. In 1974 a submission to Berkshire County Council for grant aid was agreed and we were able to appoint our first member of staff – a Countryside Liaison Officer. The past 50 years have seen us change office locations, CEOs, Chairs, our name, and areas of project delivery/specialism a variety of times but the heart of our work has always focused on community development and providing help, advice, and guidance to rural communities in Berkshire.

Here we will take a very brief look back at the highlights of our 50 years and what we have been most proud of achieving for the county of Royal Berkshire in this time. So, in no particular order here we go….

1. Supporting Flood Resilience in Swallowfield – working with the Swallowfield Flood Resilience Group in 2016/17 we produced and shared a guide to help communities form and operate a flood resilience group. This work, and groups like it, will be needed more and more as we operate under a climate of intense weather patterns in the next 50 years.

2. Setting up an Oil Buying Group – Over 10 years ago the CCB Oil Group was set up to help individuals who rely on heating oil (usually in our more rural areas) to access the discounts and support of a collective buying group and continues to support rural households today. In the last 5 years, we have saved our oil club members over £56,000* (*compared to standard heating oil pence per litre prices)

3. Berkshire Association of Local Council Service – For two lengthy periods over the last five decades CCB employed a Berkshire Association of Local Councils Executive Officer to provide first-class support, advice, practical help, and training to members of BALC – Berkshire’s parish and town councils.

4. Village Halls Conference

We have regularly run an annual Village Halls Conference offering training and workshops on relevant information to trustees, volunteers and committees that run our fantastic community buildings. Below is a montage of our previous conferences over the years.

5. Annual Conferences for Parish Plans

Our annual ‘All You Need to Know’ conferences brought together parish planning and community groups from across the county to share knowledge and experiences.

Sarah Ward, Parish Planning with Scout Cubs

6. Community Action West Berkshire

From 2003 – 2009 we ran the West Berkshire Council for Voluntary Service – providing expertise and support to volunteers alongside our rural community development work in this geographical area.

7. Trailblazing the need for affordable, green energy

Back in 2007/8 we ran two conferences in Berkshire focusing on green energy stating that ‘the era of cheap energy is behind us and the implications are still not understood by many people.’ How true that statement feels in 2024!

8. Asian Women’s Project in Thatcham

In the mid-noughties, we ran an Asian Women’s Project – open to Asian women of all backgrounds and their preschool children and aimed at providing family learning opportunities.

9. Parish Planning Throughout West Berkshire

Parish Planners may remember our fantastic connector of people Sarah Ward who worked with volunteers to give local people the chance to develop a 5-year action plan for the community. These plans covered a range of issues from transport to youth activities, safety to improvements to the local environment. During the lifetime of this project 48 Parish Plans were launched in communities from Lambourn to Beech Hill in the west of our county. This project helped ensure that our rural communities thrived and helped establish many assets that are still enjoyed in 2024 – play parks, village markets, village hall improvements, youth projects, environmental improvements and more.

10. Home Safety – In the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead we led a campaign to make the homes of 1,000 vulnerable residents safe and burglar proof. The project saw us working in partnership with a range of other organisations including Neighbourhood Watch Groups, Thames Valley Police, local housing associations and Age Concern.

11. Affordable Homes Built in Woolhampton – In 2015 eight affordable homes were officially opened on a rural exception site in Woolhampton (Hill Place) – affordable homes for local people in perpetuity. This was the result of eight long years of work partnering with local landowners, the borough and parish council and a social housing provider. It was all worth it though as one of the families that moved into a house highlighted at the time; “We are so thrilled to be able to return to the village that my husband grew up in. We are now surrounded by family support, friends and lovely new neighbours. The stress has gone from our lives.”

12. Cookery Courses for Dads/male carers and children – In 2010 we enlisted three top local chefs to run some tasty cookery courses over in John O’Gaunt School in Hungerford with learners going away with some new techniques, information on nutrition and menu planning on a budget.

13. Big Society – It may be a buzzword that we no longer hear so much but back in 2010 it was a key political tagline, and we are proud of running a conference attended by 100 + delegates at Reading Uni that was packed full of workshops that empowered communities and provided opportunities for us all to build our social capital.

14. Growing Community Cinemas in Berkshire – Before the age of online streaming we helped Berkshire villages and rural areas set up community cinemas in the past, some of which still run very successfully in 2024. Many are/were run in their local village hall and offered residents the chance to enjoy a movie/night out without having to commute anywhere. “The club offers local residents and those in outlying villages a chance to see popular films at an affordable price.” Photos?

15. Warm in West Berkshire – Delivered alongside key partner organisations this project in the early twenty-tens increased access to NHS health advice on staying healthy in winter, and energy efficiency with the legacy of the project seeing the launch of the CCB Oil Club and In Case of Emergency (ICED) 4×4 Drivers to help provide transport during extreme weather conditions.

16. Focused support for children and young people in the Gypsy, Roma & Traveller Community – in the mid noughties we provided basic skills training in literacy, numeracy and IT for adults and young children at two GRT sites in West Berkshire.

17. Unpaid Carers Project – We were able to engage with 1600 unpaid carers from across Berkshire and provide a wealth of opportunities to access learning and wider support which left a legacy of new community groups and organizations to continue to support programmes of activities in the county.

18. West Berkshire Vibrant Villages – Provided support for eleven communities to develop projects ranging from essential repairs and renovations to village halls to the provision of play equipment for toddlers. In total, £70,000 was awarded to our rural West Berkshire villages through the delivery of this project.

19. Berkshire Rural Towns Project – this project allowed funding to support projects in Berkshire with an economic focus many of which can still be enjoyed by our communities today – the development of the community centre in Stratfield Mortimer and the revitalization of recreation areas in Eton & Eton Wick to name a couple.

20. Community Development Work – Always at the heart of our work! CCB was able to employ two Community Development Workers in the late 90’s thanks to National Lottery funding. Their work focused on supporting the most disadvantaged groups living in rural Berkshire.

21. Bringing Funding Support to Rural Areas – In the mid-90s we administered funding for the Berkshire Rural Action Network which assisted groups in rural areas to improve their environment and their community’s appreciation of it.

22. Community Care Forum – In 1994 we coordinated and administered the Berks Community Care Forum which amongst other outcomes ensured that voluntary sector representation was on the Hospital Discharge Policy Groups for both East and West Berkshire.

23. Digital Switchover – When the analogue TV signal was being switched off in 2012 it was an event that all communities in the county needed to be prepared for. With a team of community volunteers, CCB ensured that the word was spread through shopkeepers, churches, newsletters and face-to-face events at our libraries so that no one was left with a blank television.

24. Webinars – online training delivery – Before Covid made the world of online learning/meeting the norm CCB was ahead of the curve delivering regular funding workshops with the Big Lottery’s South East Awards for All Programme Manager to communities across Berkshire. In 2011-12 alone we delivered training to 160 adults piloting this new type of training delivery. “The response we received in feedback showed a very high level of appreciation for the workshops, especially with regards to the cost savings of webinar delivery.”

25. Helping Our Village Shops – In 2001 we were able to support rural retail outlets by providing free visits from an expert retail advisor to support improvements alongside helping them to apply for improvement grants. An outcome of this project was helping South Ascot Village Stores to successfully obtain a grant to combine the village shop with the post office.

26. Increasing Adult Community Learning Opportunities – Since 2010 we have delivered training opportunities for adults in West Berkshire, Bracknell Forest, Slough and Wokingham Borough. We continue to deliver these strengthening communities sessions today in West Berkshire on a variety of topics from Data Protection to Food Hygiene, from First Aid to Community Organising and many, many topics in between.

27. Seated Exercise Classes – After Covid and lockdowns affected us all mentally and physically we worked in rural communities to set up local gentle exercise and social interaction opportunities. We helped village halls set up, market, and offer these subsidized free opportunities to their local communities. We continue to support some of these classes in 2024 though many now continue without our help as they are self-sufficient and popular.

28. Community Buildings – Thanks to the work of our Village Hall/Community Buildings Advisors over the years we have helped support the creation of both new village halls (Englefield) and the upgrades to many village halls so that they remain vibrant, safe, and well used (recent examples Bucklebury, Beech Hill and Spencers Wood)

29. Enabling Local Orchards to Thrive – At the start of the twenty tens we successfully bid for a National Lottery Fund (at the time called Big Lottery) to establish community orchards in parishes of Twyford, Wargrave, Swallowfield, Shinfield and at Dinto Pastures. These orchards continue to flourish to this day.

30. Supporting Neighbourhood Plans in East Berkshire – In 2011 Neighbourhood Planning was introduced in the Localism Act 2011 and our Rural Housing Enabler at the time, Arlene Kersley, stepped up to immerse herself in the new framework to fully understand the evidence base required to get a neighbourhood plan through examination and stand-up to scrutiny. She shared her knowledge with groups that came forward in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

31. Supporting the Rural Economy in Berkshire – Our current CEO Tim has always been passionate about working with and representing the rural communities in Berkshire to identify local economic priorities. Tim has worked closely with the Thames Vallery Berkshire Local Enterprise partnership supporting rural economic development.

32. Transforming Local Infrastructure Projects – along with partners in the voluntary and community sector in West Berks we helped build capacity in the sector by delivering a programme of PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) to 33 people helping them to develop their skills and increase their delivery activities.

33. Funding Rural Communities in Berkshire

Throughout our life as a charity we have helped fund and administer many grants including ;
• Berkshire Rural Action – funding for rural projects which help people appreciate and improve their local community.
• Countrywork – promoting employment opportunities in the countryside.
• Voluntary Sector Development Fund – to assist other voluntary organization with training or consultancy.

34. Friendship clubs – In the noughties we developed five friendships clubs in West Berks for people who had become isolated or lonely due to physical and mental health issues.

Energy bill advice to a mother and baby group in Slough

35. English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Project – In 2003 we secured funding to establish an ESOL Basic Skills in the workplace project which supported 184 learners to access skills development at local colleges and in community settings.

36. Berkshire Calor Village of the Year competition – In the early noughties we helped administer and organized presentation evenings for the Village of the Year competitions. This competition was judged on ‘a well-balanced, pro-active, caring community which has made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents.”

37. Fuel Poverty Outreach work – Our Fuel Poverty work has been an integral part of our project delivery for over a decade now. Outreach work has helped create new opportunities to advise low-income families on how they can reduce their home energy costs with advice drop-in sessions, one-to-one telephone advice and practitioner training workshops.

38. Country wide delivery (PHOTO IMAGE FROM 1996 below) illustrating our delivery outcomes across six local authorities.

39. Village Initiatives Fund – In 1988 we launched this fund to encourage and stimulate voluntary self-help initiatives in rural Berkshire. Grants of up to £100 were distributed to village projects that benefitted the local community – the fund was sponsored by Shell UK, Digital, Marley Roof Tiles and Newbury Building Society – except for Shell UK how many still operate today?

40. Entering the computer age – In 1988 it was such an event that we acquired a second Apricot computer we mentioned in our Annual Report! This helped us develop a variety of databases including Parish Council information, membership and mailing lists.

41. **Taking care of our environment** – photo from 1980’s annual review

42. Adult Community Learning partnerships – Over the years we have partnered with a number of other organisations to ensure that our training to rural communities in Berkshire is varied and useful. These included Tutors/experts from other organisations like Heartstart, Community Organisers, BALC, Royal Berks Fire & rescue, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Happiness Hub, Love Food Hate Waste, British Red Cross, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Databasix UK, social media and marketing experts, grant providers and many more! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and expertise.

43. Rural Access to Services Programme (RASP) – Between 2008 and 2011 CCB worked with other Rural Community Councils in the South East on a programme to invest in projects to improve access to services. A total of £171,000 in funding from the South East England Development Agency was invested in projects in Berkshire to improve access to healthcare, access to skills and advice, and improved community transport and accessibility projects from parish plan action plans.

44. Transport West Berkshire – In partnership with the West Berkshire Library Service, CCB raised funds to introduce the Community Learning and Information Vehicle: CLIVe. The converted lorry became a mobile hub for outreach community learning across the District, supporting our Traveler Education project, promoting the uptake of broadband internet with the Connected Berkshire Partnership and taking information on CCB’s services out into the community, including at the Newbury Show.

45. Transport East Berkshire – With funds from the Countryside Agency to increase sustainable travel, CCB implemented a project to install cycle lockers at several sites across Wokingham and West Berkshire. With a focus on railway stations, the project encouraged people to cycle and leave their bikes secured at the station.

46. West Berkshire Funding Fair at Newbury Racecourse in September 2009. We planned and delivered a variety of workshops centred on helping community groups and voluntary organisations find funding. The outcome of this successful networking day was empowering West Berkshire charities to access new funding streams for their community projects and receive information, support, and advice on fundraising for their charity/community building.

47. In 2001 CCB took over the administration of the Environmental Trust for Berkshire. The Trust oversaw a £600,000 investment in environmental projects and worked with the newly-formed Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd (WREN) to advise on applications received by this new fund for Berkshire. Projects supported by the ETB cover all six unitary authorities in Berkshire and include the renovation of churches and historical monuments, improvement of local parks, nature reserves and other amenity areas and education on recycling and sustainable waste management.

48. In 1977 our ‘Your Village – What Future’ Conference heralds a year of activity and self-help in Berkshire villages. Declining rural services and growing rural populations are recognised as an increasing issue for rural communities as Central and West Berkshire are designated growth areas for new housing. A parish survey, interviewing Parish Clerks, provides basic information on settlement in rural Berkshire.

49. In the early 80’s unemployment is a serious problem within Berkshire and CCB supported employment initiatives with Berkshire County Council. Berkshire Youth Action (now Berkshire Youth) is established and we help search out projects which can be undertaken by youth teams across Berkshire. CCB sets up the Newbury Resources Centre for the Unemployed to assist the rural unemployed get access to information and advice.

50. In the late 1990’s (1998) Berkshire County Council was no longer and our charity had to develop to reflect these changes so our delivery adapted to a project-focused approach. We launched ‘Rural Areas: People and their issues’ and a review of Youth Homelessness in ‘Young People Living in Our Community’. Seven Neighbourhood Forums are developed and new initiatives in supporting local mental health groups and users of housing association-supported accommodation begin.

Funding News for June 2024

Leave a comment 25/05/2024 Connecting Communities in Berkshire

SPACE Arts and cultural organisations based in England, including museums, libraries, community organisations and local councils with a cultural project, can now apply for a digital commission of up to £15,000 (£8,000 for audio projects). Commissions are for you to develop and deliver a creative digital project. This might be a video or audio project, or an interactive or immersive experience. Deadline 5pm, 13 Jun. Please click here for more details.

Cycling UK – Big Bike Revival Grants Programme Grants are available for voluntary groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations to deliver cycling projects and activities across England (outside of London) for people who do not normally cycle.
Application deadline: 25 June 2024. Click here for more details.

Village Hall Small Grants Fund
Grants of between £2,000 and £5,000 to help make improvements to rural community buildings in England. This is the latest release of the £3 million grant fund announced by the government in May 2022 in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.

Grants are intended to support smaller capital projects in village halls such as boiler replacements, insulation, toilet upgrades and new kitchens.

Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs, up to a maximum amount of £5,000. The balance of funding for the works proposed must be in place, or at least confirmed within 6 weeks of making an application to a small grants fund.

Please read the fund criteria and FAQs before submitting your application. We recommend you only submit this once the project is ready to proceed, and you have everything in place.
Village halls small grants fund – ACRE

Deadline: The fund is expected to stay open until December 2024, however, it may be withdrawn before this.

Hubbub and Starbuck’s ‘Eat it Up Fund’

About Us: We’ve launched the Eat It Up Grant Fund 2024 to fuel innovations that reduce edible food waste, ensuring food serves its purpose – to be eaten.
Criteria: To support innovative ideas to tackle food waste in the UK. The grant must be used within a year. The funding is for initiatives that do one or more of the following:
• Address pre-farmgate waste (the food production process, up to the point where the products have been harvested and prepared as produce for sale).
• Prevent food from being wasted at the manufacturing and processing stage.
• Minimise food waste from retailers.
• Find creative ways to use surplus food in communities or at home.
Grant Size: Six grants of £60,000
Deadline for applications: 5pm on 14 June 2024

Wolfson Foundation

About Us: The Foundation gives major grants for capital work across the fields of education, science and medicine, health and disability, heritage and arts and humanities.
Criteria: The project should be for a new building, refurbishment work or equipment that leads to at least one of the following aims:
• Increased access to services for new and existing users.
• Improved quality and range of services.
• Improved financial stability of the organisation.
Grant Size: £15,000 up to £1million. Match funding is required for projects where the total project cost is above £50,000.
Deadline for applications: 23.59 on 1 July 2024

Clarion Futures Digital Grants Programme

About Us: Clarion Futures delivers a range of grant programmes which support those working to improve the lives of our residents, as well as helping them stay more digitally connected.
Criteria: For not-for-profit organisations seeking to deliver innovative, well-designed projects that support Clarion residents and the wider community to address digital exclusion.
The funding is for projects and activities that focus on:
• Supporting Clarion residents to discover the full scope of how the internet can assist them in their everyday lives, and provide them with the skills and confidence to do so.
• Supporting residents to access the digital resources that meet their individual needs and circumstances.
• Building digital skills and confidence for all.
• Encouraging residents to use the internet with confidence so they are safe and avoid risky and/or illegal behaviour.

Grant Size: Between £1,000 and £5,000
Deadline for applications: noon on 12 June 2024

Arnold Clark Community Fund

About Us: As part of our commitment to give back to the communities in which we operate, we believe that by caring for these communities today, we can help them create a better future.
Criteria:
• Cost of Living Support – funding to any registered UK charity or community group whose work directly supports those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis, such as foodbanks, accommodation, poverty relief and where people/communities in the UK are the primary and immediate focus of investment.
• Our Communities Support – funding to projects embedded in the communities in which Arnold Clark operates and is available to organisations who provide services widely accessible to those within Arnold Clark local communities, addressing the needs of those living within them.
• Gear Up for Sport – 150 sports kits given away each month to support youth sports teams across the UK. Any youth team with up to 30 members aged 4 to 15 years can apply.
Applications are expected to be accepted until the e
Grant Size: up to £2,500
Deadline for applications: End of December 2024

Bright Futures Fund
Wokingham Borough Council has awarded Wokingham United Charities funding to
oversee their extracurricular activities initiative. The Bright Futures Fund is dedicated to supporting children from low-income households providing opportunities to engage in a diverse range of extracurricular activities, including school trips, club memberships, purchasing or hiring of equipment and instruments, and covering participation fees for children and young people. Applications are welcomed from schools, alternative educational providers, youth groups, sports clubs, activity clubs, and relevant local charities. To ensure a streamlined process, applications are exclusively accepted from referring agencies. Online applications
can be submitted via our website.

Regenerative Soil Funding
Applications close on Thurs 27th June.
UK soils currently store about 10 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to 80 years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions. The priority must be to stop further soil degradation and
keep that carbon in the soil. But intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose about 40 to 60% of their organic carbon to the atmosphere. Investing in regenerative soil initiatives is one way to help combat this. We are looking for grant applications from charities, community groups, and organisations that are working to promote a more sustainable approach to soil and land management.

Architectural Heritage Fund Project Development Grants
Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Grants are available for UK not-for-profit organisations to cover some of the costs of developing and coordinating a building project and taking it towards the start of work on site. As the Architectural Heritage Fund, there has to be a historic building involved in whatever we support. We generally look to support projects where there is a change of use or change of ownership involved with the building, such as bringing something disused back into use.

Arts & Culture Project Grants
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
This is our open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. The fund supports thousands of individual practitioners, and community and cultural organisations. Applications are for grants between £1,000 and £100,000, should engage people in England with arts and culture. You can learn whether this is the right fund
for you by taking our quiz.

Matthew Good Foundation
Applications close on Saturday 15th June.
Our Grants for Good are designed to direct funding only to small and growing local charities, voluntary groups or social enterprises that are making a big impact on local communities or the environment. To be eligible, applicants must have an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months. Every three months, five organisations will receive grants between £5,000 to £2,000.

AB Charitable Trust

About Us: The A B Charitable Trust is an independent grant-making organisation, founded in 1990 by Yves and Anne Bonavero to champion human dignity and support the most marginalised and excluded groups in the UK. The Trust has no endowment and is funded annually by the Bonavero family.
Criteria: This programme aims to support and strengthen small to medium-sized charities, and the wider ‘eco-system’, in our priority areas. We usually fund single-focus organisations working solely in our priority areas. For these organisations, we generally give unrestricted grants.
Grant Size: up to £30,000
Deadline for applications: 26 July 2024

The Adamson Trust

About Us: The Adamson Trust is a long-established Perthshire charity based in Crieff.
We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. We can only give help for this purpose.
Criteria: We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. Individual families can apply but we also accept applications on behalf of voluntary and community groups working on behalf of groups of children and families.
Grant Size: Not stated
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024

The Ford Britain Trust

About Us: Working with our local communities to sow the seeds of change. We are committed to supporting the communities that we work and live in. That is why we created the Ford Britain Trust. Since April 1975 we have been able to help fund the education and advancement of our neighbours.
Criteria: We pay special attention to projects focusing on education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities close to our UK locations.
Grant Size: Small grants up to £250 or larger grants up to £3000
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024 (small grants); 31 July 2024 (larger grants)

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grantmaking for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

The Britford Bridge Trust

The Trust was established by Adrian and Jane Frost in 2014 to formalise their long-standing charitable support. It is intended to be a permanent endowment to enable giving beyond the current generation. To date, the Trust has made more than 200 grants to a wide range of beneficiaries.
The primary charitable purposes of the Trust are the prevention or relief of poverty; the advancement of education; the advancement of health or the saving of lives; and the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage, or science however any applicant must have national relevance.
The trustees have already fully committed to supporting the fields of medicine and related professions connected to the causes, diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer and other malignant diseases and will not be accepting applications for funding in that regard. Similarly, the family donates to African causes through established NGOs. As a result, the Trustees regret that they will not consider applications from these areas of need.

In addition, the Trustees will give due consideration to the amount of any donation that reaches the intended beneficiary and to the existing reserves and resources of the applicant.
The Trustees typically make grants of between £10,000 to £50,000. Larger amounts may be available in exceptional circumstances. Applications are invited from UK registered charities for national or international projects.

One Stop – Community Partnerships Programme

We are extremely proud to be part of the local communities we serve, and that’s why we are even more excited to welcome applications for the One Stop Community Partnership programme.
Local Community Groups can apply for funding to support the group and to develop a new or ongoing project in partnership with their local store. Successful applicants will receive an initial grant of up to £1,000, and begin a partnership with their local One Stop store.
This programme is designed to support community groups or organisations operating within two miles of a One Stop store which are;

Tackling food poverty
Supporting the vulnerable
Supporting the elderly
Supporting low-income families
Supporting local sports teams
Improving the local environment
Reducing Waste in the community

The programme provides partnership as well as financial assistance. Alongside a grant of up to £1,000, and the opportunity to create a long-term tailored programme of support for successful applicants with their local One Stop Store Team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store Team at their local shop to deliver support to the community.
The tailored support from the store teams will help community causes to increase or improve their service by assisting in areas such as but not limited to; volunteering support, fundraising and awareness-raising.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development/job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience/sustainability.

Pets Assisting People Grants

Applications close on Friday 28th June.
Funding is available to charities that help children and adults through the provision of specially trained assistance animals, or through the provision of structured animal-assisted learning and therapy. We provide one-off grants or up to three years of funding, to a maximum of £80,000 per year. These funds can contribute towards the costs of animal care, building work, salaries, activities, equipment, vehicles, etc.

Helens Farm Goodness Grants

Applications close on Sunday 30th June.
A small number of grants, up to £5,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations and registered charities to support projects which are doing good in their local communities. These projects might be based around sports, schools, clubs, wellness or tackle social issues. We are offering grants specifically to local organisations which improve the health, places or skills of families in their communities.

Electricals Recycling Fund

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