This page contains, information on grant funding, schemes and loans available over the coming months. Please note, this page will be updated periodically as new opportunities are published.

Please click here for last month’s news, as some opportunities are still available.

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Here is a quick reminder of COVID related schemes and support in place for businesses and individuals. The Chancellor in his budget speech, extended some of the existing schemes and announced some fresh support.

• Fourth and Fifth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS grants extended till September 2021
• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) extended till September 2021
• CBILS and Bounce Back Loans closed to new applications 31st March 2021. The Recovery Loan Scheme, is a new scheme replacing CBILS – goes live 6th April 2021
• VAT Deferral ‘New Payment Scheme’ – the online ‘opt-in’ process is in place till 21st June 2021
• Kickstart (Recruitment) Scheme – grants for hiring young candidates

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NEW (20.04.21)

FUNDER: Solace – Empower Women & Women’s Organisations (England)

DEADLINE: 5pm on the 28th May 2021.

AWARD: Seed funding grants (£500-£1,000); Women’s Sector grants (£1,000-£25,000)

AREA: Funding is available to support small women’s groups and organisations to develop innovative ways of empowering women in their local area and build the capacity of small organisations.

The Empowering Women Fund, part of the Labyrinth Project, is a Tampon Tax funded grant scheme, led by Solace. The fund is divided into two strands and grants can run for up to 12 months.

Seed funding grants 

Available to small women’s groups to establish and run micro women’s empowerment projects in their local area that support women to build skills and confidence, and decrease social isolation.

Women’s Sector grants 

Available for women’s groups and organisations to develop capacity to respond to changing needs in their communities and run projects over a fixed duration of at least 6 months.

Solace will be holding ‘How to Apply’ webinars on the following dates:

Session one – Seed Funding – Wednesday 28th April 2021

Session two – Women’s Sector Grants – Thursday 29th April 2021

LINK: https://www.solacewomensaid.org/empowering-women-fund

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FUNDER: Racial Equity Funding – Lloyds Bank Foundation

DEADLINE: Rolling

AWARD: £50,000

AREA: Small and local charities with an annual income of £25,000 to £1 million that are led by and for members of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities can apply for a two-year, unrestricted grant of £50,000.

To be eligible for funding under our Racial Equity strand, charities must have more than half of their Trustee Board self-identify as belonging to a Black, Asian or minority ethnic community. They must also provide support to people from specific minortised communities to overcome the 11 complex social issues we focus on.

Alongside unrestricted funding, successful charities will be supported by one of the Foundation’s regional managers, who will work with them to access a wide range of organisational development support to help meet identified needs.

Applications for funding will remain open throughout the year.

You can learn more about our Racial Equity funding strand as well as our general eligibility criteria, application process and what we mean by complex social issues in our Grants Webinar Q&A. Watch now. (With BSL and Closed Captions).

LINK: https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/we-fund/racial-equity?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=RE_2021

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NEW (14.04.21)

FUNDER:  The Fore – Transformational Grants for Small Charities and Not for Profit Organisations (UK)

NB: Income Restrictions; Any registered charity, CIC, CIO or Community Benefit Society with turnover of under £500,000 in the last financial year is eligible to apply.

DEADLINE: First come basis

AWARD: up to £30,000

AREA: On the 12th April 2021, the Fore will be re-opening its grants programme. The Fore will be making grants to support small organisations working with marginalised groups and led by people in the community that may have found it hard to access trust and foundation funding in the past.

The Fore makes unrestricted grants for up to three years that have the potential to have a transformational impact on an organisation. Transformational impact includes helping an organisations become more sustainable, more efficient, to grow significantly or enabling an organisation to take a major step forward of some kind.

To apply for funding, organisations must first register some basic contact details at the start of each funding round. The number of registrations accepted for each round is capped and registrations are run on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the cap is reached, the round is closed, so please register early (Registrations open at 10am).

LINK: https://www.thefore.org/applying-for-funding/

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FUNDER:  Muslim Charities Forum – Organisations Tackling Racial Inequality and Deprivation (UK)

NB: Income restrictions; To be eligible applicant organisations need to be a UK Registered Charity or Community Interest Company (CIC) with an income of below £500,000 per year.

DEADLINE: 5pm on the 30th April 2021.

AWARD: up to £10,000

AREA: Organisations working with deprived communities within the UK experiencing racial inequality can apply for grants  to meet their core costs.

In addition to tackling racial inequality, organisations must also be working to address one of the following themes: Health including mental health, Vulnerable people ,Food poverty, Domestic abuse, Education, Poverty, Supporting refugee and asylum-seeker communities

The funding is being made available through the Global Majority Fund which was launched by Comic Relief in early 2021 and is managed by the Muslim Charities Forum.
LINK: https://www.muslimcharitiesforum.org.uk/grant-funding/the-global-majority-fund/

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FUNDER:  Youth Endowment Fund – Divert Young People from Violence (England & Wales)

DEADLINE: Opens 19th April until 14th May 2021.

AWARD: TBC

AREA: A new £20 million fund has been launched to evaluate different diversion approaches that work best at preventing 10 to 17-year-olds in England and Wales from becoming involved in violence.

The funding is being made available through the Youth Endowment Fund’s  – Another chance – Diversion from the criminal justice system – themed funding round. Diversion approaches could include mental health support, whole family interventions or mentoring (for example).

The Youth Endowment Fund is aiming to identify around 10-20 programmes that are ready for robust impact evaluation or could be supported to reach this point within two years.

The funding is available to any organisation – including charities, public services or the private sector – that receive referrals from a relevant statutory service (for example, the police, schools, local youth offending team or social care).

LINK: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/themed-grant-round-diversion/

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FUNDER:  The Elephant Trust – Help New, Innovative Visual Arts Projects (UK)

DEADLINE: 27th June 2021

AWARD: up to £2,000, but larger grants of up to £5,000 may be considered.

AREA: The Trust offers grants to artists and for new, innovative visual arts projects. It aims to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when confronted by lack of funds.

The Trust supports projects that develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the fine arts. Priority is given to artists and small organisations and galleries making or producing new work or exhibitions.

LINK: https://www.elephanttrust.org.uk/

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FUNDER:  The National Lottery Community Fund – Build Stronger Connections Across Communities (UK)

DEADLINE: Rolling

AWARD: up to £300,000

AREA: The National Lottery Community Fund is offering grants for community-led projects that brings communities across the UK together.

The Bringing People Together programme will support projects run by charities, voluntary and community organisations, CICs, CIOs and statutory bodies that build stronger connections across communities and improve the infrastructure and conditions that are needed to strengthen these connections.

This funding is from the National Lottery Community Fund UK Portfolio. The UK Portfolio is where the National Lottery Community Fund explores new approaches, experiments with how to do things differently, and look to fund work that is more future focussed.

The Fund expects to make up to twenty awards over the next twelve months to enable organisations to deliver collaborative projects across at least two countries in the UK that focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly amongst communities disproportionality affected by the pandemic such as people of colour, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and asylum seekers or refugees.

LINK: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/bringing-people-together

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NEW (06.04.21)

FUNDER: Arts Council Encourage Participation in the Arts – Creative People and Places National Portfolio Fund (England)

DEADLINE: Open between 6th April 2021 until the 11th June 2021

AWARD: Grants of between £750,000 and £1 million available to both new and existing consortia and will operate over three years

AREA: The aim of the Fund is to support arts projects in places where involvement in the arts is significantly below the national average. Investing in programmes of activity that bring creative opportunities to communities in 66 eligible locations not currently engaging with the arts.

The Arts Council is keen to encourage long-term collaborations between local communities and arts organisations, museums, libraries and local authorities. Match funding of 15% is required.

LINK: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/creative-people-and-places/creative-people-and-places-2022-25-joining-national-portfolio

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FUNDER: Greater London Authority (GLA) Call to run projects under Investment Priorities 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 to support London’s recovery from COVID-19, providing access to employment and learning and skills in the London LEP area.

DEADLINE: 11.59pm 4th June 2021

AWARD: Funding of approximately £27 million is made available by the European Social Fund (i.e. a 50% match funding contribution is required)

AREA: In response to the impact of Covid-19 on the London economy and on disadvantaged and marginalised communities, the GLA is seeking to fund projects that support individuals to re-engage with education, training, or employment.

This call for proposals seeks to support projects in the London LEAP area that address the impacts of Covid-19 on the groups most adversely affected, for example: women, over 50’s, those with health problems, long term unemployed and BAME communities.

LINK: https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds/london-esf-priority-1-call-2021-2023-oc23s21p1831#full-application-submission

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FUNDER:  The Mayor of London – Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic (Greater London)

DEADLINE: Expressions of Interest must be submitted by 12.00pm 15th June 2021

AWARD: A share of £500,000

AREA: The Mayor of London has launched, in partnership with the Design Council, a new open innovation programme that places design-led innovation at the heart of London’s recovery from Covid-19.

Public bodies, charities, businesses, social enterprises and educational institutions can apply for from the Designing London’s Recovery programme to help them respond to three key challenges.

These are:

• Helping Londoners into good work
• Building strong communities
• Green New Deal and High Streets for All.

Successful applicants will form multi-disciplinary innovation teams that will work with the Greater London Authority boroughs and communities to co-design and test solutions with expert coaching, mentoring and support to address the city’s most pressing challenges.

The programme is funded by the London Economic Action Partnership and delivered in partnership with the London Office for Technology and the Design Council.

LINK: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/civil-society/grants-and-funding

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FUNDER: Central Government (Home Office) Celebrate the Windrush Generation (England)

DEADLINE: The Fund will be open to applications from the 1st April 2021 until 11.59pm on the 30th June 2021.

AWARD: £25,000.

AREA: Community groups, charities and grass root organisations across the UK can apply for funding to raise awareness of the Windrush Scheme, the Windrush Compensation Scheme or both.

The funding is available to charities, community and grassroots organisations. Several organisations can work together on a project and apply as a consortium. There is no limit on the number of organisations that can be involved in a group bid.

Eligible organisations can apply for activities including:

• Holding events
• Producing and distributing marketing materials
• Accessing and using communication channels
• Securing support from partners

LINK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-the-windrush-community-fund#who-can-apply

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FUNDER: Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (UK)

DEADLINE: Registration deadline 6th August 2021, Application deadline 5pm 23rd August 2021

AWARD: £250 – over £100,000

AREA: The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust recognises that climate change caused by human activity is threatening the well-being of humanity, and that the wealthiest countries and individuals are responsible for a disproportionate share of emissions, whilst the poorest countries and sections of society are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In order to tackle this issue, the Sustainable Futures fund focuses grant making on:

• Identifying the true costs and risks of resource depletion, climate change and other environmental problems
• Campaigns, initiatives and work that promote alternatives to consumerism
• Campaigns and movements that give a voice to young activists and marginalised groups on issues of economic and environmental justice

Grants are available and may be single payments or spread over up to three years.

Funding priorities are:

• Better economics – with grants funding work that explores how sustainability rather than traditional forms of economic growth
• Beyond consumerism – funded work will include that which engages people individually and collectively in moving culture away from consumerism and towards more sustainable ways of living
• New Voices – funding for campaigns and movements that enable marginalised groups and young activists to have a voice in decisions which affect them

LINK: https://www.jrct.org.uk/sustainable-future

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FUNDER: BFI

DEADLINE: Rolling

AWARD: Variable

AREA: The BFI provides funding for film and TV development and production, which includes international co-productions and completion funding. The majority of our funds remain fully open during COVID-19. We are committed to supporting the independent industry during the pandemic and ensuring the industry can thrive on the other side of this crisis. Main areas for support:

• Development Fund
• Production Fund
• Completion Fund
• Young Audiences Content Fund
• Short Form Animation Fund
• Documentary Funding

LINK: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/create-films-tv-or-new-formats-storytelling

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FUNDER: Garfield Weston

DEADLINE: Rolling

AWARD: Variable

AREA: The Foundation supports a broad range of charities across the UK that make a positive difference.  We fund a wide range of causes and charities and our grants vary according to the size of the charity and the work being undertaken. Main areas of activity:

• Arts
• Community
• Education
• Environment
• Faith
• Health
• Museums and Heritage
• Welfare
• Youth

LINK: https://garfieldweston.org/what-we-support/

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FUNDER: Social Investment Business

DEADLINE: Rolling

AWARD: Variable

AREA: Whether your charity or social enterprise is looking for a grant to become ready for investment or a loan to help with growth, they have a range of programmes you can apply for.

Loans:

• First Steps Enterprise Fund: up to £30,000
• Liverpool City Region Impact Fund: £50,000 – £250,000 (current round ends May 2021)

Grants:

• Reach Fund: £5,000 – £15,000
• Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund: up to £150,000 (a blended loan and grant investment scheme)

LINK: https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/

Image Credit: Getty Images