Over the coming weeks, we will launch our ‘Charity of the Year’ initiative. This is a timely opportunity to partner with civil society and help the voluntary sector in providing much needed support, to ensure they thrive and continue to provide the range of services that we all depend on.

Utilising polls and surveys via Instagram and Twitter, we will canvass your views, and ask that you nominate a charity that needs our support. This may include making regular donations, participating and promoting volunteering drives, to raising awareness of front line services, sharing data, news and events and fundraising activities.

Many charities face ongoing pressure and are severely under resourced. It is our goal through this initiative, to enable and empower our community to champion these organisations, so that our collective efforts can help deliver sustainable public benefit. We look forward to receiving all your nominations.

In the interim, if you are a small business, charity or a non-for-profit organisation, here is a list of current funds available…

** The Prince’s Trust and Natwest have announced a £5million fund to help young entrepreneurs (18 to 30) to keep their business afloat during the coronavirus crisis. Grants can be used to maintain core business operations during the crisis as well as meet any existing financial commitments, such as paying for essential equipment or settling invoices from suppliers. Find out more information here

** Funder: Youth Music Network – YP in challenging circumstances (England)
Deadline: Fund A: 5 PM 17^th April 2020
Award: Fund A (Small): £2,000 – £30,000), Fund B (Medium): £30,001 – £150,000 per year for up to two years.
Area/s: Schools as well as other not-for-profit organisations can apply for grants to fund developmental music-making projects for children and young people in challenging circumstances as well as for projects that support the development of the workforce, organisations and the wider music making sector. The funding is being made available through Youth Music, England’s largest children’s music charity, which provides funding for music-making projects.
Link: http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/Funding/about-youth-musics-grants-programme

** Funder: NFU Mutual Community Giving Fund (UK)

Deadline: 30^th June 2020

Award: up to £1,000

Area/s: Charities, schools, and community groups can apply for grants of up to £1,000 through the NFU Mutual Community Giving Fund. The fund is available in areas that are local to NFU operations in the UK.

Applications are likely to be more successful if they meet one or more of the funds priorities. These are:

• Connecting the community; reducing social isolation, providing opportunities, and encouraging resilience
• Providing care and support to vulnerable members of our community
• Relieving poverty; improving the health and wellbeing of our communities
• Advancing education and experiences for young people

Priority will also be given to:

• Beneficiaries that have not been given funds previously.

Link: https://www.nfumutual.co.uk/about-us/responsible-business/nfu-mutual-community-giving-fund/

** The Enterprise Development Programme is a five year programme, funded by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment and managed by a coalition of partners.

The programme will offer tailored support to organisations that are thinking of exploring new models of trading to help them become more financially resilient and who require support to make the transition.

Support will be available for organisations working within the following sectors:

• Homelessness
• Youth
• Equality
• Mental Health

Link: Enterprise Development Programme

** Area Based Funding: Bromley, London
The Community Chest was set up in 2013 to fund projects that will make a difference to the Phoenix community. Since then, we have awarded £700,000 to more than 70 projects, benefiting more than 19,000 people. Previous projects have covered a wide range of activities, from family away days to African drumming classes. No deadline

** Cultural Impact Development Fund
A £3.7 million fund providing small-scale repayable finance to socially-driven arts and cultural organisations. Cultural Impact Development Fund will pioneer the use of financial incentives to drive the achievement of social impact targets in its investment portfolio, making it one of the few impact investment funds with a clear trade-off of financial return for the attainment of social outcomes. The Fund is supported by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment through the Growth Fund programme, with finance being provided by its partners The National Lottery Community Fund and Big Society Capital.
Apply anytime up to August 2021

** Lloyds Bank Foundation Grants worth up to £45,000 and £100,000 available over three years (with the possibility of continuing to six years) that can be used entirely for core costs, with charities able to flex how much they spend each year.

Eligible for support are charities with an income between £25,000 and £1m across England and Wales tackling complex social issues such as mental health, homelessness and domestic abuse and with a proven track record of helping people achieve positive change in their local communities. No deadline

** The Archer Trust
The Archer Trust provides grants to small charities. Grants are usually between £500 and £4,000 and are targeted at groups working with people in need.
No deadline

** Blue Spark Foundation
BlueSpark Foundation is a registered charity which supports the education and development of children and young people by providing grants for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects.
No deadline

** The Golsoncott Foundation
Grants of around £3,000 available for organisations working on the arts and especially where there is a connection with young people
Applications considered quarterly

** Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Use this scheme if you’re self-employed or a member of a partnership and have lost income due to coronavirus.

You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:

• have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19
  traded in the tax year 2019-20
• are trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19
  intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
• have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19
• Your self-employed trading profits must also be less than £50,000 and more than half of your income come from self-employment.

This is determined by at least one of the following conditions being true:

• having trading profits/partnership trading profits in 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your total taxable income
• having average trading profits in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your average taxable income in the same period

If you started trading between 2016-19, HMRC will only use those years for which you filed a Self-Assessment tax return.

NB If you have not submitted your Income Tax Self-Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19, you must do this by 23 April 2020.

HMRC will use data on 2018-19 returns already submitted to identify those eligible and will risk assess any late returns filed before the 23 April 2020 deadline in the usual way.

More information here  

• London Marathon Charitable Trust – Encourage Physical Activity (London & Surrey) / Deadline: 27^th May 2020 / Award: £50,001 – £250,000

For the renovation, modernisation or creation of significant sports and leisure facilities in London and Surrey. The funding is available to not for profit organisations such as local authorities, charities, community and voluntary sector organisations, sports clubs, parish and town councils and schools that have already shown a commitment to encouraging and supporting people who are not physically active to participate in sporting activities. To be eligible, applicants must have in place robust business plans as well as strategies for increasing participation into the future along with plans for monitoring and evaluating their impact.

Priorities for funding are to increase participation, especially among those who are currently physically inactive or who have low levels of activity, in particular:

• Individuals who are currently physically inactive or who have low levels of activity.
• Groups which are currently physically inactive or who have low levels of activity.
• Children and young people outside of school hours.

Link: https://www.lmct.org.uk/what-we-fund/grant-programmes/facilities-grants-programme/

• Tampon Tax Fund (UK) / Deadline: Midnight Sunday 31^st May 2020 / Award: £1 M+

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has announced that it is inviting large charities to apply. Applications should be for £1 million or more. The aim of the Tampon Tax Fund is to fund projects which directly benefit disadvantaged women and girls, tackle violence and support their mental health and wellbeing.

Charities that successfully bid for funding are expected to distribute these grants through their networks to support women and girls and to organisations that offer small and medium- sized onward grants.

Applications are welcomed from individual organisations, or groups with an identified lead organisation.  The value of the grant requested must not represent more than 50% of the applicant’s or consortia’s collective annual income.

Please note that the £15 million total fund is allocated between each administration using the Barnett Formula as a guide. Wales is allocated £905,000, Northern Ireland is allocated £530,000, Scotland is allocated £1,570,000 and England £11,995,000.

Grants may be for one or two-year projects, and all activities must be concluded, and funds spent by 30 June 2022.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tampon-tax-fund-application-form-2020-2021-funding-round

• BBC Children in Need – Disadvantaged Children (UK) / Deadline: 11.59 PM 17^th June 2020 / Award: up to £10,000 per year for up to 3 years.

Not for profit organisations such as special schools; registered charities; voluntary organisations; churches; and community interest groups; etc. can apply for grants for projects that help children and young people overcome the effects of illness, distress, abuse or neglect; disability; behavioural or psychological difficulties; and poverty and deprivation.

Projects funded through BBC Children in Need aim to make a differences in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments  https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/grants/apply/small-grants/

£1M Money Saving Expert Fund

Martin Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert, has pledged £1M to support small charities. In a statement, he said: “To try and help I’m going to release £1M from my personal charity fund to provide grants of £5,000 to £20,000 to small registered charities, or local arms of bigger charities, across the UK – to help with specific UK coronavirus-related poverty relief projects.” Click here for more information: £1M Coronavirus Poverty Relief Grants for Small Charities: Apply Now!

£2M London Fund 

London’s City Hall and City Bridge Trust have each contributed £1M to a fund for London charities affected by coronavirus. 

The emergency scheme will be coordinated by London Funders and available to organisations facing immediate financial pressures and uncertainty because of the coronavirus. These include increasing demands for services, higher staff absences, fewer volunteers and lower donations.

Full details of the new emergency support fund and how to apply will be published next week at London Funders. 

National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund has started reaching out to grantees, partners, and other vital civil society organisations to understand how it can support communities and the sector during Covid-19. The Fund aims to share what it learns over the coming period. 

The National Emergencies Trust

NET has launched a coronavirus fundraising appeal to raise funds for local charities. The British Red Cross will be managing donations. 

NET will award grants and distribute money raised through a number of charitable organisations, for example local community foundations.

NB: We will update this page as new opportunities arise, so please check back here for more news.