Grants & support for London’s charitable sector
Every month we share an update with our funded organisations, listing funding opportunities and offers of free support. In this month’s update we feature almost a dozen funding opportunities
In this month’s update
Funding
Windrush 2025
Applications for the Windrush Day Grant Scheme 2025 are now open. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is providing funding to communities looking to commemorate, celebrate and educate about the Windrush generation and their contribution.
Funding strives to build greater community cohesion; have a lasting impact; and increase acknowledgement of the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants.
For 2025, a total of £500,000 is available to fund activities across England. The minimum amount available for each project is £5,000 and the maximum is £50,000.
If you have a unique and exciting project that engages with the Windrush story and Windrush communities in powerful, enterprising and thoughtful ways, check the criteria and apply.
Applications for funding will remain open until at 11:59pm on Monday, 25 November 2024.
For more information see the Near Neighbours website at www.near-neighbours.org.uk/windrush2025
The Booster Fund: a funding scheme to support community share offers
The Booster Fund supports new and existing community businesses in England that are at all stages of a community share issue.
This includes the very early stages of exploring whether it’s the right choice, through planning a community share issue to being ready to launch, or in exceptional cases, recently launched.
The Fund can offer pre-grant support, and development grants of between £2,000 and £15,000, averaging around £5,000, to prepare a community share offer. This support can cover financial planning, governance support, marketing costs and being assessed for the Community Shares Standard Mark.
Equity match investment is available, as well as subscription underwriting.
The Booster Fund welcomes all expressions of interest from new and existing community businesses. They also have some priorities including:
- Disadvantaged, less affluent and under-represented communities, particularly minoritised ethnicities, young people and communities facing systemic inequality
- Projects that meet critical needs of their communities – they are particularly interested in project that address climate change issues and digital inclusion
Applications deadlines are:
- Wednesday, 27 November 2024 (for the December panel) for equity applications
- Wednesday, 29 January 2025 (for the February panel) for development grant applications
Learn more at www.uk.coop/support-your-co-op/community-shares
Business Grants for Young Entrepreneurs
SWEF is offering business grants of up to £2,000 and business support for young people aged between 18–30.
This fund aims to back individuals who struggle to access funding elsewhere and show initiative in trying to do better by themselves and their community. The aim is to support 500 young entrepreneurs a year to further develop their business.
Applications can only be from sole traders, limited companies, and community interest companies (CICs) limited by shares, that have been trading for less than two years.
Applicants from East London can apply here: www.eastendcf.org/grants
Other applicants can apply here: www.swef.uk/application-form
Learn more at: www.swef.uk
Funding to support housing models for migrant groups, those in the asylum system and survivors of trafficking
Social justice charity Commonweal Housing’s Call for New Ideas programme is offering funding to frontline, not-for-profit organisations to carry out feasibility studies for new and imaginative housing and support models.
For this Call, the charity is looking for housing projects that would work with migrant groups, those in the asylum system and survivors of trafficking.
Commonweal wants to hear from organisations which work with these groups, and which would like to set up and manage a housing model that will address one of the many injustices these groups face. Commonweal is looking for ideas that would deliver learning for the organisation and the wider sector.
Organisations can apply for funding of between £5,000–10,000 to conduct a feasibility study to assess a proposed model’s viability. The aim is to launch a property-based pilot project, in partnership with Commonweal. Up to three applicants will receive funding, working in partnership to bring housing models to life.
Applications close at 5pm on Monday, 11 November 2024.
More information: www.commonwealhousing.org.uk
Funding for energy consumers in vulnerable situations
The Energy Saving Trust distributes payments from companies which may have breached Ofgem rules. Their core priority is to help people who are most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills.
The minimum grant that can be requested is £20,000 and the maximum grant amount varies depending on the size of the fund available. The scheme can only fund projects lasting up to two years, can fund up to 100% of the project cost and can cover revenue and capital measures.
The amount of funding available through the scheme varies throughout the year and is reviewed on a quarterly basis in January, April, July and October.
Register now for 2025 funding opportunities.
More information: www.energyredress.org.uk/about-us
Small grants from the ASDA Foundation – apply now
The ASDA Foundation is currently offering small grants of up to £2,000 to support the following initiatives:
- Cost of Living Grants to enable local community groups to meet the changing needs of their service users
- Under 18 Better Starts Grants to empower grassroots community groups to give young people in their community the best start in life
- Empowering Local Communities Grants to enable grassroots community groups to improve the lives of people in their local community
Applications close on Friday, 8 November 2024.
Learn more at www.asdafoundation.org
The Arts Fund: major new funding opening soon
Paul Hamlyn Foundation wants to support organisations which are working at the intersection of art and social change.
Their ambition is to support a portfolio of organisations which can develop, learn from each other and explore the potential of art for personal, cultural and social transformation. Funded organisations could:
- Build capacity and resources for culture within historically underfunded communities
- Explore the role that artists can play in addressing issues of social justice
- Create the infrastructure for a more equitable cultural sector
The Foundation is offering support for core costs so you can continue the work you are already doing and for programmes which are central to your organisation’s mission
To be eligible, your organisation should have a turnover of more than £60,000 per year. They can fund up to 50% of an organisation’s annual turnover over three years.
This fund is focused on supporting organisations to become more sustainable and to deepen the impact of the work. This can include support for specific posts, skills development, underpinning of the strategy or business model and for project delivery which is central to your organisation’s mission and vision.
- Amount: £90,000 to £300,000
- Deadline: Open from Monday, 4 November 2024 to Friday, 31 January 2025
- Duration: three years
Learn more: www.phf.org.uk/funding/arts-fund
Creative, Confident Communities: place-led funding
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation want to strengthen the bonds in communities, helping local people to build vibrant, confident places where they can fulfil their creative, human, and economic potential.
They envisage places where the local economy works better for the people who live there, where there is equality of access to arts and culture, and where communities are at the heart of change. The Foundation’s goals are:
- Communities use their power to make change happen
- Local economies work better for the people who live there
- Culture and creativity build thriving communities
The majority of grants are designed to support organisations’ core costs or are unrestricted. The smallest grant you can apply for is £30,000, and you can apply for multi-year funding. There is no application deadline.
If you are interested in this funding, you can join a pre-application Q&A webinar on Thursday, 14 November 2024. See www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/latest-news
If you are interested in Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s priorities in Our Natural World and A Fairer Future, you can watch their pre-application Q&A which took place on 23 September.
The Cory Community Fund
Grants of up to £7,500 to support activities in the community that generate positive improvements in local people’s lives.
The aim of the Community Fund is to support groups and projects that play a role in strengthening local communities, with a particular focus on activities that support Cory’s wider goals of:
- Enhancing the local environment
- Preventing waste and growing the reuse economy
- Enhancing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics skills
- Supporting employability skills and helping people to access education
- Increasing engagement with the River Thames
Grants are available to groups based in the boroughs in which Cory operates: Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, City of London, Gravesham, Greenwich, Lambeth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Hertfordshire, Kensington and Chelsea, Newham, Redbridge, Thurrock, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, and Westminster.
Applications for funding are open until Friday 29 November 2024.
Learn more: www.corygroup.co.uk/sustainability/community
LGBT+ Futures: Equity Fund
Consortium’s second round of the LGBT+ Futures: Equity Fund is focused on supporting user-led LGBT+ organisations based in England, who are working with targeted under-represented and under-resourced communities.
A total pot of £500,000 is available through small grants of between £100 and £25,000 for organisational running costs, projects and organisational / leadership development.
The fund will close to applications on Thursday, 21 November at 12 noon.
See: www.consortium.lgbt/grantgiving/equityfund
Small grants to support services delivery and activities that benefit your community
The Comic Relief Community Fund offers grants of up to £5,000 for grassroots, community-led organisations in England to help support the delivery of services and activity that benefit local communities.
Funding can be used for direct project costs or to support your core running expenses. Whether you need help with staff wages, materials, rent or training – this fund is flexible to meet the needs of your organisation.
Funding is available to organisations with an income of less than £250,000 and who deliver against one of the below areas,
- Tackling immediate impacts of hardship
- Building resilience to poverty and hardship
- Working to support equity and inclusion
- Working to support climate justice
Applications will close at 5pm on Friday, 8 November 2024.
Learn more: www.groundwork.org.uk/comic-relief
Free support and training
Spotlight talks: Recruiting and retaining volunteers
We are delighted to invite you to our third Spotlight Talks event on Thursday 14 November 2024, from 11am — 12.30pm. This free session will be hosted online by City Bridge Foundation via Zoom.
We are aware that many of the organisations we fund can find it challenging to recruit and retain volunteers. For this Spotlight Talk, we will hear from some of our funded partners about successful ways to work with volunteers, how they make volunteering more accessible and any other tips they have for others in the sector.
There will be a panel discussion with Carol Akiwumi MBE (The AVOCADO Foundation), Ellie Alvarez (Hope for the Young), Janet Thorne (Reach Volunteering), and Maddy Mills (Family Volunteering Club), with opportunities for questions and networking after the panel discussion.
This invitation is open to anyone from your organisation who wishes to attend. Please feel free to share with anyone in your network who might be interested.
To register please complete this form: Spotlight Talks — Recruiting and retaining volunteers
Please register by 5pm on Friday, 8 November 2024 and complete one form per person attending.
You will be sent an email with the Zoom link after you submit this form.
If you are unable to attend this date but would like to see a recording of the Spotlight Talks presentation, please complete the form so we have your details. We will share a recording of the session with everyone who registers.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Free business support for your organisation
Every organisation funded by City Bridge Foundation can apply for free, additional support that goes beyond funding. We call this offer the Bridge Programme.
For instance, we can support your organisation’s development and governance, fundraising or business planning.
The Bridge Programme can include free access to training courses, attendance at conferences, or peer-to-peer learning. Many more support options are available. City Bridge Foundation offers all of this at no financial cost to your organisation.
Find out more at www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funder-plus
Call for responses: new survey into the current state of funding for equity and justice infrastructure
The Collaboration Circle is inviting equity and/or justice infrastructure organisations who work in London to fill out a new survey. The information from this survey will help improve funding and support for equity & justice infrastructure in the future.
The Collaboration Circle is a new initiative from London Funders, the cross-sector membership network for funders and investors in London’s civil society. The Circle brings together funders and civil society partners to re-think traditional grant-making and design a more equitable way to pool our money and expertise.
It will hold ‘pooled’ money on behalf of multiple cross-sector collaborations, and be a space where people from across the funding and social justice sectors come together to design and decide how this money should be used.
The survey is expected to take 20–25 minutes to complete, and will close on close on Saturday, 30 November 2024.
Energy awareness workshops for refugees and asylum seekers
Empowered by Energy is a unique energy awareness project empowering newly recognised refugees to the UK, who often struggle to survive on extremely low incomes, to overcome the language barrier, understand new energy markets and save money.
Coming from different climates, refugees won’t automatically know how to keep a home warm, read their energy meter, set up an account or bleed radiators. These free workshops from National Energy Action build a self-sustaining support network to embed useful life skills and make communities more resilient.
Without such support, refugees and asylum seekers can quickly find themselves owing hundreds of pounds to an energy supplier they didn’t know they had.
The workshops give them the confidence to contact their energy company and get the support they need, take control of their energy bills and join their Priority Services Register. For example energy companies provide translation services and tariff support, such as the Warm Home Discount Scheme.
National Energy Action are particularly looking to work with partner organisations, to boost their reach and get the support to where it’s needed.
Learn more: www.nea.org.uk
Supported by City Bridge Foundation
Youth Work Week
Youth Work Week is an annual celebration of all things youth work. The week long campaign from the National Youth Agency takes place at the beginning of every November.
This year it takes place between Monday 4 and Sunday 10 November 2024. The theme for this year is: A right to youth work for all – delivering positive futures for young people.
Register for Youth Work Week 2024 events and learn more at www.nya.org.uk/youth-work-week/
Refugee Advisory Panel and LGBTQI+ rights recruitment
Rainbow Migration are recruiting for their Refugee Advisory Panel. They are seeking people who have personal experience and knowledge of migration that is relevant to their work on LGBTQI+ asylum to form a new Refugee Advisory Panel.
Panellists will use their experience of migration and LGBTQI+ rights to inform decisions to be taken by the management team and board of trustees. This is a paid opportunity and there is a sliding scale for payment depending on how long an activity is expected to take.
Apply by 9am on Monday, 4 November 2024
Learn more: www.rainbowmigration.org.uk/news
Free outdoor walks and conservation sessions in Epping Forest for community groups
Epping Forest is London’s largest green space, home to beautiful woodlands and rare wildlife. However, for some people and communities, the forest can appear intimidating and unsafe.
Epping Forest Heritage Trust is collaborating with local community groups such as Redbridge Rainbow Community and Wanderlust Women, as well as national organisations such as Muslim Hikers and Black Girls Hike to offer tailored walks and conservation activities that serve as a welcoming introduction to the forest.
They are keen to team up with organisations working with underrepresented people from across London, to provide free, fun outdoors activities. Organisations are invited to convene a group of their service users that the Trust can run a session for, with support workers as necessary.
Free walks allow participants to enjoy nature, while learning about Epping Forest’s rich history, its ecological significance, and its global importance.
Conservation sessions allow groups and individuals to directly contribute to the forest’s preservation, using hand tools such as loppers and saws. The sessions offer a tangible way to feel empowered and proactive, as well as giving a sense of achievement and a satisfying work out.
If you work or volunteer for a group which might be interested in a guided walk or conservation session please email admin@efht.org.uk.
If you are an individual, check out their free guided walks programme and their free conservation sessions, some of which are exclusively for women, non-binary and trans people.
Struggling to capture publicity for your disability charity?
Join Media Trust and News UK for a unique, free speed pitching event tailored for disability charities and organisations.
This session offers the opportunity to sharpen your media pitching skills with invaluable insights from industry experts. Learn how to craft compelling pitches that resonate with media professionals and receive expert feedback on how to refine your pitch.
The event will be held in person at News UK’s London office at 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Travel bursaries are available if you are a small or micro-sized charity travelling from outside Greater London. The venue is fully accessible. If you require additional support or adjustments, Media Trust will do their best to accommodate.
Tuesday 19 November 2024, 10:30am – 2pm, in-person.
Learn more: www.mediatrust.org/events/disability-history-month-speed-pitching