EA Foundation Offers Funding to Improve Lives of Disadvantaged Communities

The EA Foundation was established in 2021 by the co-founders of Energy Aspects, a data & intelligence company headquartered in the UK. The EA Foundation has been set up to improve the lives of disadvantaged communities around the world. To date, the EA Foundation has received over £5 million of donations, which it will distribute over the coming years.

The funding is intended for charitable projects which align to at least one of the following four funding priorities:

• Provide educational opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged individuals and communities.

• Improve access to basic services and infrastructure to disadvantaged communities, including but not limited to healthcare, clean water and electricity.

• Support people in reduced circumstances, without sufficient means, or those who are experiencing times of need thereby providing important support for the relief of poverty or other forms of disadvantage such as disability.

• Address environmental challenges and promote sustainable development, both and through the pursuit of the other key areas of focus.

There is no specified upper or lower grant limits. However, based on the Foundation’s current giving trends to date, the grants approved have averaged between £20,000 - £50,000 for an average duration of 12-24 months. Applicants are encouraged to operate a full cost recovery mode by including all relevant costs of their project in the budget, including proportionate costs of overheads related to the effective delivery of the project.

UK-based charitable entities can apply. Applications will be considered from a diverse range of organisations irrespective of turnover.

The deadline for applications is 6 November 2023 (12 noon BST).

For more information please visit Home (ea-foundation.org.uk)

Funding to Help Disadvantaged Groups to Improve their Communication Skills (UK)

The Thomas Wall Trust is accepting applications from UK charities with a turnover of £10,000 to £500,000 that have been registered with the Charity Commission for at least three years.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available, and the Trust can support annual repeat funding for up to three years.

The funding will support a project or running costs for a charity that equips disadvantaged people (aged 18 and over) with the communication skills ready for employment.

Priority will be given to:

• Match funded projects.

• Charities that can provide compelling evidence of impact.

• Charities working with collaborative networks.

• Self-sustainable projects, with a view to becoming less reliant on grants in the future.

There is particular interest in hearing from groups supporting people experiencing multiple deprivation or major hurdles to employment including women, people with physical, mental or learning disabilities, refugees and asylum seekers.

There is a two-stage application process.

The deadline for stage one applications is 8 January 2024 for consideration in March 2024.

For more information please visit Thomas Wall Trust | Thomas Wall Trust

Community Benefit Funds administered on behalf of CFNI

The following Community Benefits are open for applications, closing date is 10th November at 1pm;

• Long Mountain Community Benefit Fund - Long Mountain Community Benefit Fund - Community Foundation Northern Ireland (communityfoundationni.org)

• Rathsherry Community Benefit Fund - Rathsherry Community Benefit Fund - Community Foundation Northern Ireland (communityfoundationni.org)

• Thornog Community Benefit Fund - Thornog Community Benefit Fund - Community Foundation Northern Ireland (communityfoundationni.org)

Micro grants of up to £3,000 for small projects

Strategic grants of £30,000 over a 2-year period for larger scale strategic partnership projects, with one lead applicant.

The fund welcomes applications from constituted community and voluntary groups that address the following areas:

• Energy efficiency and sustainability

• Social, cultural or sporting benefit for the local community

• Educational issues with a sustainability angle

• Environmental benefit or economic benefit

More information is available in the following link - Available Grants - Community Foundation Northern Ireland (communityfoundationni.org)

The Pink Ribbon Foundation

Any charity working in the field of breast cancer can apply for a grant.

To be considered for a grant in 2024, please submit your grant application to the Foundation by Friday 31st May 2024. Grants are awarded annually in late July. Please note the following:

• All applicants must be prepared to inform the Foundation of their projects progress at least twice in the year of the grant, unless it is to be used for a specific event then only one report is required.

• A set of your most current accounts must accompany any grant application.

• All organisations awarded a grant must send an email of grant award recognition to the Foundation as soon as they are in receipt of the grant.

For more information and to apply, please visit The Pink Ribbon Foundation

LCCC Hardship Funding Programme 2023/24

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council has developed a Hardship Funding Programme to support constituted/legally governed community and voluntary /not for profit organisations to address hardship due to the current cost of living crisis, particularly the increase in energy and food costs.  There is an overall allocation of £140,000 available.

The Hardship Funding Programme is developed in recognition of the difficult financial circumstances which currently exist in the community and voluntary sector, especially in respect of covering basic overheads which have increased substantially in cost.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon Friday 3rd November. Late applications will not be accepted.

For more information and to apply, please click on the link: https://www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/resident/community-services/community-grants/hardship-fund

Kellogg’s School Breakfast Club Grants Accepting Applications for Autumn 2023 Funding Round

Kellogg’s, in partnership with Forever Manchester, is offering grants of up to £1,000 to schools across the UK to help fund breakfast clubs and ensure that children who need it most receive a morning meal.

Priority will be given to schools that either:

• Have 35% and above of children eligible for pupil premium funding (for England) and eligible for free school meals (Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales); or

• Are based in an area which is classified as falling in the 10% of most deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Only one grant per school in each academic year is available. A limited number of grants are available, and the fund may close at short notice if oversubscribed.

Applications can be submitted at any time.

For more information and to apply, please visit Grants For Schools | Kellogg's (kelloggs.co.uk)

Applications Invited for Arts Council of Northern Ireland Commissioning Programme

Funding is available for arts organisations in Northern Ireland to support the costs of new commissions for specific performances and/or other forms of public presentation.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland's Commissioning Programme is intended to enable organisations to produce new work. The finished work should be in a form capable of being presented, exhibited, published, performed and/or disseminated in its entirety at the point of completion in Northern Ireland (if applicable abroad) either live or online.

Priority will be given to applications that:

• Propose commissions of high artistic quality.

• Are planned to reach significant audiences primarily in Northern Ireland through live performance, exhibition, publication, broadcast, recording, and/or other audience channels.

• Provide for an extended life and/or extended public reach and impact for the work or project that has been created.

• Demonstrate a strong collaborative-engagement process between the commissioner, performers and the commissioned artist(s) in the development of the new work.

• Demonstrate innovation and deepen the experience and understanding of the artform.

Grants of up to £25,000 are available for projects taking place between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.

The grant supports fees paid to the artist(s) by the commissioning organisation. All other costs relating to the rehearsal, production, presentation, exhibition or dissemination of the commissioned work must be borne by the commissioner.

In addition to the maximum amount permitted, the Arts Council will also consider access costs specifically relating to the making of work by D/deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists. An amount of up to £3,000 each year is available within the grant for such successful applicants.

The deadline for applications 1 November 2023 (12 noon).

For more information and to apply, please visit National Lottery Commissioning Programme | Arts Council NI (artscouncil-ni.org)

Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership Programme

The Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership (BCPP) Programme is led by CDHN and funded by the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), with strategic direction provided by a multi-agency Steering Group. BCPP supports communities and community pharmacists to work in partnership to address locally defined needs so that people make connections, listen to and understand each other better and work together to address the social determinants of health and health inequalities.

We recognise that health is impacted by much more than the everyday lifestyle decisions that we make, important as they are. Research shows that social isolation can be as damaging for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. With this in mind, our projects aim to address these wider issues and tackle the root causes of poor health. These vary greatly for different groups of people and may include mental health issues, housing issues, low educational attainment, poverty or debt. Group work and relationship building is at the core of all our projects. By sharing our assets, our lived experiences and supporting each other we can achieve great things.

For information on the Programme or for some support with your application, please contact a member of the BCPP team on 028 3026 4606.

BCPP Closing Dates 2023/24

R45 - Level 1 Thursday 12th October 2023

R45 - Level 2 Thursday 9th November 2023

R46 - Level 1 Thursday 29th February 2024

R46 - Level 2 Thursday 21st March 2024

Level 1 Application Pack - Click here

Level 2 Application Pack - Click here

Please visit Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership Programme | Community Development and Health Network (cdhn.org) for more information.

A Million & Me – Big Sky Programme

BBC Children in Need is here to make sure that every child has the childhood they deserve and the support they need to thrive.

Our A Million & Me fund supports children aged 8-13 years old. It focuses on their emotional wellbeing and mental health.

This fund aims to provide support at an early stage, before mental health problems are established.

As part of this programme, we focused on the impact of geographic isolation on children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health. Research by the Centre for Mental Health (report) highlights the voices of children are often absent from consultations. Dedicated support and funding should be allocated to reaching children in remote communities.

The Big Sky programme has been developed in response to these needs.

Grants are for early intervention approaches. These grants will support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children aged 8-13 years living in spatially isolated communities.

• This is an invite only programme for organisations working in rural, remote and island areas.

• As applications are by invitation only, they will be developed through conversations with BBC Children in Need teams in each of the 4 nations and draws on our local knowledge and insight.

• We are committed to funding grassroot organisations across the UK, providing those vital positive relationships that support good emotional wellbeing and mental health.

• Funding of up to £5,000 will be awarded although we expect there to be mix in the range of grants awarded.

• Organisations can apply for up to 2 years, with no application deadlines. Applications must fit within BBC CiN localised funding plans and rural identifiers developed at a local level. Contact details for local teams are here.

• Applicants may already hold a grant with us but we are keen to target organisations and groups that have not been funded by us.

• Organisations will only be able to hold one Big Sky grant.

For more information, please visit Big Sky Programme - BBC Children in Need

Shared Island Civic Society Fund

The Shared Island Civic Society Fund is now open for applications.

This initiative will up to make 1 million euro available in January 2024 to organisations working on North South projects across a range of sectors.

The application form can be downloaded here . On completion, please submit the form and accompanying documentation via email to sharedislandcsfund@dfa.ie.

Applications for funding under the Shared Island Civic Society Fund will be accepted from Monday, 25th September 2023 until 1PM on Monday, 23th October 2023.

For more information, please visit Shared Island Civic Society Fund - Department of Foreign Affairs (dfa.ie)

Teiges Mountain Wind Farm Community Fund

Is your community project located within 5km of Teiges Mountain Wind Farm? If yes your group may be eligible to apply for a grant from the Teiges Mountain Wind Farm Fund.

 For further information CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES (please read the guidelines carefully prior to preparing and submitting an application)

1.  REVENUE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME application form - offering grants up to £2000 towards: community activities, venue improvements / minor capital works, recurring costs for a programme.

2.  STRATEGIC PROJECTS REVENUE GRANTS application form - (up to a maximum of £5000 pa over 1-3 year period) working with a range of organisations across the Area of Benefit, which will make a significant contribution to community life. We would particularly welcome strategic applications which will make a significant contribution to these themes; - reduction in crime / anti-social behaviour, community first aid, defibrillator initiative, hosting of cross-community events, improve access to services via a community volunteer driver scheme, environmental improvements, increasing access to the natural environment, renewable energy, improving mental health.

Nb - an organisation can only hold one grant award from the Fund at any one time. Partnership applications which include an organisation in receipt of another grant at the time will be considered. The Fermanagh Trust will not discuss, or fund applications submitted by professional fundraising consultants on behalf of local groups. We are committed to building the capacity of grass roots organisation's and are here to help voluntary committee members directly.

Closing date for applications is 12 noon Monday 6th November 2023.

For further information:
Tel: 028 66320210 or email: edel@fermanaghtrust.org

Website - Teiges Mountain Wind Farm Community Fund - Fermanagh Trust

Cornavarrow and Slieveglass Wind Farms Community Benefit Funds

Is your community organisation / project located within 5km of either the Cornvarrow or Slieveglass Wind Farm? If yes your group may be eligible to apply for a grant from the Cornavarrow and Slieveglass Wind Farm Community Benefit Funds.

For further information CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES (please read the guidelines carefully prior to preparing and submitting an application)

Application Forms:

1.  REVENUE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME application form - offering grants up to a maximum of £4000. It is envisaged the majority of grants will normally be awarded up to £2000, towards: community activities, venue improvements / minor capital works, recurring costs for a programme.

2.  STRATEGIC PROJECTS REVENUE GRANTS application form - (up to a maximum of £5000 pa over 1-3 year period) working with a range of organisations across the Area of Benefit, which will make a significant contribution to community life. We would particularly welcome strategic applications which will make a significant contribution to these themes; - Community Education Classes; Community First Aid / Defibrillator Initiative – aimed at improving access and support; Organising / Hosting Cross-Community Events; Improve access to services, via a Community Volunteer Driver Scheme; Environmental improvements; Renewable Energy; Improving Mental Health.

For the Cornavarrow Wind Farm only

3.  STRATEGIC CAPITAL LEGACY PROJECTS application form - providing grant aid up to £25,000 per annum, over a five year period or equivalent amount over a longer period, which will make a significant contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of the local community. An initial outline application requesting support towards a strategic capital project will be considered. If successful in passing this first stage of the application process – the project promoter will then be invited to go to the second stage of the process. To be considered for this funding, on submission of the Full application the project promoter must have the necessary statutory permissions in place.

Nb - an organisation can only hold one grant award from the Fund at any one time. Partnership applications which include an organisation in receipt of another grant at the time will be considered. The Fermanagh Trust will not discuss, or fund applications submitted by professional fundraising consultants on behalf of local groups. We are committed to building the capacity of grass roots organisation's and are here to help voluntary committee members directly.

Closing date for applications is 12 noon Monday 6th November 2023.

For further information:
Tel: 028 66320210 or email: edel@fermanaghtrust.org

Website - Cornavarrow and Slieveglass Wind Farms Community Benefit Funds - Fermanagh Trust

Growth Impact Fund for Social Enterprises

The Growth Impact Fund provides social investment for early stage, growing social purpose organisations. Investment is made to organisations that are:

• Led by diverse leaders and teams.

• Looking to grow their trading income.

• Committed to helping tackle inequality.

The fund hopes to tackle the structural barriers to social investment, as highlighted by the Adebowale Commission, which found that despite £600m of public investment since 2010, the social investment market remained unchanged. In the first 5 years, we hope that:

• 120 Social Purpose Organisations can access support and we hope to make 50-60 investments. We anticipate this averaging out to between 10 - 15 investments a year (depending on size).

• 480,000 people per year can benefit from the Social Purpose Organisations that we support

• Social Investment market changes as a result, and we will be sharing our learnings from the fund publicly through our blog and wider publications to support this.

For more information please visit Apply for investment - Investing for impact. Made for diverse-led organisations (growthimpactfund.org.uk)

Core Funding Scheme

The Community Relations Council is inviting applications to our Core Funding Scheme 2024/25.

Applications open at 1 PM Monday 2 October 2023 and will close at 4 PM Friday 17 November 2023.

If you require further assistance, please speak to a member of the Funding and Development team.

About the Core Funding Scheme

The Core Funding Scheme provides support for organisations which are considered of strategic importance in promoting community relations work across Northern Ireland.

The scheme contributes towards salary and organisational running costs.

Key Principles of the Core Funding Scheme

1. The work must be intentional.

Regardless of the grant scheme, a programme must have a clear good relations purpose from the outset with deliberate and planned activities which directly address sectarianism.

2. It must address an identified good relations need. 

All applications must be able to clearly demonstrate the good relations need they want to address and how they have identified this need.

Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC)

Applicants are required to outline the outcome in Together: Building a United Community to which the proposed project will contribute.

The Together: Building a United Community Strategy, published on 23 May 2013, reflects the Executive’s commitment to improving community relations and continuing the journey towards a more united and shared society.

Information Sessions

CRC has organised a number of online information sessions at which further guidance on the Core Funding Scheme and the application process will be given. At these sessions, organisations will also have opportunities to ask questions relating to the Core Funding Scheme.

The information sessions will be held as follows:

• Tuesday 10 October 2023 at 11-12.30 PM

• Wednesday 11 October 2023 at 11-12.30 PM

To register for either of the sessions please contact Paul Killen at the following email address: pkillen@nicrc.org.uk

For more information and to apply, please visit Core Funding Scheme | Community Relations Council (community-relations.org.uk)

Tesco and The Sun Offer 150 One-off Grants Through the Footie for All Fund

Funding to help grassroots youth football clubs across the UK who have been hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

Tesco and the newspaper, The Sun, have joined together to provide a total of £150,000 to encourage more children and young people to take up football or improve access to the game.

The grants are part of The Sun’s Footie for All campaign to highlight how financial struggles are forcing young people to give up football.

The funding is designed to provide support to grassroots football organisations working with children under the age of 18 to enable them to continue to deliver activities that allow local young people to take part.

Constituted grassroots football clubs across the UK can apply for grants of up to £1,000 which will support 100% of project costs.

The funding can be used to assist clubs in improving facilities, purchasing equipment and new kits, and meeting any other needs that can enhance the experience of children and young people, enabling them to access and participate in football within the local community.

Groups must be constituted and have a governing document and safeguarding policy in place.

Only one application per organisation will be accepted.

Applications will not be accepted from schools, projects that work with people over 18 years of age, school breakfast clubs

The Footie for All Fund is being managed by Groundwork UK which manages Tesco’s grant-giving programme.

Applications are being considered on a rolling basis.

The deadline for applications is 29 October 2023 (23:59).

For more information and to apply, please visit Footie for All (tescostrongerstarts.org.uk)

£1,000 Grants for People of Colour in Arts (UK)

Grants are available for people of colour in the UK to develop and deliver a range of creative and cultural projects.

Through the Grand Plan Grant, funding is on offer to support people of colour who want to create and deliver a new cultural project.

The programme supports creativity in all its forms, including poetry, paintings, fashion, zines, music, food, flowers, photographs, workshops, events, or something else completely.

Grants of £1,000 are available to cover the cost of equipment, courses, applicant's time, materials, travel, etc.

Applications are open to UK-based individuals, aged over 18, who and identify as a person of colour (Black, Asian, Brown and/or part of the Global Majority).

The deadline for the current round is 9 November 2023 (23:00 GMT).

For more information and to apply, please visit Application Guidance — Grand Plan (grandplanfund.co.uk)

Edge Fund’s Annual Funding Programme Opens for UK Applications

The Edge Fund is offering 40 grants of £1,000 each to communities and campaign groups based in the UK and Republic of Ireland that are working for social, economic and environmental justice.

The Fund supports those taking action for a just, equitable and sustainable world. Work should challenge abuses of power and aim to bring an end to the systems that cause injustice. This could be the economic system, political system, or any system that discriminates against people based on their identity or background (eg, class, ability, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexuality, age or other factors).

The grants will support:

• Work that creates long-term change in society by addressing the causes of injustice and inequality.

• Work addressing issues facing a particular community that is led by that community.

• Small groups that struggle to get funding elsewhere, particularly if other funders might consider them to be too radical.

• All types of non-profit organisations, including groups that are not formally registered.

Groups who have a religious purpose are welcome to apply (but financial support for any activity, initiative or project where the primary aim is to promote religion cannot be funded).

There are two drop-in/Q&A sessions available via Zoom:

• 13 October, 4.30pm to 5.30pm

• 27 October, 4.30pm to 5.30pm

Social enterprises, registered charities and CICs are not usually funded but applicants should contact the Edge Fund for further information. The funding is not available for traditional charity work that only aims to, for example, improve health and well-being, relieve financial hardship and unemployment, improve social inclusion and harmony, conserve the environment, advance education and training.

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on 31 October 2023.

For more iformation and to apply, please visit Apply for funding - Edge fund V2

The Society Foundation’s Annual Grants Programme

Funding to help specific groups of people in the UK move towards paid employment.

The Society Foundation is an independent registered charity, funded and supported by the executive search firm Society.

Each year, the Foundation offers a limited number of micro-grants of up to £2,500 to support people from the following groups move toward paid employment:

• The recently homeless or vulnerably housed.

• Ex-offenders.

• Young people (16-24 years old) not in employment, education or training (NEET).

The funding can be used for:

• Capacity building activities, including IT infrastructure and equipment.

• Staff training and development

• External consultancy/support.

The funding aims to play a transformative role by increasing the sustainability and effectiveness of organisations that are doing really vital work.

Applications are accepted from UK registered charities, Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) or Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO) and organisations with a governing document showing a clear charitable aim/purpose as defined by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Applicants must have a turnover under £500,000 per annum.

The deadline for applications is 16 October 2023 (midday).

For more information and to apply, please visit Apply for Funding (society-foundation.org)

Marine Litter Capital Grants Programme Accepting Applications

Funding is available for community groups, businesses and statutory bodies in Northern Ireland to purchase equipment for projects to reduce marine litter.

Live Here Love Here Marine Litter Capital Grants are provided by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs through the Live Here Love Here collaborative partnership, involving DAERA, ten local councils, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

The programme is inviting applications from a range of voluntary and community groups and organisations, schools, statutory bodies and businesses from across Northern Ireland. The grants are not restricted to coastal areas, so groups from anywhere in Northern Ireland may apply.

The funding will support organisations and groups to purchase and install capital items to:

• Prevent litter and plastic pollution from entering the marine environment.

• Enhance the environmental management of a local area to reduce marine litter.

• Improve the health and wellbeing of communities and marine biodiversity recovery by helping to improve and/or maintain the quality of public open spaces.

• Improve the quality of their local environment by changing behaviour through creative concepts to reduce the incidence of littering.

The level of grant depends on who is making the application:

• Constituted groups, businesses and statutory bodies - grants of between £500 and £40,000.

• Non-constituted groups - grants of between £500 and £5,000.

Applicants should note the average grant is likely to be a lot less than the maximum, which will only be awarded for exceptionally innovative or strategically significant projects. Collaborative applications are welcomed.

Council and business applicants must provide 50% match funding for their project, while schools must demonstrate how they will use any assets purchased in an educational context.

The deadline for applications is 9 November 2023 (5pm).

For more information and to apply, please visit Live Here Love Here - Grants

Cash4Clubs to Open for Applications on 18 October

Small unrestricted grants to help sustain the UK’s community sports clubs who are in need and may be threatened with closure due to the cost of living crisis.

Cash4Clubs is a corporate-initiated sports club scheme, funded by Flutter Entertainment (formerly Paddy Power Betfair), a bookmaking holding company.

For the last 25 years, it has been offering funding to support the sustainability of local sports clubs across the UK and Ireland, thereby ensuring more people have access to local sports.

This year, community sports clubs and organisations who are in need due to the impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis can apply for unrestricted grants of £2,000 from a funding pot of £200,000.

The funding can be used for anything that will add to the sustainability and effectiveness of the sports club, including buying new equipment, improving facilities or helping members to gain coaching qualifications.

While the funding is unrestricted there is particular interest in hearing from clubs that are using sport for other social purposes such as developing skills, reducing crime or addressing anti-social behaviour.

Applications will be accepted from clubs and organisations that are either registered charities or clubs with a structured governance and constitution.

Clubs that are targeting communities from deprived areas are encouraged to apply.

Full details will be provided when the scheme opens.

Applications open on 18 October 2023.

Please visit Home - Cash4Clubs (cash-4-clubs.com)