Potential funding opportunities & support for Ageing Better Groups


Good afternoon all,

Please find below a list of viable funders and other support structures that would be able to support some of your Ageing Better groups around their sustainability. I have tried to provide a concise description, but it will be worth you taking the time to follow each link to think about what may suit groups that you support.

Support for groups / leads

BVSC has launched a new funding portal called Engage For Funding. Organisations with a turnover of under £1million can use it to search for funding. It is free for BVSC member organisations to use. You may want to check if your organisation is a member, but you are welcome to sign up as an individual also. This would be a good tool to search for funding for your groups - https://www.idoxopen4community.co.uk/engageforfunding

BVSC offers free Business Development webinars on a Monday. On Monday 28th February, the focus will be on the portal and how best to use it. You can sign up for the webinar and find other details here - https://www.bvsc.org/Event/business-development-and-funding-weekly-lunchtime-webinar  

Our friends at Digikick have set up a new online learning portal called Digi Quick to help support people with some of the softer IT skills required - https://www.digiquick.org/

Funding opportunities

There are currently a number of opportunities on the Heart of England Community Fund website ( https://www.heartofenglandcf.co.uk/available-grants/ ) for Birmingham it might be worth looking at:

Get Togethers / Plant and Share Month - £150 Is being made available for groups for planting materials - https://www.fflgettogethers.org/support/?utm_source=BVSC&utm_campaign=5461f596f3-EBULLTIN_11+February&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bc4542f056-5461f596f3-546138430&mc_cid=5461f596f3&mc_eid=2de9b425e1

National Garden scheme – Community Garden Awards – applications close on Feb 28th Funding for gardening projects within local communities - https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/community-gardens-award/

Greene King IPA (Proud to Pitch in) – up to £3k available to community groups that support grassroots sports in communities. You can nominate your groups to receive a grant - https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/proud-to-pitch-in/

Home Instead Charities – Groups supporting isolation amongst people over 55 can apply. For non-registered groups applications of £500 are welcomed. Registered groups can apply for £1500 - https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/charities/apply-for-a-grant/

Alfred Haines Charitable Trust – Up to £2k for groups supporting communities across the WM region - http://www.ahct.org.uk/

LGBTQ+ Equity Fund – grants of £100 - £25k for groups with a particular focus on older adults, deaf / disabled, LBT+ Women, Trans and Non-binary people and BAME groups. Applicants must be registered charities, CICs, CIOs, Not for Profits or unincorporated charitable associations - https://www.consortium.lgbt/EquityFund/

Grants for Good Fund – voluntary / community groups with a bank account can apply. £10k distributed amongst 5 groups every 3 months - https://www.matthewgoodfoundation.org/grantsforgood/

National Allotment Gardens Trust – any groups who are are a registerted allotment association can apply for £2000. For groups based at Allotments it might be worth encouraging them to speak to their association - https://nagtrust.co.uk/

Gay & Peter Hartley’s Hillards Charitable Trust – Grants of up to £1k for community voluntary groups (with a bank account) - https://www.hillardstrust.org/

Richardson Brothers Foundation – applications welcomed from community groups to the trust - https://www.richardsons.co.uk/richardson-foundation

Stagecoach Group – offer support to groups. I cannot find anything about what they will and wont fund but there is a simple application form (link below) which also contains the main point of contact e-mail address so may be worth e-mailing for details - https://www.stagecoachgroup.com/~/media/Files/S/Stagecoach-Group/Attachments/pdf/request-form.pdf

The Alpkit Foundation – support including funding to grassroot community groups - https://alpkit.com/pages/foundation#apply

Clubs in crisis fund - £2k available to sports groups needing support however groups are required to be registered - https://www.madebysport.com/clubsincrisis

Wakeham Trust – grants of £150 to £2,500 specifically to community groups, especially those struggling to secure funding from larger funders - https://thewakehamtrust.org/

Arnold Clark Community Fund – community groups can apply for up to £1k. However, a focus needs to be on food banks, poverty / relief or housing / accommodation. https://www.arnoldclark.com/community-fund

Vegetarians for Life – grants of up to £3k to groups supporting vegetarians and vegans and or older adults - https://vegetarianforlife.org.uk/resources/grants

Barchester Healthcare Foundation – grants of up to £5k for community groups with a specific focus on supporting older adults. Groups will need a sponsor to apply, this can be a charitable organisation such as the organisation you work for but please ensure you speak with your manager about this if this is an option - https://www.bhcfoundation.org.uk/

Allen Lane Foundation – Applications welcomed from community groups. Applications between 500 and 15,000. Applications set to re-open during summer 22. https://allenlane.org.uk/

Amal Connects Grants Programme – up to £25k grants for established community groups for 1 year. The purpose of the grant is to increasing understanding of Britain’s Muslim communities to secular groups / other faith groups and foster a stronger sense of belonging in the UK amongst Muslim communities - https://amal.org.uk/apply/apply/

Tudor Trust – Grants of up to £10k for groups with a constitution and bank account in place. The deadline for applications is March 31st - https://tudortrust.org.uk/

 

Phil Done

Relationship and Contracts Manager (Communities & Older Adults)