Take 5 steps to wellbeing - your voice, your choice

Participatory Budgeting in Belfast gives residents a direct say in the decisions that affect them. It helps generate new ideas, strengthen community spirit and direct funding to where residents think it will make a difference.

With Participatory Budgeting, residents decide which projects get funded – it’s ‘your voice, your choice’.

The next participatory budgeting project in Belfast supports the Take 5 steps to wellbeing.

What is ‘Take 5 steps to wellbeing’?

Evidence suggests there are 5 steps we should all take to help improve our mental health and wellbeing. These are:

• Connect

• Keep learning

• Be active

• Take notice

• Give

Together and even individually, they encourage us to think about our daily routines and embrace the 5 activities to support better health and wellbeing.

Even if these are behaviours you already follow, the Take 5 steps to wellbeing is about increasing the time we spend doing them. Find out more at Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing(External link)

How to get involved?

We want to encourage local groups to apply for a share of funding to deliver projects that they think will improve emotional health and wellbeing within the community.

If you, your family, friends, neighbours, school or organised group have got an idea that helps bring the Take 5 steps to wellbeing to life, submit a short application.

If people in your area agree that it’s a good idea, then you'll get funded.

Groups can apply for funding up to £2500, and if successful you will have around six months to deliver your project, from April – October 2025.

We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved so here are some key reminders:

1. You don't have to be a large organisation or community group.

2. You don’t need to have previous experience or have done anything like this before to make an application.

3. The application form is simple and straightforward. You will just need to prepare a short summary of your project idea so people can learn more about your project before casting their vote.

4. Groups will be invited to present their project in a local venue and showcase their idea to the community and ask for their support.

How do we help?

We'll check that the project can be delivered safely, feasibly and legally within budget and the stated timeframe.

However, it will be up to the community to decide which projects are funded. As a condition of your funding, you will be required to show what you did with the money at a showcase celebration event in November 2025. But don't worry, we'll be there to help throughout this process.

Getting started

If you have an idea or want to learn more, please click on the information links provided (you'll find these on the right-hand side of this page or by scrolling to bottom of the page).

How to apply?

Applications open at 9.00am on Monday 25 November 2024 and close at 4.00pm on Friday 10 January 2025. Applications can be submitted in one of three ways:

• Online: Using the link below to submit an online form. This would be the preferred option.

• Email: Download a form using the link below. Once completed, email to mlbt@bhdu.org(External link)

• Post: Use the download option to print a copy of the application form. Hard copies can be posted or hand-delivered to:

Belfast Health Development Unit

Cecil Ward Building, 3rd Floor

4-10 Linenhall Street

Belfast BT2 8BP

Closing date

The closing date is 4.00pm on Friday 10 January 2025. Unfortunately applications received after that time cannot be considered. Please be aware that the online application form will become unavailable after this deadline.

To apply online, please visit Take 5 steps to wellbeing - your voice, your choice | Your say Belfast

National Lottery Heritage Grants £250,000 to £10million

National Lottery Heritage Grants is our funding programme for all types of heritage projects in the UK.

Use this guidance to apply for grants from £250,000 to £10m.  

You must first submit an Expression of Interest and, if you are successful, we will invite you to apply.

Your application will usually go through two phases: a development phase of up to two years, enabling you work on your project proposal, and a delivery phase of no more than five years. If you think a two phase application is not right for your project, please contact your local office to discuss.

Is this the right programme for you?

• Is your organisation looking to care for and sustain heritage in the UK?

• Will your heritage project run for no more than five years (excluding the development phase)?

• Do you require a grant of between £250,000 and £10m?

• Are you a not-for-profit organisation or a partnership led by a not-for-profit organisation?

• Does your project take into account our four investment principles?

If you answered yes to these questions, then National Lottery Heritage Grants could be for you.

Our investment principles

Four investment principles guide all our grant decision making under our 10-year strategy, Heritage 2033:

• saving heritage

• protecting the environment

• inclusion, access and participation

• organisational sustainability

You must take all four principles into account in your application. The strength of focus, and emphasis on each principle, is for you to decide and demonstrate.

The investment principles, and our strategic initiatives, will help us achieve our ambitions for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone’s future.

Things you need to know

• Your project must not start before we make a decision.

• You must first submit an Expression of Interest to tell us about your idea, and we will let you know if you are invited to apply.

• Deadlines for development and delivery applications are quarterly

• Once we receive your application and all the correct supporting documents, we will assess your application within 12 weeks and, following assessment, it will be assigned to the next scheduled decision meeting.

• For grants under £1m, you must contribute at least 5% of your project costs. For grants over £1m, you must contribute at least 10% of your project costs.

• Payments for development grants under £250,000 are made in three stages: 50% in advance, 30% in advance, and then 20% in arrears. Payments for development grants over £250,000, and all delivery grants, are made in arrears.

• We provide lots of good practice guidance. We recommend that you read the guidance that is relevant to you to help you develop and manage your project.

• We may consider applications for over £10m for truly exceptional heritage projects. If this applies to your project, you should contact your local office to discuss this.

For more information and to apply, please visit National Lottery Heritage Grants £250,000 to £10million | The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Department of Health - Core Grant Funding Scheme

The Department awards grants to voluntary and community sector organisations which are, through the work of the organisation, contributing towards the outcomes envisaged by the key departmental strategic and policy initiatives outlined below:

• Public Health, including the Live Well Initiative;

• Reform of Adult Social Care;

• Reform of Children’s Social Care with an emphasis on supporting families;

• Mental Health Strategy (2021-2031);

• Adult and Children with a Disability; and/or

• Cancer Strategy for Northern Ireland (2022-2032).

To be eligible for funding, an organisation must:

• demonstrate that the funding will benefit the Northern Ireland population (i.e. the organisation must operate in Northern Ireland only or allocate the funding to costs incurred by activities in Northern Ireland); 

• be independent, not for profit, and have a constitution or set of rules defining its aims, objectives and operational procedures, bona-fide, self-governing constitutionally independent and not directly controlled by a ‘for-profit’ organisation;

• have appropriate governance and financial controls in place (If successful you will be asked at Stage 2 to demonstrate financial viability, either from your published financial accounts, or realistic financial plans and credible references); and

• comply with relevant legislative requirements in respect of employment, safeguarding, health and safety, discrimination, data protection and equality of opportunity.

Applications from individuals, statutory bodies, commercial organisations, academic institutions (schools), trade unions or political parties will not be considered. Applications where the grant may be associated with political activity are excluded.

To be eligible for funding, one or more of the following activities must be satisfied by the organisation;

• supporting the development and/or implementation of key departmental strategy and policy through representation on structures established by the Department and/or at the request of the Department;

• giving service users a voice/ensure that their views are effectively represented;

• promoting social inclusion and quality of life;

• facilitating capacity building within the sector, including through training, information-sharing and the provision of corporate [or other] services; and/or

• facilitating/enabling collaboration and co-operation across VCS organisations.

Financial contributions (ranging from £5,000 - £100,000) towards core costs will be offered on the basis that the outcomes specified in the organisation’s application form will be delivered.

The following costs are eligible:

• up to 25% of a permanent member of staff’s annual salary (the member of staff must not be involved in service delivery while funded by the Scheme);

• relevant training costs (training for staff and/or volunteers);

• relevant running costs and overheads (e.g. rent, rates, electricity, gas etc);

• equipment and minor (less than £15,000 in total) capital items;

• management and audit costs;

• costs of involving volunteers (e.g. travel); and

• evaluation costs for the organisation or service.

The Department is now seeking applications for funding from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026.

The application form and guidance for applicants are available by clicking below:

• Application Form

• Guidance for Applicants

Please read both documents carefully before starting an application.

You may email a completed application form to CoreGrantAdmin@health-ni.gov.uk or mail a completed physical form to:

DoH Core Grant Scheme
FCPD Admin
Room A3.7
Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
BT4 3SQ

Completed forms must be received prior to the application deadline of 12pm on Friday 13th December 2024.

Tyrone 3 Community Benefit Fund

Purpose of the fund:

This local community fund has been set up by Energia Renewables, working in close partnership with local groups from the areas surrounding the Tyrone 3 Windfarms.  The Tyrone 3 Windfarms comprises three farms, which are:

• Altamuskin (6 wind turbines / 14.1MW)

• Eshmore (3 wind turbines / 7.0MW)

• Gortfinbar (5 wind turbines / 15.0.MW)

The windfarms are situated in close proximity to each other between the town of Ballygawley and the villages of Carrickmore, Sixmilecross and Beragh in County Tyrone. They are located in the Mid Ulster District and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council areas respectively.

Energia has set up the fund to ensure that the wind farm, whilst having obvious environmental benefits, will also provide significant social and economic benefits to the local community. The Tyrone 3 Windfarms Community Benefit Fund will be administered by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.

Funding will be available to local community projects that are planned and run for the benefit of the local population and are within the 5 mile radius – as per the boundary map.

Applicant organisations must be located within the 5-mile radius.

Boundary map

The fund will support projects addressing issues within the following theme 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

Fund priorities:

• Projects that improve the utilisation of existing community space in areas within the fund boundary.

• Contributions towards running/administration costs and for purchasing additional equipment to expand and support new and existing services/activities in each of the areas.

• Particular emphasis will be placed on funding activities/services that are specifically aimed at older people, people with disabilities, children and teenagers (including pre-school children), providing skills development of local people and promoting health related activities or services.

• Applicants are encouraged to network, share best practice and co-operate more between the areas. Projects which demonstrate the ability to collaborate, network and share best practice will be encouraged and supported.

• Projects and programmes offering invaluable advice and information and signposting on key Rural issues should be supported e.g. Farm Support Services, Welfare & amp; Benefits and Parenting/Family issues etc.

• Outdoor/Environmental projects will be considered in terms of encouraging a healthier and active community as well as protecting and enhancing the local environment.

• Wider community events and programmes that encourage greater community interaction (including cross community aspects) encompassing the local rich and varied cultural aspects of music, drama, dance and sport.

Examples of who can apply:

• Constituted voluntary organisations and community groups

• Local youth groups

Examples of projects that the fund might support:

• Local cultural projects recording and researching history

• Establishment of a “Men’s Shed” or other similar initiative

• Small capital works to a community facility

• Environmental awareness projects

• Activities supporting young people, the elderly, those with disabilities

• Community wide events

• Strategic projects that will benefit a number of communities, including partnership applications

Grants size:

Grants up to £5,000

Closing date for applications is 6th December 2024.

For more information, please visit Tyrone 3 Community Benefit Fund - Community Foundation Northern Ireland

Voices from the Frontline

Rosa’s Voices from the Frontline fund, now in its seventh year of running, offers  grants of up to £10,000 over 18 months to women’s and girls’ organisations to support campaigning and influencing work that enables women and girls to use their voice to achieve change. 

Rosa is proud to champion the campaigning and influencing work that women’s and girls’ organisations do, as we recognise that every progress in culture, law and practice in women’s and girls’ lives over the last two hundred years has been pioneered by women and girls, organising and mobilising. 

Women’s and girls’ organisations are at the forefront of addressing social issues and we believe change comes about when women and girls who have lived experience of injustice and inequality get heard. 

However, there remains a critical need for funding for women’s and girls’ organisations to deliver activism and campaigning to raise awareness of the issues women and girls face. This is why Voices from the Frontline exists. 

The deadline for applications is 4pm on Monday 9th December. You need to submit your application form and video by this date.

For more information, please visit Voices from the Frontline - Rosa

Henry Moore Foundation Accepting Applications for Autumn 2024 Funding Round

Henry Moore Foundation is offering various grants for not-for-profit organisations for projects and activities that promote the growth and development of sculpture across historical, modern, and contemporary registers, and research that expands the appreciation of sculpture.

 The Foundation offers funding in the following categories:

• New projects and commissions: Grants of up to £20,000 to encourage new thinking about sculpture or sculpture history or contribute to public awareness and appreciation of sculpture.

• Acquisitions and collections: Grants of up to £20,000 for museums and galleries to acquire or conserve sculpture for their collections, cataloguing, and display costs.

• Research and development:

• Long-term grants of up to £20,000 for projects that require funding for more than one year, such as a permanent collection catalogue.

• Small research grants of up to £2,500 for academics, curators, and independent scholars for research costs on the history and interpretation of sculpture.

• Conferences, lectures, and publications: Grants of up to £5000 to publish a new book or journal, or to stage a conference or other event related to sculpture.

This funding round is for projects starting, or opening to the public, no sooner than 1 April 2025.

There are typically four deadlines per year.

The next deadline for applications is 1 December 2024 (23:00).

For more information, please visit Grants & fellowships | Henry Moore Foundation

BGF Foundation Invites UK Charities Working with Young People to Apply for a Partnership Grant

The BGF Foundation is offering a small number of unrestricted grants of £100,000 spread over two years and pro bono support to UK registered charities who work exclusively with disadvantaged young people in the UK and who have plans to scale their impact.

The Foundation is looking to support four to five ambitious charities working with young people (aged between 7 and 30 years) in the areas of: 

• Education

• Employment

• Enterprise

• Mental health

• Physical wellbeing

Priority will be given to charities that can demonstrate growth in recent years, such as improvements in income, reach, evidence base or effectiveness of their work.

UK registered charities can apply as long as they have:

• Been operating for at least three years.

• An income between £1 million and £3 million in their latest published annual accounts

• All of their work with young people in one or more of the Foundation's five focus areas.

There is a two stage application process.

The deadline for Expression of Interest is 29 November 2024 (17:00).

For more information, please visit BGF Foundation 2024 Funding Call

WCIT Charity Accepting Applications for IT4Good Grants Programme

The WCIT Charity is offering grants of up to £15,000 for educational establishments and not-for-profit organisations across the UK to support IT projects and activities.

The IT4Good Grants Programme will support activities within the themes of education, inclusion, IT for charities, and understanding of IT, such as the development and delivery of new services, solutions, training, apps, analytics, AI, robotics, or accessibility features/hardware.  

Projects that are more likely to be funded include:

• Projects where WCIT is a material or sole funder.

• Projects where WCIT is the sole funder of the IT component of a larger project.

• Organisations that could benefit from pro-bono support.

Proposals should demonstrate an innovative use of IT, be scalable for wider replication, and be sustainable over time. Grants of over £15,000 may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

The next deadline for applications is 10 February 2025. 

For more information, please visit Home - WCIT Charity

Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Arts Fund Opens for UK Applications

The Foundation provides long-term, core funding to not-for-profit organisations who work at the intersection of art and social change so they can continue the work they are already doing and for programmes which are central to their mission.

The Arts Fund supports organisations to do the following:

• 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.

Not-for-profit cultural organisations with a turnover of at least £60,000 per year can apply now for grants of between £90,000 and £300,000 for activity lasting up to three years. The grants can cover up to 50% of an organisation’s annual turnover over three years, based on their last audited accounts.

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 their organisation’s mission and vision.

Priority will be given to applications which are actively anti-racist and intersectional in their approach.

The funding will cover work that involves any of the following: crafts, creative writing (including poetry), dance, design, film, music, opera, photography, digital arts and media, theatre and drama, the visual arts and cross-arts practices.

Earlier this year, PHF moved from an open application process to two application windows per year with a two-stage application process.

The next deadline for stage one applications is 31 January 2025 (12noon).

For more information, please visit Arts Fund | Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Young Gamechangers Fund Accepting Applications for 2024 Funding Round

Co-op Foundation, in partnership with Co-op and the #iwill Fund, is offering grants of up to £20,000 for youth-led groups across the UK to support social action projects and activities that create positive social change in their communities through activism, awareness training, campaigning, disrupting and challenging norms, and building co-operation.

Through the Young Gamechangers Fund, funding is available for groups with an annual income of less than £100,000 that can demonstrate that 75% of their leadership are young people aged between 10 and 25, and are committed to building community cohesion, bringing people together, and designing or testing innovative approaches to established challenges.

In this round, priority will be given to applications from young people with experience of:

• The criminal justice system.

• Barriers to accessing education.

• Living in rural/isolated communities.

• Living in coastal towns and communities.

• Seeking asylum, being a refugee.

• Social and financial barriers to accessing opportunities.

There are funding streams for organisations:

• Project grants can be used to cover the costs of a particular programme activity, such as materials and resources, promotion, venue hire, transport, or staff time spent only on the project. Project grants are only available for groups in England.

• Unrestricted flexible grants can be used for costs such as staff salaries, organisational overheads, maintenance of equipment and venues, and other general running costs. Unrestricted grants are available for groups across the UK.

In addition to funding, successful applicants also get access to peer support networks, training and mentoring.

There is a two-stage application process. Groups must first complete an online eligibility checker before being invited to submit a full application.

The deadline to submit to complete the eligibility checker is 4 December 2024

For more information, please visit £4.5m Young Gamechangers Fund - Co-op Foundation

Small Change Big Difference® Fund

Through the Small Change Big Difference® Fund, trustees consider nominations to charities that support its two priority areas: alleviating poverty and improving health / saving lives. It particularly welcomes nominations of charities that are working in areas of deprivation, and charities that have an income turnover of less than £100,000.

Please read the full guidance notes here prior to making an application.

To be considered for a donation the charity must meet the following basic eligibility criteria:

• Registered with the Charity Commission, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or the Scottish Charity Regulator

• Funding will either help alleviate poverty, improve health or save lives

• Nominated by a Yorkshire Building Society member or colleague

• Beneficiaries in the UK

• Have not received a YBS Charitable Foundation donation in the last 2 years

• Annual returns submitted to the Charity Commission, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or the Scottish Charity Regulator

The following will NOT be considered:
 

• Applications that do not fit the criteria outlined in the guidelines

• Charities serving a specific sector of the community selected on the basis of political or religious grounds/ advancement

• Animal welfare charities

• Charities with beneficiaries not in the UK

• Community Interest Companies, community or voluntary organisations that are not registered charities

For more information, please visit Charitable Foundation | Your Society | YBS

Northern Ireland - Rural Micro Capital Grants Scheme

Grants are available for rural community-led, voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland to support projects that address issues of local poverty and social isolation, and to implement energy efficiency measures or environmental improvements.

Background

The Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme (RMCGS) is administered by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), with funding provided from the Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) programme.

Objectives of Fund

The funding is intended to support projects designed to:

• Help rural community-led, voluntary groups to address local issues of access poverty, financial poverty and social isolation.

• Improve the lives of rural communities, and in particular the wellbeing of isolated individuals.

• In line with the draft Green Growth Strategy for Northern Ireland, provide opportunity to community-led, voluntary groups to implement energy efficiency measures and environmental improvements.

Value Notes

Grants of between £500 and £2,000 are available, to fund up to 85% of total project costs.

Total project costs must not exceed £4,000.

Match Funding Restrictions

Applicants must provide match funding of at least 15%, in the form of a cash contribution.

Labour or in-kind contributions will not be accepted.

Who Can Apply

Applications will be accepted from rural community or voluntary organisations or social economy enterprises located in Northern Ireland.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Have a formal constitution or governing documents.

• Have a minimum of three people on their management committee.

• Have a bank or building society account in the name of the group, which requires at least two signatures for each withdrawal.

• Enclose a copy of their most recent accounts or a signed financial statement.

• Be the sole applicant and owner or lessee of the building for which the application is being made.

• Be appropriately insured or prepared to obtain appropriate insurance if awarded a grant (building or contents insurance as appropriate).

Restrictions

The following are not eligible for funding:

• Organisations based in urban areas.

• Individuals, sole traders and/or commercial trading companies.

• Companies that exist to distribute a profit.

• Statutory Authorities or organisations governed by Statutory Authorities.

• Appeals or charities set up to support statutory bodies.

• Organisations with an income in excess of £80,000 (not including in-year restricted funds, eg non-business/grant income).

• More than one application to modernise a building.

• Costs already incurred.

• Grants to be used to match another funder's project.

• Projects where the value of match funding is greater than the value of grant.

• Second-hand equipment.

• Training.

• Hospitality, food, drink.

• Clothing, uniforms

• Motorised vehicles.

• Running costs.

• Consumables eg ink cartridges, paper. 

• Staff/volunteer expenses.

• Labour costs not directly associated with purchased capital works/items.

• Feasibility studies/reports.

Eligible Expenditure

Projects must focus on one of the following themes:

• Modernisation (of premises/assets).

• Information Communication Technology.

• Health and Wellbeing.

• Energy Efficiency/Environmental Improvements.

Grants can be used to purchase capital equipment, improve an asset, or extend the usable life of a capital asset.

Funding can also be used by organisations to implement energy efficiency measures and/or environmental improvements to their premises.

All projects must be completed and claims for grants submitted by 25 March 2025.

Location

Northern Ireland

How To Apply

The deadline for applications to the second 2024/25 funding round is 5 December 2024 (noon).

Applications must be completed online through the Rural Micro Capital Scheme portal.

Applicants are advised to contact their local Rural Support Network for further information.

Documents & links

• DAERA - Initiatives to Tackle Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI)

• DAERA - Rural Micro Capital Grants Scheme (RMCGS) 2024/25

Contacts

For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:

1. Enquiries
   Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
   Dundonald House
   Upper Newtownards Road
   Ballymiscaw
   Belfast
   BT4 3SB
   Tel: 0300 200 7852
   Email: daera.helpline@daera-ni.gov.uk

Rosa’s Voices from the Frontline Fund to Open 5 November 2024

The women’s charity, Rosa, has announced that their Voices from the Frontline Fund will run for a seventh year. The fund offers grants to women’s and girls’ organisations to support campaigning and influencing work that enables women and girls to use their voice to achieve change. This year, grants have increased from £7,000 to £10,000 and will cover an 18-month period.

Applications will be accepted from not-for-profit women's sector voluntary and community organisations in the UK that have been active for at least one year and can produce annual accounts for an entire year.

They must meet Rosa’s definition of a women’s and girls’ organisation as those which are run by, for and with women and girls:

• Their organisation will be governed and led by women.

• They will have a Board of Trustees (or similar) where the Chair is a woman, and the majority of members are women.

• The majority of their organisation’s employee leadership team will be women.

• Their organisation will have the principal objective of working with women and/or girls and the majority of their organisation’s beneficiaries are, and will always be, women and/or girls.

Full details, including priorities, of the new round will be provided when the Fund reopens on 5 November 2024.

Applications will be accepted from 5 November until the deadline of 9 December 2024.

For more information, please visit Voices from the Frontline - Rosa

Kellogg’s School Breakfast Clubs Grant Programme Opens for Second 2024 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 aimed at pupils between reception class and year 13 to ensure that those 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. Fee paying schools are not eligible to apply.

Applications can be submitted at any time.

For more information, please visit Grants For Schools | Kellogg's

Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme to Close 31 January 2025

Earlier this year, the Foyle Foundation announced that it will complete its grant giving programme in 2025 and it will stop accepting new applications to the Small Grants Scheme at the end of January 2025.  

The Foundation was established in 2000 with unrestricted charitable objectives and no request or need to maintain a permanent endowment. The Trustees decided to spend down its funds over 25 years, enabling more charitable causes to receive more support, more quickly, than would have been possible if the Foundation had maintained a permanent endowment. 

The scheme is open to UK charities that have an annual turnover of less than £150,000.  Priority is given to local charities still active in their communities that are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community. Applicants must show how any grant will make a significant difference to their current work and must be able to demonstrate ongoing financial viability over the next 12 months. 

Grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 are available for 12 months. The funding can be used for core costs (including salaries), projects, essential equipment, or building projects as long as they can be completed before the end of 2025. 

The Foundation has indicated that competition for the funding is ‘intense’ as they are receiving an unprecedented number of applications, many more than can be funded. 

Applications can be submitted at any time up to 31 January 2025.

For more information, please visit Small Grants Scheme Guidelines – The Foyle Foundation

Funding for Projects to Help Visually Impaired People

This funder provides grants to eye clinics, hospitals, schools, libraries and other organisations helping visually impaired people in the UK and overseas. It also funds medical research and the provision of facilities for the treatment or alleviation of visual impairment.

Funding is at the discretion of the Trustees. Grants range from around £100 to £500,000.

Applications are accepted from organisations that help the visually impaired in the UK or overseas. Organisations need not necessarily be a charity and can be a community interest company (CIC) or social group and could include:

• National and local blind and partially sighted societies

• Schools and colleges for visually impaired people

• Sports and social organisations for visually impaired people

Applications from public libraries run by local authorities will be considered if these are additional to the local authority's core service. Volunteer-run libraries may be supported if they are supported in cash or in kind by the local authority.

The funding can be used for costs associated with projects to improve or enhance services that will benefit people with significant visual impairments. Preference will be given to projects that will lead to longer-term benefits after the initial funding has ended.

Eligible costs can include equipment or materials. Staffing costs for specific, time-limited projects may be considered at the Trustees' discretion.

Applications are considered four times a year.

The next deadline for applications is 15 December 2024.

For more information, please visit Ulverscroft Foundation | Serving the Needs of Visually Impaired People | Homepage

Small Charities Can Apply Soon for Core Funding to Support Young People, Disadvantaged Families, Prisoners

The Woodward Charitable Trust, a grant-making trust, is one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Twice a year it awards grants to UK registered charities with an annual turnover of less than £200,000 who are making ‘a real difference in their communities and who stand out in the work that they do’.

The funding is for charitable organisations in the UK working in the following areas:

• Children and young people (up to 25 years) who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in antisocial behaviour. This covers gang violence and knife crime, education and mentoring, as well as projects that work to raise self-esteem and employment opportunities and encourage an active involvement in and contribution towards the local community.

• Disadvantaged families. This covers parenting support and guidance, mental health, food poverty, refuges and domestic violence projects.

• Prisoners and ex-offenders and specifically projects that maintain and develop contact with prisoners' families and help with the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners and/or ex-offenders after their release.

The majority of an applicant's beneficiaries (more than 50%) must be within at least one of these areas to be eligible.

Although grants of up to £3,000 are available, most grants are for £1,000 or less. The Trustees favour small-scale, locally based initiatives and most grants are only for one year.

The grants are for core costs rather than specific projects and will cover staff salaries, rent, utilities, general office costs, accountancy/audit costs, fundraising, governance and compliance, and costs supporting the core programmes of the organisation.

Applications will be considered from UK registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs), community interest companies (CICs) and exempt charities with an annual turnover of less than £200,000.

Organisations may apply for a grant for up to three years in a row, or three times within a five-year period. Once this has been reached they must wait two years before reapplying.

There are two application windows each year with applications usually considered in March and November.

The next round will open for applications on 4 November 2024 and close on 13 December 2024 (noon). 

For more information, please visit The Woodward Charitable Trust

Peter Harrison Foundation’s Active Lives Grants Programme Reopens on 1 November

Funding for UK charities to support grassroots sports projects which provide opportunities for self-development for people living in the most disadvantaged areas in the UK who encounter physical, mental, social, or economic barriers.  

The funding is for physical activity initiatives that:  

• Offer high-impact, life-enhancing opportunities for those who live in the top 10% of areas of deprivation.

• Remove barriers to participation for disabled or disadvantaged people.

• Focus on grassroots involvement rather than elite participation in physical activity.

• Focus on skills development and confidence building for individuals.

• Incorporate effective strategies for wider impact, perhaps through training, partnerships and/or dissemination activities.

• Demonstrate a high degree of involvement across the organisation from beneficiaries and those with lived experience.

• Have a well-developed plan for sustainability and seek to deliver a legacy.

• Reflect the Foundation’s values of Excellence, Entrepreneurship, Integrity, Sustainability.

  Two levels of funding are available and will cover capital, project or core costs:

• Small grants – up to £5,000 (priority given to organisations with annual income under £500,000).

• Major grants – £5,001 to £30,000 (priority given to organisations with annual income under £5 million).

 Applications are accepted from UK organisations that:

• Are either a registered charity or a registered CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club).

• Have been registered with the charity regulator for two years or more (charity applicants).

• Have been registered as a CASC for two years or more (CASC applicants).

• Have produced independently examined or audited accounts for at least one full year of operation.

Community Interest Companies (CICs) and exempt charities may not apply.

Applications will be accepted from 1 November 2024 to 1 January 2025.

For more information, please visit About our grant programmes | Peter Harrison Foundation

Funding to Reuse and Recycle Small Household Electricals in the UK

Material Focus, an independent not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to stop electricals from being hoarded and thrown away, is offering grants to communities across the UK to reuse and recycle small household electricals.

A total of £750,000 is available  to support two types of projects:

• Growing existing services – grants of up to £100,000 for projects that grow existing collection methods for small electricals. This could be community drop points in libraries and other community locations, adding cages under refuse collection vehicles, bring banks/WEEE banks.

• Innovating new methods – grants of up to £50,000 to come up with new approaches to repair, reuse and/or recycle electricals, for example, collection points at large offices/campuses, drop-offs at post offices, major supermarkets, large shopping centres, retail parks, collection of waste electricals using the return journey/spare capacity during collection/delivery of parcels, or projects that support tackling the growing concerns around digital inclusion.

The funding can be used for:

• The purchase of new bins/collection points (‘bring banks’).

• The adaptation of waste collection vehicles to include cages for kerbside WEEE.

• Vehicle rental.

• Installation of bins.

• Communication and marketing materials.

• Staffing costs to cover the time spent planning and delivering the project.

• Salaries if the person is working to deliver the funded project.

A range of registered organisations can apply, including charities, local authorities, waste partnerships, private waste contractors, other private companies, and compliance schemes.

Material Focus will provide successful applicants with project management support.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

For more information, please visit Electricals Recycling Fund - Material Focus

B&Q Foundation Opens for Final Funding Round of 2024

B&Q Foundation offers grants to charities who are using the funds to provide, maintain, repair or improve housing or community space.

A wide range of UK registered charities based and working in the UK can apply for one-off grants of up to £5,000 for garden projects or up to £10,000 for building or indoor projects.

The funding is for registered charities working with people most in need because of homelessness, financial hardship, sickness, disability or other disadvantage.

Charities can use the grants to decorate, renovate or create spaces (indoors and outdoors) with the aim of making people feel at home and having a sense of belonging. Projects could include creating community gardens, redecorating properties, installing new boilers, and creating new buildings or rooms.

The funding will cover the full cost for the completion of the project, including staff time required.

 Please note CICs and unregistered community groups are not eligible for this funding.

The B&Q Foundation Grants programme is managed by Neighbourly, a platform used by local Good Causes across the UK and Ireland.

Groups will need to create a profile on the Neighbourly platform as part of the B&Q Foundation application process.  The profile can also be used to access other types of support on the Neighbourly platform.

The deadline for applications is 15 November 2024 (18:00).

For more information, please visit Apply For a Grant | B&Q Foundation