The Prince's Countryside Fund - Autumn 2017 Round Opens for UK Applications

The Prince's Countryside Fund was established to support the sustainability and protection of farms and rural communities throughout the UK. The aim of the funding is to have a long-term positive impact on rural communities, helping those that live and work there to sustain the countryside by tackling key rural issues.

Not-for-profit organisations, charities, social enterprises, Community Interest Companies, companies limited by guarantee, and unincorporated associations based and working within the UK can apply for grants of up to a maximum of £50,000 (inclusive of VAT) to a maximum period of three years.

The funding is for projects which meet the objectives for Autumn 2017, which are:

• Improving the prospects of viability for family farm businesses. Projects should focus on developing stronger, more sustainable farm businesses and other rural enterprises with the aim of halting the decline of the rural economy.*
• Sustaining Rural Communities and driving Economic Vibrancy. Projects should provide innovative solutions to deliver assets and services that keep rural communities together and develop a more sustainable rural economy.
• Supporting Aid Delivery in Emergency and Building Resilience. Projects should support farm businesses, rural businesses and communities to plan for and recover from natural disasters such as flooding or animal disease. Groups that are considering applying under this theme should contact the Fund's Grant Manager to discuss their proposed activity in more detail.

In addition, for the September 2017 round, there are specific funds available to help the rural communities affected by the recent flooding following a series of storms over the winter 2015. The Fund is actively seeking applications from organisations that are supporting farmers, rural businesses and communities to recover following the flooding or projects that are focused on assisting the recovery and future resilience in these rural areas, particularly Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Northumberland and Scotland.

*The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme is being run annually in 15 locations around the UK. It is open to small dairy, livestock and mixed family farm businesses and includes a series of free workshops and one-to one guidance. The Autumn 2017 programme is being offered in the following locations: Brampton-Cumbria; Cirencester-Gloucestershire; Dartmoor-Devon; Dolgellau-Gwynedd; Dumfries-Dumfries and Galloway; Isle of Arran, Llandovery-Carmarthenshire; Middleton-in-Teesdale-Durham Dales; Northern Ireland; Penzance-Cornwall; Plumpton-East Sussex; Sidmouth-Devon; Tarporle-Cheshire; Whitby-North York Moors.

The deadline for applications is 5 October 2017 (5pm).

(Source: Powys 4 Community)

Concertina Charitable Trust

The Concertina Trust is a Welsh-based charitable trust that awards grants to charitable organisations to provide cultural activities and related facilities for the elderly, in order to improve their quality of life.  The Trust is keen to support smaller charitable organisations in England and Wales that might otherwise find it difficult to attract funding. These include funds to many care homes for the elderly, often to provide musical entertainment or related activities that brightens the lives of residents and also provides a therapeutic benefit to their health and well-being. Grants of up to £250 are available. The Trust usually wants to see that applicants have attracted matched funding for any proposed activities. The number of awards made annually tends to be relatively low as the Trust’s annual expenditure has averaged just £8,576 over the last 5 years. Previous awards have included: o The Bath Recital Artists Trust - to organize a tea party for Senior Citizens and then a free concert at the Pump Room, Bath; o The Theatre Chipping Norton - to fund high calibre music recitals in six Care Homes in the area; o Sheffield & Gateway Mencap - to fund the Christmas Special and the Sunday Lunch Club entertainment, an event for elderly parents and carers; and o Sue Ryder Care, Lancashire - to fund access to music therapy workshops at Birchley Hall near Wigan and St Helen’s. The Trust’s annual application deadlines are: o 30 April; and o 31 October. Applicants are required to provide details of: o their charity’s objects; o their charity's financial position; o the sector of the elderly community which it benefits; o the amount sought; and o the proposed cultural activities or related facilities it intends to provide. Application is via the application form that can be found on the Trust's website.   Only hard copy postal applications are accepted (although an email address and phone number is provided for a given contact on the Charity Commission website, the Trust requests that this in not used.)  Contact details for the Trust are: The Concertina Charitable Trust Bodfach Hall Llanfyllin Powys SY22 5HS  (The Trust does not advertise a phone number or email address.)   (Source: GRIN)

Awards for All success for Powys groups

8 Powys groups have been successful in the latest round of Awards for All funding.  A total of £36,235 has been awarded between them for a wide variety of interesting projects.

Awards for All has changed recently, so if you are thinking of applying for it please go to:

https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/a4awales

Projects can apply for funding between £300 - £10,000.

Funding is available for:

• equipment
• one-off events
• small capital projects
• staff costs
• training costs
• transport
• utilities/running costs
• volunteer expenses

If you need more information, please contact wales@biglotteryfund.org.uk or call the advice team on 0300 123 0735. Text relay users, please use 18001 plus 0300 123 0735.

Did you know that you can PAVO development staff will look over funding applications before they are submitted?  We can act as fresh pair of eyes, and support you to submit the strongest application you can.  Contact us on 01597 822191 if you would like to know more.  

P.S.  We won't charge you to look over your application!

Triangle Trust 1949 Fund Development Grants

The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund Development Grants are intended to provide core funding to support organisations to implement a step change in their development and therefore build increased sustainability for the future.

Grants are available for:

1. Carers - the Triangle Trust states that around 10% of the population are unpaid carers supporting a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. The Trust offers dedicated funding for carer organisations where they will not have to compete with applications from other sectors. Unfortunately the Trust can only offer funding to specialist carer organisations rather than those with a broader remit which run carer projects. Grants for the Trust's Caring measure are available each Spring.

2. The rehabilitation of offenders and ex-offenders - The Trust asserts that, across the prison population, including men, women and youth at least 1 in 2 prisoners released will re-offend within a year. Offenders need information to make the right decisions about their lives in the community: where they will live; how they will gain a legitimate income; how they will rebuild their family ties, or form new ones. They should also be helped to find support for mental health needs and substance misuse. For the benefit of the individual offenders and society, the Trust would like to see the re-offending rates in the UK reduce and offer dedicated funding to organisations working with offenders whilst in prison and after they are released to bring this about. The Trust can only offer funding to specialist offender organisations rather than those with a broader remit which run offender projects. Grants for the Trust's rehabilitation of offenders and ex-offenders are available every autumn.

Registered charities, not-for-profit social enterprises and community interest companies in the UK can apply for a grant of up to £80,000 over 3 years with a maximum of £35,000 in year one.

The amount requested each year is expected to taper down as applicants develop other sustainable income streams, for example: £35,000 in year one; £25,000 in year two and £15,000 in year three.

PLEASE NOTE: the funder advises that this is a highly competitive fund with a success rate of broadly 7% (i.e. 1 in 14) for rehabilitation applicants and just 5% (1 in 20) for carers applicants.

Applicants must:

o Have a constitution whose sole purpose is to support unpaid carers or the rehabilitation of offenders or ex-offenders;
o Be involved in providing direct practical support work, research projects or policy or campaigning work relevant to unpaid carers or the rehabilitation of offenders or ex-offenders;
o Demonstrate in their application how they have expertise and a history of working with unpaid carers or offenders;
o Have some volunteer input;
o Have a gross annual income (including contract income) for the most recent financial year of less than £1 million, although priority will be given to smaller organisations;
o Make a commitment to develop sustainable income streams during the grant period; and
o Have evaluation systems for their work in place, and if not then part of the grant should be used to put a system in place.

The following are not eligible for funding:

o Organisations with a broader remit that are running a project to support unpaid carers or the rehabilitation of offenders or ex-offenders;
o Organisations running crime prevention or restorative justice initiatives;
o Organisations providing support to the “cared for” as well as their carers;
o Appointment of a Trust or Community Fundraiser;
o Expanding the coverage of a particular service, unless there is a tangible increase in sustainability as a result;
o Match funding, unless associated with a sustainability development;
o Covering the loss of a statutory contract or grant income; or
o General running costs.

The 2017 application rounds are:

o For organisations working with unpaid carers: applications opened on 9 March 2017 and closed on 4 May 2017;
o For organisations working with the rehabilitation of offenders and ex-offenders:  applications will open on Thursday 7 September 2017 with a deadline of Thursday 2 November 2017.

Applications should be submitted on the online application form, which is available on the Trust's website. 

There is a two-stage application process. Shortlisted applicants folowing stage 1 will be required to host a visit from the Triangle Trust and present their strategic plan for the next few years. The Trust is happy to discuss potential applications by email or by phone.

Contact details for the Fund are:

The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund
Foundation House
2-4 Forum Place
Fiddlebridge Lane
Hatfield
AL10 0RN
Tel: 01707 707078
Email: info@triangletrust.org.uk  

(Source: GRIN)

How to get your charity's funding application to the top of the pile

https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2017/aug/30/how-to-get-your-charitys-funding-application-to-the-top-of-the-pile

Ernest Cook Trust

South West based the Ernest Cook Trust provides grants to UK registered charities, state schools and not-for-profit organisations to encourage young people's interest in either:

o The countryside and the environment;
o The arts;
o Aiming to raise levels of literacy and numeracy; or
o Science.

The  Trust has two grant programmes:

1. Small grants for awards of under £4,000. Most awards are in the region of £1,000 to £1,500; and
2. Large grants for awards of more than £4,000. Most awards are in the range of £4,000 to £12,000.

Applicants are expected to show what other sources of funding have been sought and secured. The Trust always expects to be a part funder and does not commit funds for more than one year.

The small grants programme supports state schools and small registered charities which would like to undertake projects which meet the Trust's objectives and require a small amount of pump-priming in order for such projects to take place.

The large grants programme is aimed at more comprehensive education programmes. These sometimes require support for the salary of, for example, an education officer. In such cases, the Trust would always expect to be a part-funder. The range of the programme is wide; over the years education projects linked to theatres, art galleries, museums and orchestras have been supported, as have those covering a wide range of environmental and countryside projects.  

Funding is not available for:

o Projects that have already taken place;
o Individuals;
o Agricultural Colleges, independent schools, local authorities or pre-school groups;
o Building work, infrastructure or refurbishment work;
o Youth work, social support, therapy and medical treatment, including projects using the arts, environment or literacy and numeracy for these purposes;
o Projects related to sports, outward bound type activities or recreation;
o Overseas projects;
o Wildlife Trusts and for Farming & Wildlife Advisory Groups other than those which are based in counties in which the Ernest Cook Trust owns land (Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and Oxfordshire).

Meetings to consider applications for the small grants programme take place every two months throughout the year.

There is no specific closing date and suitable applications are allocated to the next available meeting.

Due to high demand, applicants are advised to submit an application at least six months ahead of the project start date.

The full Board of Trustees meets twice a year, in April and September, to consider grants in excess of £4,000. At the spring meeting only projects related to the arts, crafts & architecture and literacy, numeracy & science are considered, while at the autumn meeting only projects covering environment & countryside and literacy, numeracy & science are considered.

Applications for the spring meeting (which usually takes place in mid-April) must be received by the Trust by 31 January. Applications for the autumn meeting (which takes place in September) must be received by the Trust by 31 July.

There are no application forms. All applicants are asked to post a covering letter on the official headed paper of the applicant organisation and also include the following:

o Up to two additional sheets of A4 describing the organisation, outlining the project and specifying its educational elements and the way in which it fits in with the interests of the Trust;
o A simple budget for the project, outlining the way in which the grant would be spent;
o A list of any other funding applications;
o The latest annual report and accounts for the organisation (schools are not required to send one).

Applicants should not send any further supporting material or submit email applications.

For further information visit the Ernest Cook website.

Contact details for the Trust are:

Jose Phillips
Grants Administrator
The Ernest Cook Trust
The Estate Office
Fairford Park
Fairford
Gloucestershire
GL7 4JH
Tel: 01285 712492
Email: grants@ernestcooktrust.org.uk

(Source: GRIN)

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales - Invest Programme Open

The Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales provides funding to enable charities and CIOS in England or Wales to break or prevent the cycle of disadvantage.

The Invest Programme’s funding will support longer term core or direct delivery funding for charities which are delivering clear outcomes as a result of their work with people aged 17 years and older who are experiencing multiple disadvantage through one or more of the following transitions points:

• Offending.
• Children and young people leaving a care situation.
• People moving from community based or institutional care for mental ill health.
• Unemployment.
• Homelessness/vulnerably housed.
• To independent living for those with a learning disability.
• From dependency on alcohol, drugs, gambling.
• From an abusive or exploitative relationship - domestic violence.
• From trafficking or sexual exploitation.
• To UK settlement - refugees and asylum seekers.
• To parenthood for young parents.
• Those taking on caring responsibilities.
• For older people losing independence.

The only exceptions are young people who are under 17 years of age and young parents or looked after children and disabled young people moving into independent living.

Funding is available for core organisational costs which are related to the day to day running of the charity. Consideration will only be given to requests for core costs where over 50% of the charity's work and expenditure meets the Foundation's criteria. Funding is also available for costs associated with the direct delivery of the charity's work.

Grants are available for between £10,000 and £25,000 per year for two or three years, with the opportunity for continuation funding for a further period of up to six years in total.

There is a two-stage application process.

The deadline for initial applications to the Invest programme is 22 September 2017.

(Source: Powys 4 Community)