Are you fed-up of complicated application forms, waiting a long time for a decision and not getting enough helpful feedback? Our new grant opportunity seeks to address these challenges and more!
Community Southwark, Partnership Southwark and United St Saviour’s Charity have worked with VCS groups, the statutory sector, and funders to develop a grant process that aims to break down barriers to funding that VCS organisations experience in Southwark as highlighted in Community Southwark’s recent State of the Sector research.
This grant opportunity seeks to reduce health inequalities at a targeted neighbourhood level through strengthening small, local VCS groups.
This grant is a pilot with VCS groups involved in the decision-making process about how funds are distributed. It is a learning opportunity for all involved and following the first round of funding, there will be opportunities to look at the learning and further develop the pilot for the second round of funding.
Eligibility criteria:
- A not-for-profit organisation (including unincorporated groups, CICs, CIOs and more) operating in Southwark
- Supporting people in at least 1 of the following wards: Camberwell Green, Faraday, Old Kent Road, Nunhead and Queen’s Road, Peckham. You can find ward names and areas on our website.
- An annual income of £50,000 or less.
- A group that supports people with disabilities and/or mental health needs. This can be preventative work and doesn’t have to the main focus of an organisation’s work.
- Your organisation will need to confirm they have the following: A safeguarding policy, a governing document such as a constitution, a bank account in the name of your organisation.
What the funding can be used for:
- There is a pot of £100,000 available for VCS groups in the financial year 2023/2024.
- There will be two rounds of funding distribution in the financial year 2023/24. The first will distribute £5,000 to 10 groups – £50,000 in total.
- Funds granted will be on an unrestricted basis to fund whatever the organisation needs, including core/overhead costs. Grant applicants do not need to detail how they intend to use the funds when they apply.
- There is no timescale for funds to be used but we’d like to be able to report on its impact by March 2024. This does not mean grantees should spend all the funds by then but it would be helpful if grantees had an idea of how they might use the funds and/or what impact they think they might have.
Important dates:
The grant opportunity opens on Monday 15th May 2023 and closes on Friday 23rd June 2023. Final decisions will be made by Tuesday 18th July and we aim to distribute funds within 4 weeks.
To find out more please download our application information here: Funding differently – application introduction
To apply please visit here: United St Saviour’s Charity grant portal
You will need to log on (if you have applied for a grant from United St Saviour’s Charity before) or create a new account in order to start the application process.
