The Berkeley Foundation is offering homelessness charities access to a further £300,000 of funding to strengthen their operations through its Resilience Fund for 2024.
Up to six organisations working in London, the South East or Birmingham will be awarded up to £60,000 each over two years, to help them build resilience for the future.
This year the organisational development grants will be available for charities and CICs working with young people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, and facing discrimination.
The Resilience Fund was first launched in 2021 in response to the financial pressures and operational demands faced by many small and medium sized charities as the UK emerged from the pandemic. The funds can be invested in strengthening a charity’s foundations and ensuring they can meet their long-term goals to tackle homelessness, with The Berkeley Foundation committing to investing £300,000 in the programme each year, for three years.
The fund also comes with wraparound support to help small to medium sized charities and community interest companies to build their organisational resilience. As well as the grant, successful applicants will have access to the Foundation’s bespoke learning programme, and pro bono support from the wider Berkeley Group.
Community360 (C360) provides transport services in Colchester, Maldon and Chelmsford for people in the local community who have limited mobility, and for those who would otherwise be socially and geographically excluded.
The charity has seen an increase in people wanting to access the service and urgently needs to recruit more volunteer drivers. C360 is desperately seeking volunteers to help transport older, disabled and/or isolated individuals to and from appointments. Tracy Rudling, CEO of Community360 said: “This is where you come in. We need your help.
Time is a gift that we all have, and never did we see that more prolific than through the times of Covid where we all stood up and gave just a little bit more of ourselves and our precious time to support others that needed us. Oh, and what a difference we made and how rewarding it was to give our time whether it was an hour each day or just once a week.”
She added: “Sadly, the number of volunteer drivers at C360 has declined since the pandemic, but our service is still very much in demand.
There continues to be increased pressure on our system, and people with complex health and mobility issues are relying on our type of service more than ever. Add to this an aging population living in rural areas with no transport, you can understand the pressure our service is coming under.
Traditionally volunteer drivers are usually retired people, or part-time workers. But we would also love to hear from younger people involved in their communities who want to make a difference. Volunteering can help build your own confidence as well as making a difference to the lives of others and the community they live in.
For many individuals, especially those in rural or low-density communities who lack other means of transport, volunteer transportation programmes act as a lifeline to access medical care, see friends, family and loved ones, to go shopping, plus other services important to their health and wellbeing. They allow older adults and people with mobility limitations, the opportunity to access places and retain their independence, preventing isolation and maintaining their health. This is why community transport services are so important.
We desperately need more people to come forward and volunteer. Without our volunteer drivers, we are struggling to provide the overprescribed services to our local communities.”
Mrs Poole who lives in Chelmsford has used the community transport service since her husband had to move into a care home. She said: “I cannot walk far and when my husband moved into care, I lost a lot of confidence and thought I would not be able to get out. Thanks to the wonderful community car drivers they have shown me I can still get out and they even take me to visit my husband twice a week which is a real-life line.”
Another user of the service said: “On a Friday, after I have done my shopping, I go to the park for half an hour. This is something that my husband and I used to do together when we went into town. This is now my 30 minutes a week that I can sit and remember him, it’s my 30 minutes with my husband. Without community transport, I wouldn’t be able to do this, and I can’t describe how much it means to me.”
David Gillespie has volunteered for 14 years with C360, and it not only keeps him active and connected but he gets a real sense of reward from putting something back into the community.
“I really wanted to help those who were isolated and as I enjoyed driving this was the perfect role for me!” Said David. “For those who cannot use traditional forms of transport and for those who would otherwise be house bound, it is rewarding and satisfying that my help gives them an opportunity to get ‘out and about’. Community360’s infrastructure, support and training are excellent, and I would both encourage and recommend volunteering as it is the most worthwhile and enjoyable activity.”
Volunteer drivers use their own vehicles to collect clients, take them to their appointments and return them safely back home again. Drivers will need to be friendly and reliable, hold a valid driving licence, MOT and Insurance and need to have a DBS check which we will arrange. Out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed and you will receive training and ongoing support. We contribute 45p per mile to use your vehicle.
Our volunteers’ range in age and there is no huge commitment of time – even just a couple of hours a week or fortnight can still make a real difference. All our drivers thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to make a real difference by providing a little extra support, some patience and a friendly chat.
Community360 are hosting a Volunteer Open Day at the One Colchester Hub on Wednesday 10th January, 10:30am – 2:30pm, where public interested in volunteering can meet other volunteer drivers. The address: 4-6 Long Wyre Street. Colchester CO1 1LH.
Throughout 2023 we’ve been refreshing our funds and installing new digital systems. We want to make sure that what we offer is the best way to support social organisations and address today’s social issues.
Our new fund will open in early 2024. We have £10 million of philanthropic capital to lend or grant. We’re aiming to increase the size of the fund to £20 million.
This will be available for charities and social enterprises operating across the UK, including those with international projects. The fund will be open for applications on an ongoing basis and is cause-universal. We want to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, unrestricted finance.
Get in touch today to register your interest and be the first to hear when our new fund opens for applications.
Since our inception in 2012, Big Picture has produced hundreds of films for charities of all sizes, in every sector. To welcome in 2024, we are offering TEN COMPLETELY FREE CHARITY FILMS to UK Registered Charities that apply during the month of January. There really is NO CATCH to this offer, we will work with you to plan, storyboard, film and edit a broadcast quality film, all we ask is that our travel expenses are covered (which is usually minimal).
For any charities interested in this offer, which closes on 31st January 2024, we ask you to complete a short, online application form:
All applications will be acknowledged and following the closing date all applications will be reviewed by our trustees. From experience we expect to receive many more than 10 applications, and all charities that have applied will be notified by 9th February.
For more information about Big Picture please visit our website, where you can see examples of our work and see how we have been helping UK charities for almost 14 years:
LA promotional pack for the Community Ownership Fund (COF) Round 3 Window 3 which opened in December, the fund is open to incorporated voluntary and community organisations as well as the new addition of Parish and town councils that came with R3.
The re-launch brings about new features and an improved user experience, meaning it has never been easier to find activities, groups and services in your area. The Essex Map is a real asset for organisations within the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector, as well as the statutory and local government. It provides the opportunity to put a voice out there for services and activities that support the needs of the local community and helps them to thrive. If you feel something is missing that supports the wider Essex community, please add it on to the Essex Map.
New features of the Essex Map include:
A Franchise Option – if your organisation covers multiple locations, you can now set up a ‘franchise’. This is an option for when you set up a new listing or edit an old one. Please contact us if you need help with this.
Set Up a List – within your account, you can now set up a list. Simply click on a listing you like, on the top right hand side there is a blue button that says “save to list”. You can choose if you’d like your list to be public or private.
Verified Tick – to receive a verified tick, you will need to claim your own listing. Please contact us if you need help with this.
Last Updated – you can now see when the listing you are viewing was ‘last updated’ at the bottom right hand side of the page.
‘New’ Badge – if the listing is new, it will have a ‘new’ button show up for a few days.
If you need support with any of these new features, or help navigating the new Essex Map, we will be hosting drop in sessions online with a member of the Map team who will be able to answer any questions and help you with your query.
The Change Project is offering free online training to professionals in Essex on ‘Engaging perpetrators in domestic abuse programmes’ on Wednesday 17th January 2024. The training will cover topics such as how to recognise domestic abuse, how to approach the conversation with families to engage with domestic abuse support and how to refer perpetrators on to Domestic Abuse Programmes.
The Change Project is a domestic abuse charity offering free funded places on our Domestic Abuse Programme in Colchester working with perpetrators of domestic abuse and supporting victim/survivors.
If you are interested in attending this free training course please click on the link below and register.
Alternatively, if you are interested in hearing more about the funded places and making a referral, please email us at: clare.whalley@thechangeportfolio.org
Grants plus business support are available to social entrepreneurs that are looking to start or grow an existing social venture. The funding is being made available through the UnLtd the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in and around the UK.
The grants are being made available through two funding streams:
Grants of up to £18,000 to grow an existing social enterprise that has been operating between 1 and 4 years.
Grants of up to £8,000 for social businesses not yet established or been running under a year.
UnLtd are committed to providing 50% of their awards to Black, Asian and minority ethnic social entrepreneurs, and/or disabled social entrepreneurs.
To be eligible applicants need to be:
Aged 16 and over
Living in the United Kingdom
Willing to participate in a learning experience
Working to benefit people living in the United Kingdom
Have a real social impact
Fulfil a clear need and demand
Have clear outputs and goals
In addition to the Awards, UnLtd has two focus areas where they think social entrepreneurs can make a big difference. UnLtd has dedicated teams and specialist support available to social entrepreneurs with ideas to help people in the areas of:
Healthy Aging
Access to Employment
The closing date for this funding round is the 31st December 2023.
The Rayne Foundation makes grants to charitable and not-for-profit organisations across the UK in four areas of special interest.
Our areas of special interest are:
Young people’s improved mental health;
Arts as a tool to achieve social change;
Improved quality of life for carers and for older people;
Better opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers.
As an independent funder, an important part of our role is to support work which is untried, tests new approaches and has clear objectives. We favour work which could change the way issues are tackled in our society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation
We receive many more applications than we can fund and for this reason have a two-stage application process to reduce the time and effort you spend making your application. It may help to look at examples of recent grants before you apply.
Characteristics of the organisations and projects that we fund
We look for all of the following characteristics in the organisations and projects that we fund:
Wider than local application and awareness of the bigger picture
We favour organisations and projects which could change the way issues are tackled in our society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation. We look for good ideas that other people can learn from, creative ways of tackling entrenched or new problems, and ideas which have potential to be replicable. As a result, we are more likely to fund projects which are untried or in their early-to-mid stages of development than established, long-running services. The organisations we fund will demonstrate an awareness of what is going on in their field nationally and how their work complements what else is available. They will be able to tell us why they are best placed to deliver the proposed activity.
Real expertise and sector knowledge
The organisations we fund will be experts in their field. They will have a good understanding of the needs of their client groups and how to support people to bring about change. They will demonstrate capacity for listening and responsiveness to beneficiaries and partners. They will be thoughtful and creative in their thinking about how to meet those needs. We will assess whether plans to deliver the work are realistic and achievable. We will also look at the financial aspects and what might happen beyond the life of the grant.
Commitment to demonstrating results and sharing learning
The organisations we fund will be able to explain why they believe their activities will lead to positive change for users and how they will gather evidence to demonstrate this. We favour organisations which think carefully about how to evaluate their work and which plan to share their learning widely. If the work could be funded on an ongoing basis by statutory agencies, we want to understand if the evidence is sufficient to meet the needs of potential commissioners.
Strong leadership, management and track record
We want to see that funded organisations are well governed and managed, that they have good finance and risk management systems, and that they have the necessary skills and expertise to deliver their objectives. We also believe in backing good people and will favour organisations led by capable and committed people who are ambitious for their organisations and their users. We want to see a track record.
Direct benefits to vulnerable and disadvantaged people
We prefer to fund work which brings clear and direct benefits to vulnerable and disadvantaged people. This means that we are more likely to fund front-line organisations and will only fund second-tier or research organisations for projects which have a demonstrable benefit to end users.
Practical aspects
What sort of organisation can we fund?
We fund charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Large, national organisations or ‘household name charities’ are unlikely to receive a grant unless they are the only organisation in a position to tackle a particular problem. We do not fund statutory bodies such as hospitals, local authorities, government departments or schools.
What sort of grant can we make?
We will consider funding salaries and project costs (including a reasonable contribution to overheads or on-costs) for up to three years. We do consider grants towards an organisation’s core costs but we only tend to award these when an organisation is making a step-change in the way that it works or tackles a particular issue and where a core grant will provide greater flexibility during the transition period.
Typical grant size
Our grants typically fall in the range of £10,000 – £20,000 per annum for up to three years. We prefer to fund alongside others as we are unlikely to be able to fund your project in full. We will also consider the size of your request relative to your overall turnover. Small, newer organisations in particular are unlikely to receive a larger grant from us if that would equate to more than 10% of total income, unless it is towards and organisation’s first paid post. Please consider all of these factors when deciding how much to ask for.
Finances
We consider that organisations with high levels of unrestricted reserves are in less need of our funding. This means that organisations with more than nine months’ running costs in unrestricted reserves are less likely to receive support. At the same time, organisations with tiny reserves or an overall deficit will need to convince us that their organisation is viable and they are taking action to increase reserves.