Funding Bulletin
Welcome to the new online funding bulletin, the central resource for finding out about external funding available in South Tyneside.
We hope you will come to see these pages as a worthwhile place to visit and find out about how to raise more funding to implement your priority projects.
If you have any comments, or suggestions for future articles, please contact the Regeneration Team: regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk
Young People's Fund 2
Now launched, Young People’s Fund 2 is designed to put young people across England at the heart of planning and running projects that will benefit them in their local area.
The programme has two aims:
- To ensure that all organisations that provide services to young people, involve them in developing, running and reviewing policies and services.
- To help achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes (be healthy; stay safe; have improved economic wellbeing; make a positive contribution; enjoy and achieve in life).
Grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 are available for capital and revenue initiatives lasting between one and five years, where young people lead from start to finish. The money will primarily be offered to run activities and services, however, up to £50,000 may be provided to develop land and buildings.
The programme will focus on young people aged 10-18, however, those aged up to 25 may be included in cases where they are finding the change to independent living difficult.
Voluntary and community youth organisations, including charities and social enterprises, may apply. Once working with these groups, the main applicant may involve other bodies to bring the project to fruition, including local authorities, businesses or community groups.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 16 October 2008.
For further information on this programme contact Linda Yeo, Linda.Yeo@southtyneside.gov.uk or look at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation has announced three new funding strands, based on food, voluntary sector work in Northern Ireland and finance, worth up to £19 million.
This funding is in addition to the strands announced in January 2008: Biodiversity, Museum and Heritage Collections and New Approaches to Learning.
The Food strand has a budget of £3 million over three years and will fund work promoting the importance of balanced diets and helping all UK citizens have access to, and the ability to prepare, nutritious food.
The Foundation is interested in work that influences policy and practice across a range of food-related areas and expects to support a mix of practical projects that have wide significance, and some research and policy based work. This strand is currently open to applications.
Applicants successful at the first stage will be invited to submit second-stage applications, with final decisions about second stage applications being made in July and November 2008.
The second strand is only available in Northern Ireland
The Finance Fund will offer loans, guarantees and equity or quasi-equity finance to projects or organisations that can demonstrate the need for investment. Up to £15 million will be available for this strand. At this stage, the programme will not be open to unsolicited applications.
In addition to these funds, the Esme Fairbairn Foundation offers a range of grants, and their stated aim is; to improve the quality of life throughout the UK. We do this by funding the charitable activities of organisations that have the ideas and ability to achieve change for the better. We take pride in supporting work that might otherwise be considered difficult to fund. Last year we committed approximately £30 million towards a wide range of work.
Further information can be found at www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk
Sport England
Sport England has announced that Sportsmatch has been re-launched with updated criteria and a new online application facility.
Sportsmatch has been designed to improve the quality and quantity of the sponsorship which grassroots sport receives in England.
Through the scheme, Sportsmatch can match eligible commercial business sponsorship, or funding from trusts/private donors (up to a maximum of three), for a sporting project that aims to increase participation and/or improve performance at grassroots level.
Projects may be a revenue scheme or, in limited cases, a capital project. Sponsorship may be in cash or in-kind. The minimum award available is £1,000 (£500 for schools) and the maximum is £50,000.
The minimum partnership funding of £1,000 (or £500) must come from one eligible source - a number of businesses/trusts/individuals cannot club together to make up the minimum sponsorship. An organisation seeking sponsorship should be a properly constituted organising body involved in sport.
This includes governing bodies, sports clubs, charities, local authorities, schools/colleges and voluntary youth organisations. Applications can now be made on the Sportsmatch website (www.sportsmatch.co.uk ) with help available over a dedicated telephone line. There are no closing dates but all supported projects must be completed by 31 March 2009.
Money Saving Expert
The MSE (Money Saving Expert) Charity is a new organisation set up to fight financial and consumer illiteracy, providing grants to groups/charities informing adults and children about consumer and debt issues. Individuals can also get grants to educate themselves.
Grants for Groups and Charities
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to constituted groups in the United Kingdom. The MSE Charity supports projects such as self-help groups and other innovative projects that will help educate people about money/debt/consumer issues. Applications can be made at any time.
Grants for Individuals
Individuals in the United Kingdom over the age of 18 can apply for a grant of up to £500 to help pay towards a recognised and approved course that will help improve their ability to budget and manage their own finances. The money can be used to pay for course fees or other necessary expenses, but does not include courses which teach the applicant how to work in the finance industry. The maximum award for any one project is £500 towards the cost of attending or participating in the course.
The next application round closes on 12 June 2008. For more information visit: http://www.msecharity.com/index.html?pid=21#individuals
Big Lottery Fund BASIS Round 2
Round 2 of the Big Lottery Fund’s BASIS programme has opened to applications, with up to £50 million available this round.
BASIS (Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services) is intended to improve the support available to all voluntary and community sector organisations in England.
Following the programme’s first round, the Big Lottery Fund consulted third sector organisations on their preferences for funding under round two.
As a result of this consultation, the programme’s guidelines have been re-focused. Priorities for funding have now been tailored to the requirements of each English region.
Grants of between £10,001 and £500,000 are available for projects operating within one region. Projects that benefit the whole of England may be eligible for increased grants, capped at £750,000.
Capital expenditure is limited to £50,000.
Examples of the types of projects that will be supported for all-England projects include:
- assisting organisations that run family learning services;
- benefiting black and minority ethnic (BME) led infrastructure organisations;
- improving services that enhance the development and viability of social enterprises;
- improving the ability to support participation in effective neighbourhood governance.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 27 August 2008.
Further information can be found at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk, or contact Linda.Yeo@southtyneside.gov.uk
Awards for all
Awards for All is part of the National Lottery. The maximum grant has recently increased to £10,000. It is available for a wide range of voluntary and community sector activity, in all areas.
For further information and advice contact Annette Edmundson at the council on (0191) 4247449 or on regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk
Community Spaces Programme
The £50 million Lottery-funded grant programme, Community Spaces, has been recently been launched and aims to:
- Create better local environments;
- Increase people’s access to quality local spaces for interaction, play and recreation;
- Increase the number of people actively involved in developing and running a practical environmental project that is visible in their community; and
- Improve partnerships between communities, support organisations and local authorities.
Not-for-profit community groups based in England, including church-based and faith groups, tenants and residents associations and registered charities, are eligible to apply for the following types of grants:
- Small grants from £10,000 to £25,000.
- Medium grants from £25,001 to £49,999.
- Large grants from £50,000 to £100,000.
- Flagship grants from £100,001 to £450,000.
Projects must be within two miles of a residential area and open to the public. The types of project likely to be supported include:
- community gardens and parks;
- informal sports areas and multi-use games areas;
- nature reserves;
- squares and village greens;
- churchyards;
- ponds and projects which improve the local community’s access to green space.
The Small and Medium grant programmes are open to applications at any time. There will be a single application round for Large and Flagship grants which is expected to open summer 2008.
CAF Grants
Community and voluntary groups are reminded as we move into the new Municipal Year, that Community Area Forum grants are still available, and advice and support is available from Angi Rimington at the council.
CAF Grants are awarded by each of the borough's six Community Area Forums to schemes of particular local importance, which have not been able to obtain enough funding from other sources. Schemes are usually environmental improvements, or small grants to local community organisations. Contact Angi for an application form, or a copy of the guidelines:
Contact: Angi Rimmington
Tel: 424 7576
Email: angi.rimington@southtyneside.gov.uk
One Northeast Single Programme
One NorthEast (the Regional Development Agency) has now agreed their funding priorities for Single Programme over the period 2008-11. During the course of this period, key-funding priorities in South Tyneside will include South Shields Riverside regeneration, and the development of Jarrow Green Business Park.
For further information on Single Programme funding contact Noel Mitchell on 0191 424 7603, or e-mail regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk
New European Programmes
The previous round of European funding programmes finished at the end of December 2006, and preparations are underway for the introduction of new European programmes. Unfortunately, due to the accession of poorer countries in East Europe, there will in future only be around half the previous European funding available to the UK. Nevertheless, the whole of South Tyneside will still be covered by the Assisted Area Map.
In future, the European Social Fund will be restricted to national programmes focussed on training and tackling worklessness. The ESF programmes are likely to be managed regionally by the Learning and Skills Council, and JobCentre Plus. In this region the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will be managed by One NorthEast (not Government Office), and will be closely aligned to the Regional Economic Strategy Action Plan (RESAP). Priorities will be Innovation, and Business Growth and Enterprise. For more information on European funding visit www.onenortheast.co.uk/page/erdf/index.cfm
Local Food Programme
Local Food, is a new £50 million grants programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund, and now open for applications. The programme is managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) and is aimed at making locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities.
Grants from £2,000 up to £500,000 will be awarded to not-for-profit groups and organisations in England to deliver projects such as growing, processing, marketing and distributing local food, composting and raising awareness of the benefits of such activities.
Applications for Small Grants (£2,000 to £10,000) and Main Grants (£10,001 to £300,000) can be made at any time.
Here are a few ideas to get you started, but remember...be creative:
- Allotments
- Box schemes
- Catering (cafés or subsidised meals)
- Celebrating food cultures
- City farms
- Community food growing projects
- Community gardens
- Community land management or
- Permaculture design
- Community seed exchanges
- Community supported agriculture
- Composting
- Education & learning (food related)
- Farmers' markets
- Food co-operatives
- Redistribution of food
- School grounds (educational & practical and related to food)
- Sharing best practice, information
- Dissemination and networking
For further information on this programme contact Linda Gilmour on 0191 424 7602 or email regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk
GRANTfinder
GRANTfinder is the UK's leading online source of information on grant aid. It’s continuously updated database contains information on virtually every grant fund available in the country.
Using GRANTfinder the council’s Regeneration Team can feed in details of your project, and generate a printout of all available sources of external funding.
For more information, or to request a search, contact Daniel Crawford on 0191 424 7672 or regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk.
Capacitybuilders
Capacitybuilders (yes, it is only one word!) is a government-funded programme which aims to strengthen the infrastructure which supports the voluntary and community sector. This could include physical facilities, structures, systems and relationships, as well as the people, knowledge and skills which help frontline VCS organisations achieve their aims. £70 million will be invested over the next two years in:
- Supporting the development of consortia
- Driving the work of national hubs of expertise
- Providing grants for consortia and other infrastructure bodies to support frontline organisations
Neil Bennett and Sandra Beighton are the Regional Coordinators for the North East and Yorkshire, and can be contacted on
- neilbennett@capacitybuilders.org.uk (Tel. 07920 726510)
- sandrabeighton@capacitybuilders.org.uk (Tel. 07920 726513)
You may also like to seek advice from Neil Davies at the Council regeneration@southtyneside.gov.uk (tel 0191 424 7625). Another useful source of information is the web-site www.capacitybuilders.org.uk.
Central Government Funding
A new website promising to provide joined up information on central government funding for voluntary and ommunity funding is now available. Check it out at www.governmentfunding.org.uk.
