Grants and External Funding

Funding for local not-for-profit groups and organisations including charities, schools, hospices, and friends of groups, for local community projects with a focus on supporting children and families in the UK.

Large grants are available to voluntary and community organisations in the United Kingdom for projects that will build stronger connections across communities, and improve the infrastructure and conditions that are needed to strengthen these connections.

Grants are available to voluntary and community groups working to tackle disadvantage and strengthen communities in Cumbria.  Grants of up to £10,000 can be provided for up to one year. Multi-year funding may be awarded for certain projects.

Pub is the Hub advises and helps rural pubs, owners, licensees and communities in Great Britain to make a positive impact in responding to and supporting the needs of their local communities by using pubs for the co-location of necessary services and articulating their specialist local needs.

Revenue funding is being provided to Employer Representative Bodies (ERBs) to lead pilots of Local Skills Improvement Plans in 6-8 'trailblazer' areas of England, bringing employers and other stakeholders together to address technical skills training.

Please find attached the latest edition of the Focus on Funding Update – another bumper edition from the Health and Care Project at Cumbria CVS with lots of funding related information and news.  Please feel free to include in any newsletters and please circulate to your contacts and through your networks to help bring much needed funding into the third sector in Cumbria – thank you.

Grants to support the heritage sector to strengthen its recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the medium term and to build back for positive change across the UK’s heritage.  Application deadline:  28/05/2021

Grants are available to enterprising community organisations and commercial organisations working in partnership with community organisations to help rescue neglected historic buildings and sites and return to viable productive use.

Grants are available for UK registered charities and local community groups who need financial assistance due to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

Businesses can apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.  Projects should aim to develop new products, processes or services believed to be significantly ahead of anything similar in the field. Proposals can come from any technology and any part of the economy. They must focus on commercialisation, growth or scale up. Priority is given to proposals likely to lead to growth, gains in productivity. The deadline for applications is 2 June 2021 (11:00 BST).

Grants are available for local charities, community and voluntary groups, schools and statutory agencies in England for projects that target illegal money lending.

Funding for 10 to 20 organisations in England and Wales for projects that prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence by providing alternatives to arrest, conviction and custody.

Grants are available to small businesses to help them emerge successfully from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

New £75m fund available to support local authority partnerships in England to help unlock surplus land and property.

The Department for International Trade has launched its new Internationalisation Fund for eligible businesses in England. The fund is designed to support businesses looking to grow their international trade.  SME’s can apply for match-funded grants of between £1,000 and £9,000 which will be available for proposed future activities (subject to eligibility).  

Funding available to colleges and skills providers to support pilot projects that respond to local skills and innovation priorities in England.  The pilots will run in a number of areas of the country, including areas that do not have a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer.

Community and volunteer groups, town councils and individuals can once again apply for funding to increase tree numbers in urban areas of England, through small scale planting projects.

Small grants are available for essential works to not-for-profit theatres in the UK that will enable them to be viable and thrive in the future.

Funding available to local authorities in England to increase tree planting and natural regeneration in local communities.  The fund is part of the Government’s Nature for Climate Fund and will directly contribute to achieving tree planting targets.

Cumbria CVS is hosting a virtual Meet the Funder event to find out about the funding programmes and opportunities available from:

• The Hadfield Trust
• Cumbria Community Foundation
• The Scott Trusts
• Cameron Grant Memorial Trust

A funding programme available to artists working in the visual arts and small organisations and galleries throughout the United Kingdom is inviting applications.

Loans are available to support the UK’s small and medium businesses with recovery as the coronavirus lockdown eases and restrictions begin to lift.

Funding available to help Further Education colleges in England share good practice and develop quality improvement priorities.

Grants are available to publicly funded schools, academies and free schools throughout the UK to mitigate the effects of significant mobility and/or deployment of their service communities.

Small and local charities in England and Wales that are led by and for members of Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic communities can apply for two-year unrestricted grants of £50,000.

Tailored support package of up to £3,700 to help community businesses that are incorporated and based in England adapt to the post-COVID business environment.

A funding programme is providing grants to community groups who recognise that coming together supports wellbeing, healing or connection, and other mental health matters.

Funding is available to support the sustainability of women's groups in local communities and to help women get to an empowered position.

Funding for projects in England, Scotland and Wales that demonstrate measurable and lasting reductions in the carbon intensity of energy use and accelerate the transition to net zero.  The funding can support both capital and revenue costs for projects lasting up to two years.

Grants are available for registered charities for specific projects or core activities that support literacy, numeracy, digital and additional skills for learning that are likely to assist employment prospects.

Grants are available for registered charities, social enterprises and constituted charitable groups to help people in the UK when other sources of support have failed, are inappropriate, or are simply not available.  There are six funding priorities:

• Help at a critical moment
• Positive choices
• Accommodation/housing support
• Employment and training
• Financial inclusion, rights and entitlements
• Support networks and family

Grants are available for schools, community groups, clubs, societies or other organisations in England to improve the education and development of children and young people through educational, cultural, sporting and other activities.

Grants are available to support young people challenged by abuse and addiction, those who are young carers, and those who are homeless or without a safe place to call home.  Closing date 30 April 2021

Grants are available for individual artists, community and cultural organisations to support arts, museums and libraries projects that engage people in England with arts and culture.

Grants are available to support Volleyball England-affiliated clubs.   The Volleyball England Foundation aims to provide financial support to help develop, educate and promote the health of individuals and groups through volleyball. Until December 2021 the Foundation's focus will be supporting the development of Sitting Volleyball.

Grants to support families and individuals for essential personal and household needs to assist families and individuals with low incomes, particularly those living on benefits.

Grants to charities and other organisations to support gardeners, retired gardeners and the preservation of gardens throughout the United Kingdom. Additionally, funding can support a wide range of activities.

The Fellfoot Forward scheme can support community buildings to change to a low carbon, sustainable way of life and focus on opportunities to retrofit and renovate in harmony with the environment, utilising renewable energy, choosing natural materials, and nurturing an ethos of reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.

One-off grants are available for local community organisations and charities that have already secured matched funding for local community initiatives across England, Scotland and Wales.

Funding is available to community groups in the United Kingdom to support them in delivering projects or activities that will facilitate change and benefit local people.  The Round 1 deadline for applications is 9 May 2021 (23.59pm).

Funding for local not-for-profit groups and organisations including charities, schools, hospices, and friends of groups, for local community projects with a focus on supporting children and families in the UK.

Funding is available to help nurture individuals in the UK who have worked in theatre for two years or more and are looking to further their ambitions and skill in the art and craft of playwriting.

Funding and specialist support are available for UK social entrepreneurs to help them develop as social leaders, and to start up or grow their idea for a social venture.

Grants are available to charities in Great Britain for supporting energy consumers in vulnerable situations and for developing innovative products and services related to energy.

Small local grassroots sports clubs and organisations from across the UK can apply now for unrestricted grants of £2,021 to help support young people as the clubs start to recover from the effects of the latest lockdown.

Grants are available for homelessness, faith, community and voluntary sector organisations in England to develop accommodation options that are self-contained, Covid-secure and dignified, to be ready for people sleeping rough by winter 2021/22.

The capital grants round opens to applications on 4 May. The funding prospectus and frequently asked questions will be published at that time.

In the meantime, groups should note the following dates:

• 21 April 2021: Homeless Link webinar to set out key information about the fund
• By end July 2021: Decisions due on capital funding
• By early September 2021: Decisions due on revenue funding

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Biffa Award are currently accepting expressions of interest in their Partnership Grants Scheme for both built environment and natural environment themes.  In a change from previous years, there will only be one deadline for expressions of interest this year – 1 June 2021, with both themes being considered by the board at the same time.

Grants are available to artists, small organisations and galleries within the UK to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when frustrated by lack of funds.

The Recovery Loan Scheme supports access to finance for UK businesses as they grow and recover from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.