December 2017 | Newsletter

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Here’s some funding and training opportunities that are guaranteed to get you feeling festive…

 

New Evaluation Training
Fancy giving yourself an early Christmas present? We’re piloting our new evaluation training course, with a fantastic early bird price of just £25 for the half-day course (full price £50).

We know the word ‘evaluation’ strikes fear into the hearts of many – but don’t panic! With our new course, you’ll learn:

  • how to nail down your outcomes
  • how to know what success looks like
  • what the right questions (and the wrong ones) are
  • how to ask your questions

The course will take place 9.30am – 12.30pm on Thursday 15th February in York. For more information, and to book your place, visit our website.

 

New Guidance – Are You Eligible?
The Henry Smith Charity has recently updated its eligibility criteria and grants guidance. After their restructuring of the grants process this summer, it may be worth checking if your organisation is eligible to apply.

Their current grant programmes are as follows:

  • Improving Lives – grants of £20k-£60k per year (up to 3 years), for organisations with an annual income of £50k – £2 million. These grants should “help people when other sources of support have failed, are inappropriate, or are simply not available”
  • Strengthening Communities – grants of £20k-£60k per year (up to 3 years), for organisations with an annual income of £20k – £500k. These grants should benefit people living in the most deprived areas of the UK
  • County Grants – grants of £500 – £10k per year (up to 2 years), for organisations with an annual income of up to £250k which are based in Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Suffolk, Surrey, East Sussex or West Sussex. These grants should benefit disadvantaged people and communities

They also run various smaller grant programmes including holiday grants for disadvantaged children and grants for projects that promote the Christian faith.

For more information on any of their grant programmes, and to apply, visit the Henry Smith Charity website.

 

Tech For Good 2018
This scheme, run by Comic Relief in partnership with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, has recently launched for 2018. The scheme will provide up to 12 grants to projects to develop or scale web, mobile or internet based technologies which deliver new or improved services to beneficiaries. Projects must address one of the four Comic Relief programme areas:

  • Empowering Women and Girls
  • Investing in Children and Young People
  • Building Stronger Communities
  • Improving Health and Wellbeing

The projects will last for nine months and will include:

  • A two month soft development phase (July-Aug 2018)
  • An intense four month hard development phase (Sept-Dec 2018)
  • A three month launch phase (Jan-Mar 2019)

Projects must be led by a non-profit organisation which already has some technological capacity, or will be working with a digital partner. Grants will be between £15k – £47k, for a maximum of 9 months. The application process involves a short application form and a video promoting your project. The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Wednesday 20th December. For more information, visit the Comic Relief website.

 

Could You Be A Winner?
The Landmark Trust is running their 50 For Free campaign again for a fifth year. This scheme offers charities the chance to win a free short break for their beneficiaries or staff. The breaks are available between 12th to 19th March 2018 in selected Landmark buildings which the Trust has helped restore.Applications for the breaks are open to registered charities, educational institutions and not-for-profit organisations who are applying on behalf of:

  • deserving individuals who they vouch would especially benefit from a stay in a Landmark
  • individuals who would benefit from away time to study the building, or
  • their own management to develop their not-for-profit activities.

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 3rd December – so if you’ve got someone in mind to nominate, you’ll need to get your skates on! For more information, and to apply, visit the Landmark Trust website.

 

The Forrester Trusts
These trusts (incorporating the Donald Forrester Trust and the Gwyneth Forrester Trust) make grants to UK registered charities which work in a variety of areas: recent grants include charities supporting older people, refugees & asylum seekers, mental health, carers, young people and health conditions.

The Donald Forrester Trust has no priority areas, and its average grant is £5,000. The Gwyneth Forrester Trust selects a grantmaking theme for each year – the theme for 2018 is ‘Support for the Elderly’, for which they anticipate the average grant level will be £40,000. Both Trusts prioritise charities which keep their overheads and fundraising costs to a minimum.

The deadline for applications is 15th January – for more information on how to apply, visit the Forrester Trusts website.

 

Is Your Charity Safe?
Cyberattacks are becoming more and more common – government figures show that nearly half of all businesses (including a number of charities) reported a cyber security breach or attack in the past 12 months. Security specialists CoopSys have put together an article in Charity Digital News explaining what you can do to ensure your charity stays safe. They are also offering a free consultation in which they will assess your charity’s security and offer advice on how to improve it – for more information, and to read the article, click here.

 

Woodward Charitable Trust
Applications are invited for grants to projects working in the following areas:

  • Children and young people who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in anti-social behaviour.
  • Prisoners and ex-offenders. Projects that help the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners and/or ex-offenders are supported as well as requests to help prisoners’ families
  • Disadvantaged women, covering refuges, domestic violence and parenting.
  • Disability projects, which can include rehabilitation and training for people who are either physically disabled or learning disabled.
  • Arts outreach work by local groups involving disadvantaged people.
  • Projects that promote integration and community cohesion amongst minority groups, including refugees and travellers

Amounts generally range from £100 – £5,000 (although the majority are for less than £3,000). .

The next deadline for applications is Wednesday 31st January. For more information on exclusions and the application process, and to download an application form, visit the Trust’s website.

 

How To Write A Successful Awards For All Bid
Our updated Awards for All training course was well received when we piloted it in October – we’re now giving you another chance to attend and benefit from our experience and knowledge of the new application form and guidance. We’ll be running this course in York on Tuesday 27th March – just in time for you to get the lowdown on the process before the new financial year!

This workshop explains the new Awards for All guidance and application form and works through the essential elements in preparing a strong bid. It is aimed at volunteers, staff and trustees who are either new to Big Lottery funding applications or have previously applied and been unsuccessful.

Before the end of January, you can book your place on the course for the fantastic early bird price of just £40 (full price £75). Early bird tickets are limited though: snap yours up by visiting our website.

 

York-Based and Looking For Space?
The York Railway Institute has several rooms that are available for hire, including meeting rooms, a theatre and a dance studio. Based in the city centre, and a 2 minute walk from the railway station, they could be a great option if you’re looking for an affordable venue for a meeting, conference or performance.

Prices for hire start at £10 per hour, and they have a range of equipment (flip charts, soundsystem, digital projector) which they can make available to you for no extra cost. For more information, visit the York RI website.

 

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