| New £15m Investment Facility for Community-Led Housing Projects (UK)
Big Society Capital, which is an independent financial institution set up to help grow social investment in the UK, has launched a £15m investment facility for social investors to fund large-scale community-led housing projects. The Community-Led Housing Facility will support the growth of community-led housing by investing alongside other social investors into projects across the UK. Projects will need to have a strong emphasis on providing affordable housing. They will also reflect the communities’ preferences on the allocation of affordable homes, enabling local households to stay in their community that would otherwise be priced out of the area by market rates. The facility will provide development finance to larger, mainly urban projects at the post-planning development stage where there is an emerging need for significant capital. It is expected that projects will require a mix of funding that includes both senior and subordinated development finance, as well as an element of subsidy, such as gifted land, and/ or grant funding. For more information please click on the link below.
Cory Environmental Trust Community Grants (England & Wales)
The next deadline to apply for a Cory Environmental Trust in Britain (CETB) Community Grant is the 7th April 2017. Cory Environmental Trust in Britain (CETB) was established in 2003 as an Environmental Body, under the terms of the Landfill Tax Regulations 1996. CETB now has awarded grants to over 240 projects, with a total value of £9.1 million. The grants support a broad range of projects including the opening up public access to an area of land that has been closed or partially closed; cleaning up of land that has been polluted because of now ceased activity; helping to improve, protect, provide and/or maintain land or a building as a public amenity; protecting the environment, and conserving or promoting biological diversity; and helping to preserve, maintain, restore and/or repair a religious building or one of historical or architectural interest. For projects relating to religious buildings, Trustees will be looking for evidence of strong community use. The focus of CETB’s activity to date has been in the vicinity of Cory Environmental’s landfill sites and waste management operations in St Helens, Dudley, South Gloucestershire, Sevenoaks, Essex, Swansea, the London Borough of Bexley and Wrexham. The maximum grant is generally awarded by CETB is around £50,000 and the Trust requires 10% independent 3rd party funding.
Funding for Sensory Rooms and Equipment (UK)
The Lords Taverners have announced that the next funding round for its Sensory Rooms programme will open for applications on the 1st March 2017. Children with sensory impairments and autism have found that regular access to a sensory room or sensory equipment can have significant improvements on a child’s emotional health. Funding is available through three programmes. The small grants programme will offer grants of up to £5,000 towards sensory corners and sensory rooms. The application deadline for the small grants programme will be the 31st May 2017. Throughout 2017 the Lord’s Taverners will also be looking to support up to four projects with major grants towards bespoke sensory rooms and four major grants through its Outdoor Play programme . Their focus will be on supporting schools who cater for children with special needs. The Lord’s Taverners will be pro-active in approaching schools and will thoroughly research and select potential projects who will then be invited to apply.
Applications Open for £2.5 Million Communities Fund (England)
Small grassroots community groups including charities, neighbourhood organisations and local voluntary groups, are being invited to apply for a £2.5m fund by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The new Communities Fund has been launched to help local people who are struggling to manage. The will focus on local issues and could be used to help those facing domestic abuse, to provide support for disabled children’s services or to support those facing long-term unemployment. Grants of up to £70,000 or more are available, as well as expert advice from the local government sector, training from a ‘grassroots network’ and advice on evaluating the success of their services. The closing date for applications is the 16th January 2017.
Call for Proposals – Support for Access to Markets (UK/EU)
The EU has launched a new call for proposals to support the European audio-visual sector. The funding is aimed at supporting actions and activities taking place in and outside countries that are participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme, specifically in facilitating European and international co-productions and circulation of short films, video games, television series and cross media. To be eligible to apply applications must address one of three actions: Action 1 – Business to business (physical) markets for European audio-visual professionals; Action 2 – Online tools encouraging business-to-business exchanges; Action 3 – Business to business promotional activities of European works. The funding available for the call is €7.5m and the deadline for applications is the 2nd February 2017.
Call for Proposals – Integration of Third-Country Nationals (UK/EU)
The EU has launched a new call for proposals to fund projects that focus on integration of third-country nationals. Projects must address at least one of the following priorities: Promoting active participation in society overall; and pre-departure and post-arrival support for the integration of persons in need of international protection who are being relocated within the EU or resettled from a third country. Eligible activities include: sharing asylum best practices and laws; setting-up transnational cooperation networks and pilot projects; studies and research on possible new forms of Union cooperation in the field of asylum, immigration and integration; development and application of common statistical tools, methods and indicators for measuring policy developments. The funding available for the call is €17.6m and the application deadline is the 28th February 2017.
Postcode Community Trust- Small Grants Programme (England, Scotland and Wales)
Postcode Community Trust will re-open its Small Grants Programme on the 23rd January 2017 for Expressions of Interest. The Postcode Community Trust was established in 2014 to support marginalised groups in obtaining the skills & resources to effect change in their own communities – awarding £2 million of funding in 2015. Through the Small Grants Programme, the Trust will provide grants of £500 – £20,000 (£10,000 in Wales) for projects that benefit communities through grass-roots sports, arts and recreation programmes and healthy living initiatives that improve a community’s physical and mental health. Funding is available to registered charities, voluntary organisations, community interest companies and social enterprises. Please note that only registered charities can apply for grants above £2,000. Previous projects supported include Adel Pre-School in Leeds which received a grant of £20,000 to construct an outdoor play area with specific focus on sensory elements; and Blantyre Soccer Academy which received a grant of £13,070 to purchase new training equipment and other items allowing them to expand their youth outreach programmes. The closing date for submitting Expressions will be the 10th February 2017. Applicants successful at this stage will be invited to submit full proposals between the 6th march and 31st March 2017. |