FUNDING AND AWARDS

Community Assets Programme

The £30 million Community Assets programme, funded by the Office of the Third Sector and delivered by the Big Lottery Fund, is set up to enable third sector organisations to have greater control over the assets they use, such as community buildings.  It will facilitate the transfer of genuine assets from local authorities to third sector organisations for their use as community resources.

The programme will offer grants of between £150,000 and £1 million for refurbishment of local authority buildings, including community centres and other multi-purpose facilities, so they can benefit both local communities and the third sector organisations that take them on.

The Community Assets programme welcomes applications from strong partnerships between local authorities and third sector organisations and will offer capital grants to sustainable projects that can demonstrate the benefit to the wider community from the transferred asset.

There will be a single bidding round for all applications, which closes on 15 November 2007 . http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_community_assets.htm

The European Social Fund (ESF) programme for 2007- 2013
There will be two priorities for the funding, extending employment opportunities by tackling barriers to work faced by unemployed or disadvantaged people and training people who are lacking basic skills and good qualifications. Target groups for the programme include unemployed people, disabled people, lone parents, older workers, ethnic minorities, low skilled people, and young people not in education, employment or training.

The programme will be formally launched in London on 29 October. The first application rounds will take place in the autumn and projects are due to begin in early 2008.

http://www.esf.gov.uk

Loans
The ethical bank Triodos has pioneered a new system of loans that will allow charities and social enterprises to repeatedly take out and pay back loans up to a fixed amount within a fixed time period.   The revolving credit facility has been used before in commercial markets but has not previously been applied in the third sector.

http://www.triodos.co.uk/uk/business_banking/?lang=

It's Your Community
Awards from £100 - £1000 available to local groups and individuals for anything that you can show will benefit your community

http://www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk/

£10m risk capital investment fund
The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) has announced a £10m social enterprise risk capital investment

fund, as previously outlined in the social enterprise action plan. The OTS is now consulting on how the fund will operate.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/consultations/current/risk.asp

Talk Talk Innovations in the Community Awards 2007
Thirty projects will benefit from £2,000 each, plus a year's free subscription to TalkTalk
http://www.talktalk.co.uk

Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards
Applications from organisations supporting elderly people and people with disabilities. The scheme also provides funding for organisations that support children's welfare and children's educational projects, including special needs schools. Between £1,500 and £5,000 are awarded as one-off contributions through the Community Awards Scheme.

The closing dates for writing to the Trust will depend on the round for which you are applying: Children's welfare and education (including special needs schools) 31 January each year; Elderly and disabilities 30 June each year.

http://www.tesco.com/everyLittleHelps/TescoCAGs.pdf

Big Invest finance
Big Issue Invest is a specialised provider of finance to scale up social enterprises. Founded by The Big Issue, it is led by social entrepreneurs and staffed by social financiers.

They provide loans as well as innovative financing products including royalty structures, guarantees and loan conversions. Average loan is around £200,000, minimum is £50,000. Their team can also provide support during the investment appraisal process that will reflect and respect the social enterprise's financial and social objectives.
Visit www.biginvest.co.uk

Funding update
In the Budget the Chancellor announced a new £80 million fund to provide small grants to community groups to make a real difference in their neighbourhood. Details of the programme will be developed with the sector over the Spring as part of the final stage of the Third Sector Review.

The Chancellor also announced that the Futurebuilders programme will be expanded in its second phase from 2008-2011. Current funding criteria will be widened to enable the sector to apply for funding to deliver in all areas of services provision. Currently, applications are eligible for just 5 areas - crime, community cohesion, education & learning, health & social care, support for children & young people.

Also social enterprises stand to benefit from changes to the rules around Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR).   The Chancellor announced a change that allows funds raised under CITR to be used more flexibly by Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). This will benefit not only the CDFIs themselves (many of whom are social enterprises), but also those organisations that borrow from CDFIs (many of whom are social enterprises).

Future Builders

Loans & grants for schemes involved in the delivery of public services in England. Futurebuilders do not offer stand-alone grants, every investment they make will contain a substantial loan element and some will have no grant at all.

Grants they may offer alongside loans might include:

Time limited revenue funding (up to a maximum of two years) to cover start-up costs, staff costs or other transitional costs incurred before contract or fee income becomes available.

Capital funding to meet all or part of the costs of buildings, vehicles or equipment where loan finance would be premature because contract or fee income was not yet in place to support the loan.

Capacity building to provide practical support, for example to develop marketing and negotiation skills, IT systems or project management capabilities.

www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk/

Adventure Capital Fund
Aims to provide organisations with a combination of finance and support, as well as providing mentoring and support services to help with organisational change and development. Applications invited from organisations who feel that they are ready to use investment as part of a finance package that will enable them to grow and become truly sustainable.

www.adventurecapitalfund.org.uk/index.jsp

Lloyds TSB Foundation
The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales has programmes for 2007 that may be relevant to some projects.

The Collaborative Programme will support charities working together to add value and create better outcomes for their beneficiary groups.

The Community Priority Programme has specific priorities for each region of England and Wales, such as excluded young people, older people and refugees.

The Community Open Programme has been re-launched for projects whose work supports the Foundation's overall aim of helping disadvantaged people play a fuller role in the community, but is particularly interested in 'emerging trends and innovative ideas'.

The Conservation Foundation - 'It's Your Community' Grants
Funding for projects designed to improve local environments throughout the UK. Awards of up to £1000 are available to local groups and individuals for the hire of tools or equipment and to purchase plants, paint, signs, materials etc. All types of environmental projects, from anywhere in the country, are welcome to apply.

http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk/ActLocalAwards.php

Lloyds TSB
The Community Open Programme, The Community Priority Programme, The Collaborative Programme

Funding supports charities working in the fields of social and community needs and education and training, and the main grants programmes are designed to address essential community needs.

OTHER FUNDING LEADS AND INFO

SITA Trust funding programmes
Awards for All
Introductory Pack on Funding and Finance     
HOMEBASE forging links with Furniture Projects
It's your community - O2 launches new community fund
NCVO Sustainable Funding Project
CAF Grants
Re-use credits guidance
Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
WRAP funding opportunities
Connecting Community Plus
BIG Lottery Funding

Other links:

http://www.governmentfunding.org.uk/Default.aspx
http://www.companygiving.org.uk/Default.aspx
http://www.grantsforindividuals.org.uk/Default.aspx
http://www.trustfunding.org.uk/Default.aspx