The This Girl Can fund fund aims to support women aged 16+ to get active by offering The National Lottery grants to support local projects that contribute to overcoming the barriers women face in getting active. Apply here.

In partnership with the Greater London Authority and London Sport, London Youth are delighted to launch their Active Talent Programme.

London Youth are looking for 15 community youth organisations to work with on this exciting opportunity.

Active Talent is a 12-month, staged programme providing training, development and activation opportunities from March 2020 to March 2021. Active Talent is for organisations working with 16 – 24 year olds with leadership potential in the community sport workforce who would be considered at-risk.

For the application form and guidance document please head to the London Youth website . (Please do read the guidance document before beginning your application). Deadline for applications is Friday 14th February at 18:00.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with their Coordinator John Jones – john.jones@londonyouth.org

Have an idea to improve mental health and wellbeing at a community level? Thrive LDN has launched a grant scheme that is designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of Londoners who may experience higher levels of unfair treatment or discrimination. The scheme will award grants ranging from £500 to £10,000 in order to fund grassroots projects – by organisations or by individuals – that work with intersectional or marginalised communities in London.

The full details can be found on our website here: https://www.thriveldn.co.uk/core-activities/right-to-thrive-grants/

The deadline for applications is 9am, Monday 2^nd March 2020. If you have any questions, please get in touch at get in touch via righttothrive@groundwork.org.uk or 020 7239 1390.

All activities formerly undertaken by the Hounslow Community Fund are now being undertaken by Heathrow Community Trust. The new Heathrow Community Trust Strategy is focussed on improving the quality of life in the communities neighbouring Heathrow Airport. The dates for funding applications for 2020 are now available on their website. More information about the Heathrow Community Trust

The Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has relaunched its grants programme “with a simpler, more flexible and transparent approach”.
Core funding grants worth up to £100,000 are available for small and local charities. Those eligible are charities with an income between £25,000 and £1m across England and Wales that are tackling “complex social issues”.
Charities can check eligibility and apply for grants online through the Foundation’s website.

 
Depending on factors such as specific local needs, the website will advise a charity whether th
ey are eligible to apply and, if they are, whether they can apply for £45,000 or £100,000. Criteria will be reviewed and updated every six months.
The Foundation said it would make around 170 new grants in 2020 to small and local charit
ies – half of them up to £45,000, half up to £100,000, awarding £12m in total. In addition, it will provide a range of organisational development support to charities, invest in national programmes to influence policy and practice, and run the matched-giving scheme for staff of Lloyds Banking Group.
The Foundation said that “like any funder there is a limit to the money available”, and theref
ore it wants “to be open and transparent” by being clear in advance which charities are more likely to be funded, so that charities can make best use of their time.

The new approach

The Foundation says that it will help small charities through long-term funding and devel
opmental support. Changes to the Foundation’s grantmaking processes are part of its Reaching Further strategy for 2018-2022.
Small and medium-sized charities make up 96 per cent of the charity sector, yet attract only 18 per cent of the sector’s total income, according to the UK Civil Society Almanac 2019.
But the Foundation notes that “the pressures facing many small charities supporting the ha
rdest to reach people in their local communities are greater than ever”.
It says it has “refined” and improved its approach to funding to become more effective. This new approach involves:

• A continuously open application process, rather than in rounds, so that charities can apply for support whenever they are ready.
• Clearer turnaround times for when a decision on funding will be made from the initial application.
• Grants worth up to £45,000 and £100,000 available over three years (with the possibility of continuing to six years) that can be used entirely for core costs, with charities able to flex how much they spend each year.
• A simplified approach to reporting whereby charities can share existing reports they al
  ready produce, rather than having to complete bespoke reports for the Foundation, ensuring charities maintain accountability to their boards and not the foundation.
• Support from the Foundation’s regional managers and access to the Foundation’s ‘Enhance’ organisational development programme, helping charities to become more resilient and sustainable.

‘Small charities are undervalued and under more pressure than ever’

Harriet Stranks, director of grants at the foundation, said: “Small charities are undervalued and under more pressure than ever, but they are reaching people and communities that big charities and organisations simply can’t. That’s why I’m delighted our new approach to grant-making, developed alongside the charities we work with, will aim to make the process even easier to navigate, more transparent and led by the needs of the applicant.
“Our ambition is to support small and medium-sized charities over the longer term. This gives the charities we partner with greater flexibility over how they use those resources, allows them to build an in-depth relationship with us and take advantage of the wide range of development support we offer including training, consultancy and mentoring.”
– See more at: https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/lloyds-bank-foundation-relaunches-grants-programme.html#sthash.HaGQPkFO.dpuf