Tag Archive for: community

Community Grant / Cambridge City Council/ Deadline 3 June

/by

Fund your community activity with a Cambridge City Council Grant – launches on 23 April 2025.

Have you got plans or ideas for an activity that will take place between July 2025 and March 2026 and help to reduce inequality?

Voluntary or community organisations, or groups of local residents, could be eligible for a £5,000 and under Community Grant – this grant scheme replaces Area Committee Grants.

The funding is available for activities that reduce social or economic inequality for disadvantaged residents. Activities can be open to all city residents or targeted at residents living in a particular area of the city.

We want these grants to make a difference to the lives of city residents with the highest needs.

There will be 2 funding rounds:

  • Round 1: is now closed
  • Round 2: launches on 23 April 2025 – apply by midday on 3 June 2025

(for activities taking place between July 2025 and 31 March 2026).

Please note you can only apply to one round. Please contact grants@cambridge.gov.uk if you are unsure.

Go to: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/community-grants-of-5000-and-under for further information including:

  • guidelines
  • recorded webinar and drop in appointment dates
  • application form.

Contact the Grants Team now for further information and to discuss your ideas:

Reaching Communities England/ The National Lottery / Ongoing

/by

Reaching Communities England

What is available?

£20,001 or more, for up to 5 years

With this funding we’ll help strengthen communities and improve lives across England. Our funding is available to all communities. But our priority is the places, people and communities that need it most.

By ‘community’ we mean people living in the same area. Or people with similar interests or life experiences, even if they do not live in the same area.

Our priorities are to fund projects that:

  • support places, people or communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage or discrimination
    and
  • support people and communities to shape the decisions that affect their lives.

And your project must achieve one of our missions. Which are to support communities to:

  • Come together, through inclusive places, spaces and activities (either physical or virtual). Especially for communities where people are least able to come together.
  • Help children and young people thrive, by developing positive social and emotional skills.
  • Be healthier, by addressing health inequalities. And helping prevent poor health.
  • Be environmentally sustainable. By engaging with climate issues and having a positive environmental impact. And improving access to quality natural spaces.

We’re more likely to fund work that achieves one or two of these missions really well. For more see our priorities.

Funding starts at £20,001. But most applications we fund are for less than £500,000. We can fund many different types and sizes of work. See what you can spend the money on.

Who can apply?
Voluntary or community organisations
Application deadline
Ongoing.

Find out more here and apply: Reaching Communities England | The National Lottery Community Fund

United with Ukraine community grant / Cambridge City Council/ Deadline 1 June

/by

United with Ukraine community grant from Cambridge City Council

Community groups, small groups of residents and organisations supporting refugees (Cambridge based) fleeing the war in Ukraine can apply for a grant to support activities that will meet one or more of the following priorities:

  • navigating life in the UK
  • promote community cohesion and integration
  • deliver money advice and management
  • support access to employment
  • increase confidence in speaking English
  • enhance wellbeing, including activities for children

United with Ukraine grant scheme has three funding tiers, referred to as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.

What is available?

Community groups or small groups of residents can apply for a grant of up to £2,000 (Tier 1), while constituted not-for-profit organisations with a track record can apply for a grant of up to £5,000 (Tier 2). Constituted not-for-profit organisations with a track record of successfully delivering a United with Ukraine grant or with a track record of working with refugees can apply for a grant between £5,001 and £30,000 (Tier 3).

Eligibility

You must demonstrate that your group’s activity fits into one of the six priority areas.

The people who benefit from the activity must live in Cambridge. It’s fine for people from elsewhere to take part, but we can only provide funding for residents that live inside the city boundary.

We will fund the direct costs of running the activity and will consider a realistic and proportionate share of your organisation’s overheads.

Your activity should be open to all residents who could benefit.

To find out more and apply please visit: United with Ukraine community grant – Cambridge City Council

Deadline: 11:59pm Sunday 1 June

Enabling Activities Community Grant / Cambridge City Council/ No deadline

/by

Enabling Activities Community Grant

Enabling Active Communities Grant that young people or organisations can apply for. It’s for young people aged 12-18 years, who can apply for up to £500 to support sport, dance and physical activity opportunities within Cambridge City.

Who can apply?

Cambridge City Council welcome groups of young people aged 12 to 18 to apply. There must be at least 3 people involved in putting the application together and the activity must benefit a group of at least 8 young people. 

If you are an organisation looking to apply for activity to support young people, please use this form instead - https://forms.office.com/e/KEhg0AcsHn  

How much funding is available?

The group will be awarded a maximum of one grant per financial year (April – March) up to a maximum of £500. 

What can the funding be used for?

Funding can go towards hiring a coach or instructor, hiring a facility and/or equipment costs. The grant can go towards new activity or existing activity that requires additional funding to continue. 

Please note the grant cannot  fund one off activity or day trips. 

District

Cambridge City

How to apply

The application form is really quick and easy to complete, but there will need to be someone with a bank account who can hold the funds.

If anyone has any further questions, please contact Danielle Guy email: Danielle.Guy@cambridge.gov.uk    

For more information and to apply please visit: Enabling Active Communities grants – Cambridge City Council

Deadline

There is no set deadline for applications, funding applications will be assessed on a rolling basis and if successful, applicants will receive the funding within 4 weeks. 

IT Grants/ Net Solutions Wales/ Ongoing

/by

Funding for charity’s ICT development.

 

What is available?

Net Solutions Wales can assist with IT Grants of £10,000 to £20,000 for community / charity groups ICT development.

The funds cover PC’s, laptops, smartboards, projectors (most main stream I.T) software and support.

Restriction of one application per year.

Typical projects that have been awarded include community re-generation/enrichment, community activities and those groups which involve their community in learning new skills.

They will assist in providing knowledge of the IT available and guide you in how best to maximise the Grant with IT that suits its purpose.

This does not affect any Core funding and applications are on a first come first served basis with a decision time of around one month.

 

Who can apply?

Charities and community groups.

 

How to apply

To find out more and to apply please visit: NET Solutions Wales: web design, e-commerce, web hosting: Charities and community grants

Arnold Clark/ Community/ Open until Dec 2024

/by

Where: UK

Amount: Up to £2.5K

About:

Arnold Clark, the UK’s largest independently owned, family-run car retailer, has been offering grants to communities in the areas in which it operates since 2021.

This year, registered charities and other not-for-profit groups and organisations from across England, Scotland and Wales can apply for the following support:

  • Cost of Living Support – funding to any registered UK charity or community group whose work directly supports those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis, such as foodbanks, accommodation, poverty relief and where people/communities in the UK are the primary and immediate focus of investment.
  • Our Communities Support – funding to projects embedded in the communities in which Arnold Clark operates and is available to organisations who provide services widely accessible to those within Arnold Clark local communities, addressing the needs of those living within them.
  • Gear Up for Sport – 150 sports kits are given away each month to support youth sports teams across the UK. Any youth team with up to 30 members aged 4 to 15 years can apply.

Projects applying for ‘Our Communities Support’ must address one of the following categories:

  • Animal welfare (benefiting humans)
  • Arts and Culture
  • Community development
  • Disability
  • Education
  • Recreation
  • Relief support
  • Mental health support

 

Website: https://www.arnoldclark.com/community-fund

Who can apply?

Registered charities and other not-for-profit groups and organisations

How to Apply:

Funding is at the discretion of Arnold Clark Community Fund with a possible maximum grant of £2,500.

Applications are reviewed when they are received. Arnold Clark will contact successful applicants on a weekly basis.

Applications are expected to be accepted until the end of December 2024.

Fundraiser Network: The Superpower of Networks

/by

The SUPERPOWER of NETWORKS Our members have told us that they want a space to network and build relationships with others from the sector and also with businesses and statutory providers; “that leads to mutual support, knowledge sharing and partnerships.” As a partnership organisation, Support Cambridgeshire is actively harnessing the power of the “hive mind.”….

Read more

Listening to Community Organisations

/by
By Victoria Hopkins

The Support Fenland project continues at pace this week as we met with members of a wide range of community organisations across the district. A key part of our project is to understand the specific needs of Fenland, so we wanted to talk directly to the groups who are already active in the community.

There are a huge number and wide variety of groups supporting Fenland communities, ranging from large organisations supporting the whole county and beyond, to small voluntary based organisations supporting a very specific area within a town or village. Often these groups have been set up in response to a need that is emerging in the community, and so these groups are vital for support organisations such as CCVS and Hunts Form to listen to when we’re planning how we can better support their work.

At this week’s session we had 19 representatives from 17 different organisations of different sizes, and over a fast paced one hour Zoom call we learnt an awful lot!

When asked about the challenges that their groups are facing, there were some common themes emerging. The ability of each group to reach and communicate with their communities has become limited, either due to social distancing or a reduction in funding. Digital services offered within Fenland do not have a high take-up rate. Volunteers have a lack of confidence; whether that is dealing with new Covid measures or just coming back to volunteering after a significant break, the groups are finding that those volunteers need an increased level of support. Finally, there is a lack of awareness of the variety and scale of the issues within Fenland outside of the district.

We then talked about the opportunities that were coming in the future. There was a lot to celebrate and look forward to, and the focus was on ensuring that all of the positive ways of working that have come out of the emergency Covid response, such as new partnerships, closer relationships and new services, continue.

Finally, the conversation turned to how the groups wanted to raise their collective voice. It was acknowledged that networking and bringing people together will be key, and that there will be many benefits of this; knowing which groups are already delivering services to residents and being able to point people in the right direction, enabling increased partnership working on common issues, giving communities a place to celebrate all that is happening and acting as an advocate for all that is great about living in Fenland.

A huge thanks to everyone who joined us for such an open, honest and lively meeting. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation with even more members of the community at next week’s open event.

Our notes from the meeting are captured on the graphics below – click them to view full-screen.

Support Fenland: Capturing the Views of Council Officers

/by
By Ben Pitt

The Support Fenland project starts in earnest with a round-table discussion with council officers about what the voluntary and community sector needs to help it flourish.

Many people see “the council” as a single organisation that does things like parks and bins, but the reality is that Cambridgeshire has four tiers of local government – parish and town councils, district councils, the county council and the combined authority. Each has its own areas of responsibility but they all take an interest in keeping residents healthy and happy. Building strong communities is a vital part of that.

While the elected councillors or Mayor might be the most visible side of local councils, the bulk of work is carried out by council staff. They include dedicated teams at Fenland District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to support communities. Meanwhile, parish and town councils often have the closest links with the people in their town or village, and much of the work of the parish or town clerk is to respond to the specific needs of their residents. This often goes hand in hand with the activities of local community and voluntary groups.

At Hunts Forum and CCVS we want to ensure that our work in Fenland responds directly to the specific needs of the district. That’s why we started by talking to the council officers who work with residents on a daily basis. We were delighted to be joined by the community development teams from Cambridgeshire County Council and Fenland District Council, the clerks from Wisbech, Chatteris and Christchurch plus our friends at Living Sport and Cambridgeshire ACRE.

We started by asking what the communities of Fenland need from infrastructure organisations, and what the barriers were to accessing that support. Lots of answers came back. Some were practical, such as support with business planning and funding applications for new projects, a volunteer database and peer networking opportunities. Others were more strategic, such as umbrella organisations with the governance in place to hold funds, thereby allowing volunteers with a good idea to focus on delivering it.

Some points were more philosophical. How can we make volunteering a more ‘normal’ thing to do? How do we empower residents to feel that it’s their right to shape their community, rather than their burden? How do we give communities the confidence to seize opportunities?

Finally, we reflected on what infrastructure organisations and councils need to do to ensure that the voices of our communities are heard. The simple answer was to ask them, but there was also a recognition that communities need a reason to want to have that conversation.

We need to ensure that the various people whose job it is to support communities work together effectively, and that the Support Fenland project has a legacy. Too often, people and solutions are parachuted in and make a few ripples, but afterwards things fall back to the way they were before. Our challenge is to change the culture of volunteering and community action in Fenland for the better.

We’re looking forward to talking to the community activists to find out what their perspective is.

The graphics below capture the views expressed during the discussion. Click them to view full screen.

 

 

 

Ask Me Community Ambassador Scheme

/by

[Republished from www.cambridgewa.org.uk]

People within a survivor’s community are often the first to know that domestic abuse is happening. But lack of understanding and confidence can make people afraid to talk about it, and unsure of how to respond when someone speaks out. Survivors have told us they can feel judged, silenced or isolated by the people around them.

We are changing that through the Change That Lasts Ask Me scheme, developed in partnership between Women’s Aid Federation England and Welsh Women’s Aid.

The project is a simple initiative that equips community members in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with an understanding of domestic abuse and how to respond to survivors. This knowledge will enable the community to play an active role in ending domestic abuse.

Being a Change That Lasts Community Ambassador

We offer free 12 hour training courses to members of the local community from all backgrounds and identities where they learn about domestic abuse, including its gendered nature, how to challenge the stereotypes surrounding it and how to listen to, believe and direct survivors to specialist support.

Anyone with a connection to Cambridgeshire and/or Peterborough can become an Ask Me ambassador, whether you have been personally affected by domestic abuse or whether you would like to learn more.

After the training, ambassadors are given resources and support to share what they have learned with those around them in ways that feel most comfortable to them. They are encouraged to start conversations about domestic abuse that will help others to better understand the barriers that survivors face in speaking out. An ambassador can commit as much or as little time as they can give.

We keep in touch with Community Ambassadors with new opportunities and events such as ambassador meet-ups, campaign involvement and volunteering. We also send short surveys to find out how they are getting on and how we can support them further.

A Community Ambassador…

… believes in equality of all people, regardless of their gender identity, age, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, cultural beliefs or circumstances.

… listens and believes others that share their personal experiences of domestic abuse.

… is non-judgmental and respectful.

… is passionate about ending domestic abuse.

There is a chance that we may decide that it isn’t appropriate for a person to take on the role if they don’t share these values and qualities. We will work with people to overcome any barriers wherever possible, or we will direct you to a more suitable volunteering or training opportunity.

Interested? Join the Scheme

If you would like to take part, please register your interest through the online form here: REGISTER INTEREST FORM