Tag Archive for: Older People

Christmas Connections/ McCarthy Stone/ Deadline Oct 11th

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Funding for Christmas activities for older people.

What is available?

Grants of up to £1,000 are available for charities and community groups bringing together people over 65 at Christmas.

Priority will be given to those organisations connecting older people between 24th December – 2nd Jan, but applications for planned events earlier in December will also be considered.

At least 30 grants will be awarded, though the actual number may be in excess of this.

Examples of activities funded include: the provision of a meal on Christmas Day, group social events, and support for day care centres/community spaces providing services over the festive period.

 

Who can apply?

Organisations with an annual income under £250,000 will be eligible to apply.

 

How to apply

You can apply from the 1st of September 2024 here: Application Form – McCarthy Stone Foundation

Find out more here: Who We Support | McCarthy Stone (mccarthystonefoundation.org)

Deadline: Deadline Oct 11th at 5pm.

Masonic Charitable Foundation/Children Young and Older People/Rolling

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Grants available:  Small (£1k to£5k) Large (£10k to £60k)

District: England and Wales

Application closes: Rolling

Who is the funding for: 

Link:https://mcf.org.uk/

About:

The MCF is dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people, as well as vulnerable older people, in England and Wales. Their Charity Grants programme is open to registered charities in England and Wales working with any of our four main priority groups:

People With Dementia and Their Carers

The MCF are particularly interested in targeted interventions such as carers support and social groups, Maintenance Cognitive Simulation Therapy, or other interventions working to achieve outcomes such as the following:

  • Improved ability of carers to meet the needs of people with dementia (i.e. resources, knowledge, skills)
  • Reducing loneliness, and isolation and creating social connection
  • Improvements to physical health and cognitive function
  • Better access to support services
  • Increased independence and influence over their own lives and treatment

Children Affected By Domestic Abuse

The MCF is interested in funding projects that work with vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families towards the following outcomes:

  • Learning coping strategies and tools to effectively handle challenges
  • Increased self-esteem, resilience, confidence, and feelings of safety and wellbeing
  • Families experience positive behavioural changes
  • Children will have better relationships with their family and peers
  • Decreased feelings of anxiety and isolation
  • Improved engagement with education and other related support services

Early Years

The MCF is interested in funding projects that work with vulnerable and disadvantaged children whose interventions:

  • increase the likelihood of children achieving developmental milestones;
  • support children to make successful transitions to primary school;
  • improve children’s physical health through access to healthcare, nutrition, check-ups, immunisations etc.;
  • give families a better understanding of their child’s needs and improve confidence in parenting/caring so they are better able to meet the child’s needs;
  • increase families’ positive engagement in services enabling targeted support to address specific issues e.g. domestic violence, mental health, substance abuse, and neglect.

Children With Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

They want to hear from charities who are working with children with SEND, and examples of services and interventions may include: practical/life skills; supportive education, volunteering and work opportunities; assistive technology etc.

We are looking for charities whose support for children with SEND will:

  • Increase their social inclusion;
  • Increase their independence and connections to their local community;
  • Improve their access to early intervention services and therapies, for diagnosed, suspected conditions and pre-diagnosis;
  • Ensure their parents/carers are better able to cope in their caring role and meet their child’s needs;
  • Enable their parents/carers to be better informed of their child’s options and rights, and the services available to them.
Who can apply:

Grants are only made to charities/projects whose beneficiaries are in England and Wales

Charities must be registered with the Charity Commission or relevant Central registry of the respective Guernsey, Jersey or Isle of Man government

Charities must have at least one year of independently examined or audited accounts published on the Charity Commission website for the registered charity number they are applying from

 

Home Instead Grants / Older people / Ongoing

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Grants available: Up to £1500

Applications close: Ongoing

Who is the funding for: Projects which prevent social isolation and loneliness

Link: https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/charities/apply-for-a-grant/

About:

Home Instead Charities awards grants of up to £1,500 to small, local registered charities and up to £500 to grassroots organisations with projects that further the needs of our ageing adult population through well-being activities and programmes to prevent social isolation and loneliness.

Most of your group members must be over 55 years old or the project you are requesting funding for must benefit people aged over 55. Types of fundable projects include:

  • Regular weekly or monthly events and activities such as weekly cinema club, weekly knit and natter or Thursday lunch club
  • One off activities such as a day trip or a Christmas lunch
  • Activities such as yoga or a guest speaker for your group such as a local historian

 

Applications from groups, associations and charities that do not service the over 50s directly but the project they require funding for does, i.e. a local school wishes to hold a special afternoon tea for its local care home residents will also be considered.

Critical Friends – Developing a new project

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COPE (Cambridgeshire Older People’s Enterprise) is a registered charity providing information/advocacy, social groups, outings and a bi-monthly newsletter to more than 2,300 registered members living in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. The organization was established by volunteers to ensure that older adults have a voice in their community and to highlight quality of life issues for this segment of the population. It remains volunteer driven with all programmes developed and supervised by volunteers.

The need
Following a needs assessment distributed to members in 2018, COPE created TALKING TOGETHER, a free, weekly telephone-based series of discussion groups enabling registered participants to come
together from the comfort and security of their homes to share ideas experiences and a love for life-long learning. The programme’s importance was underscored during the Covid – 19 pandemic when all face to
face groups stopped, and many COPE members started shielding. It will remain a valuable source of support as the pandemic plays out, and as restrictions on meeting in groups continue. COPE initially required a consultation to ensure it took all necessary steps in creating a new programme and in gaining insight into the network of collateral service providers in the area. Once TALKING TOGETHER was successfully established, information about appropriate funding sources was needed.

What was done
Cope found CCVS extremely helpful in the early planning stages, examining the aims of the programme, service design and plans for outreach to the older adult community. We were able to act as a critical friend and ask questions that helped COPE clarify the projects aims and how it might operate. Once the project plan had been agreed, further discussions focused on identifying funding sources and suggestions on how to best position the organisation to be successful with its grant applications.

The Impact/change
CCVS staff acted as a “sounding board”, always asked the right questions, and made very useful suggestions, assisting the organization in the challenging process of taking an idea from conception to realisation.
The outcome is a funded project that is now delivering an increasingly important service to COPE members, including a successful series of events over the summer of 2020.

Testimony
“CCVS staff provided the essential information and helpful critique which contributed to the development of TALKING TOGETHER. They were, and remain, available to test ideas, consider alternatives and continue moving the programme forward. Always generous with their time, CCVS’s input has been a key factor in ensuring the creation and growth of our unique service for older adults.” Deborah Katznelson, COPE trustee

 

This case study can also be downloaded here

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