Funding finder

CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION

Funding: Grants of £10,000 to £25,000 are available.

Funder: The UK branch of a major Anglo-Portuguese Trust. Calouste Gulbenkian was an Armenian Turk who made money in the oil industry, before retiring to Portugal in the 1940s.

Aim: For 2009 the four priority areas are: cultural understanding, fulfilling potential, environment and innovation. Innovation is the only funding stream open for applications. 

Who can apply?: Not-for-profit organisations can apply for research and development funding to scope a new idea which enables them to work together with other organisations or experts outside their usual practice, or to enable them to undertake active research into areas they would not normally have the time or money to explore.As a rule, the foundation supports projects that are original in their field and favours those outside London.

Deadline: Initial enquiries can be sent in at any time of the year, but you should allow at least three months between this and the proposed starting date of your research period.

Contact: info@gulbenkian.org.uk

http://www.gulbenkian.org.uk

CARPENTERS' COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST

Funding: The trust awards students a maximum of £2,400 per year and charitable organisations a maximum of £5,000 per year.

Funder: The Carpenters' Company Charitable Trust awards grants to students on woodworking courses and charities that work with - among other groups - children and young people.

Aim: The grants are intended to cover the expenses of students while they complete their woodworking courses and fund charitable schemes or projects, particularly - but not exclusively - those involving craft-related activities.

Who can apply?: Applications for funding are judged on a range of criteria, including the charity's financial position and the type of work it undertakes. Students must be on UK-based courses to be eligible. Grants will not normally be made to individual churches or cathedrals, or educational establishments that do not already have an association with The Carpenters' Company.

Contact: www.thecarpenterscompany.co.uk

CAUSEWAY

Funding: Grants for youth exchange programmes between Britain and Ireland. The sending group can get up to EUR500 for preparation and 70 per cent of travel cost. Hosting groups can get EUR500 for preparation, EUR500 towards activities and an allowance of EUR10 per person per day.

Funder: Causeway is run by Connect Youth International in Britain and Leargas in the Republic of Ireland.

Aim: To strengthen and improve relationships between British and Irish young people.

Who can apply?: The main programme supports groups of between five and 30 young people and youth leaders in educational programmes that promote understanding between Britain and Ireland.

Deadline: There are deadlines of 1 April, 1 June and 1 November.

Contact: www.causewayyouth.org

CHILD TRUST FUND

Funding: Around £240 million a year. Children born since 1 September 2002 will receive a voucher for at least £250, and children in low-income families will receive an additional £250. The Government will make an additional payment of £250 when the child reaches age seven (£500 for children in low-income families).

Funder: Inland Revenue.

Aim: To ensure people have some money behind them to start their adult life. Children can start to make decisions about how the money is managed when they are 16, and the CTF is supposed to help them to learn how to make the most of money. This experience, bolstered by financial education linked to CTF, is designed to help people understand the value of savings and how to manage their personal finances with a view to the future.

Who can apply?: A child is eligible for the CTF account as long as: he/she was born on or after 1 September 2002; he/she lives in the UK; the parent receives child benefit for their child; and the child is not subject to immigration control.

Contact: Call 0845 302 1470 or email ctf@inlandrevenue.gov.uk

CHILDREN IN NEED GENERAL GRANTS PROGRAMME

Funding: In 2007 Children in Need distributed £37m.

Funder: The BBC's annual charity telethon.

Aim: To support work with children and young people that are affected by: illness, distress, abuse or neglect; disability; behavioural or psychological impairment; or who are living in poverty or situations of deprivation.

Who can apply?: This grant programme is open to organisations working with disadvantaged children and young people who are 18 years old and under.

Deadline: There are four general grant deadlines each year: 15 January, 15 April, 15 July, 15 October.

Contact: www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey

CHILDREN TODAY

Funding: Grants, generally up to £1,000, for equipment.

Funder: This UK-wide charity was set up in 1994.

Aim: To provide disabled children and young people with specialist equipment that will improve their quality of life. The family picks the equipment and the charity funds its purchase.

Who can apply?: Applications are accepted from young people themselves and their families.

Contact: Call 01244 335 622 or email info@childrentoday.org.uk

CLORE DUFFIELD FOUNDATION

Funding: Main grants vary from below £5,000 to more than £1m. The small grants scheme provides between £1,000 and £10,000 towards projects where the total budget is not more than £30,000. About £1m is available through this scheme between 2005 and 2010.

Funder: Brought up in the east end of London, Charles Clore was the son of Latvian Jewish immigrants. In the years after the Second World War he became one of the UK's most successful businessmen. He established a charitable foundation in 1964, and in 2000 his daughter Vivien Duffield merged it with her foundation.

Aim: The charity’s main interests are education, the arts, museums, galleries and heritage sites, and health and social welfare. It particularly aims to support children, young people, and vulnerable members of society.

Who can apply?: For the main grant, registered charities in the UK. For small grants, schools, professional and amateur arts groups and voluntary youth organisations can also apply.

Contact: www.cloreduffield.org.uk

COMBINED FUND TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Funding: A total of £2.25m has been made available with a maximum grant of £50,000. Applications for more will be considered but only handed out in cases of "exceptional need".

Funder: The fund has been created for the financial year 2010/11 by merging two existing government funds that support victims of sexual violence. These are the Office for Criminal Justice Reform Victims Fund and the Government Equalities Office Special Fund.

Aim: The money is aimed at voluntary sector-run frontline support services for either adult or child victims of sexual violence that are at risk of closure or facing a financial crisis.

Who can apply?: The grant is only available to organisations in England and Wales that have a strong track record of supporting victims and can prove they are facing a financial crisis or closure. Applicants will also need to prove there is a high level of need for their service. Organisations that have previously received funding through the Office for Criminal Justice Reform or Equalities Office are eligible but will not automatically qualify.

Deadline: 22 February 2010

Contact: www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/violentcrime/sexual12.htm.

COMIC RELIEF

Funding: Grants on average vary between £25,000 and £40,000 per year. There is no maximum figure for applications, and organisations are advised to apply for what they need.

Funder: Comic Relief distributes money raised through Red Nose Day.

Aim: Focus areas for 2009-2012 include young people with mental health or alcohol problems and young people facing sexual exploitation or trafficking,

Who can apply?: A range of organisations in the UK working with young people aged 11 to 25.

Contact: Call 020 7820 5555 or www.comicrelief.com

COMMONWEALTH YOUTH EXCHANGE COUNCIL

Funding: Grants for outward visits of between 25 and 40 per cent of travel costs. There may also be funding available to help with travel costs of incoming partners.

Funder: The Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council (CYEC) is a national voluntary youth organisation.

Aim: To promote international understanding across the 54 nations of the Commonwealth.

Who can apply?: Grants are for projects involving young people aged 16 to 25. Priority is given to those projects involving young people who would not normally have such opportunities and that can show evidence of real youth ownership and participation in planning.

Deadline: Invitations to apply for grants are issued in the autumn for the following financial year.

Contact: www.cyec.org.uk

COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS

Funding: Community foundations offer a variety of funds: a general fund for their area, plus several others funds for specific purposes, such as women's funds, community arts funds or health funds. Many community foundations distribute more than £1 million in grants a year, but the figure depends on the local group. Over £322 million has been distributed in grants by community foundations in the last five years.

Funder: There are about 55 community foundations in the UK, covering all of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and most of England. They manage funds donated by individuals and organisations on a local level.

Aim: To strengthen local communities, create opportunities and tackle issues of disadvantage and exclusion.

Who can apply?: It depends on the foundation. A few community foundations have funds available to help individuals, but only for people who meet precise criteria, for example, a fund specifically for young people leaving care. Usually the emphasis is on grants to community groups and projects.

http://www.communityfoundations.org.uk/about_community_foundations/finding_uk_community_foundations/

COMMUNITY FUND

Funding: In 2008 over £1.2m was allocated to local community groups.

Funder: The Co-operative Group.

Aim: To support a range of community groups who make a difference to their local neighbourhoods.

Who can apply?: Community groups, self help groups, voluntary groups, and community charities – including local branches of national charities. Projects must benefit a community in which a Co-operative Group business operates.

Contact: 0161 827 5879

http://www.co-operative.coop/membership/Community-Fund/onlineapplicationprocess/

COMMUNITY SPACES

Funding: The total fund is £50m. Small grants are worth between £10,000 and £25,000, medium grants are between £25,001 and £49,999, large grants are between £50,000 and £100,000, and flagship grants range from £100,001 to £450,000.

Funder: The Community Spaces programme is part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces initiative. It helps local community groups create or improve green and open spaces for the benefit of local people. The scheme is managed by the charity, Groundwork UK, which builds healthy and safe environments for local communities.

Aim: Community Spaces will fund improvements to green and open spaces, including play areas, community gardens, parks, city farms, wildlife areas, ponds, village greens, kick-about areas and pathways. The main aims of the scheme are to give more interesting places for children to play, safer places for people to sit and greener spaces where people and nature can grow and flourish.

Who can apply?: Grants are on offer to not-for-profit community groups that run projects within a two-mile radius of residential areas and are open to the public most of the time. This means the project or space must be available to the public free of charge for at least six days a week. Projects must also either improve local environments, increase people's access to quality local spaces, increase the amount of people involved in developing and running an environmental project in their community, or improve partnerships between support organisations, communities and authorities.

http://www.community-spaces.org.uk/