Funding Opportunities & Resources
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Make your application as easy to read as possible - the people who are assessing your application may not have a lot of time or much knowledge of the work you do so being clear is key.
Avoid complicated wording or acronyms if funders understand what you are asking for and how you meet their criteria, they are much more likely to say yes to funding your activity.
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Don’t forget if you are just starting out our get started guides have a range of information including setting up a group writing a constitution and finding and applying for funding
More information about the team and what we can offer can be found on our web pages.
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Health Protection Community Grants scheme 2025
Amount : Up to £5000
Following on from the health protections grants that were offered in 2023 public health is pleased to share that they can offer this scheme again this year.
The purpose of this grant is to help local community and voluntary groups to raise awareness on the specific health protection topics using methods that are likely to engage with the groups they work with.
This scheme offers small sum grants which can be used towards costs incurred from the project. For example, covering the costs of refreshments, printing etc.
Applicants must detail how they plan to spend the funding and how the community will benefit from this spend in relation to the subjects. The Health Protection team will consider each application on a case-by-case basis and contact the applicant with 14 days of applying regarding the status of their application.
What are the health protection topics?
A limited sum of funding is available to deliver projects to raise awareness on the following Public Health subjects*:
Vaccination (preconception and in pregnancy/ Pre-school and childhood/ Older Adults/ high risk groups)
Sexual Health including safer sex
HIV including promoting Undetectable equals untransmissible (U=U)
Tuberculosis (Active TB/ Latent TB)
* across the topics, we will prioritise initiatives that focus on supporting underrepresented groups.
We want to give people the opportunity to identify which messages they think would benefit their community and come up with activities they think will get people to engage in the subject.
Grant applications will be accepted until 31 August 2025 or until the totality of the fund has been allocated. There is an expectation that all funded work should be completed by 31 March 2026.
For more information on what is involved and how to apply, please visit:
If anyone has any queries relating to this scheme, the team are happy to discuss this with you, whether that be to discuss ideas or support with the application form. Please do not hesitate to email HPTeam@coventry.gov.uk
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Rayne Foundation £ 30,000
Grants are available to charities in the UK working to bring clear and direct benefits to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in its areas of special interest.
Background
Lord Rayne, who was Life President of London Merchant Securities plc, established the Rayne Foundation in 1962. The Foundation supports charitable causes that meet new needs and help build bridges to connect people and communities.
As an independent funder, the Foundation considers an important part of its role is to support work which is untried, tests new approaches but has clear objectives. It favours work which could change the way issues are tackled in society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation.
Objectives of Fund
The Foundation's objective is to contribute to lasting social change by funding creative and collaborative approaches that build and test solutions to some of society’s most difficult challenges. The aim is to support organisations that think differently and enable innovation. This could be through introducing new methods, ideas, or products to improve services and systems.
The funding is for charitable and not-for-profit organisations across the UK for projects that fall within the foundation's chosen areas of special interest:
Quality of life for older people and their carers.
Mental health of children and young people.
Opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers.
Grants have typically been £10,000 to £30,000 per year but average grant sizes have been increasing over recent years. The Foundation usually makes multi-year grants.
Funding can be used for specific project costs, including salaries and a reasonable contribution to overheads and on-costs. Applications for core costs will be considered where an organisation is making a step-change in the way that it works or tackles a particular issue.
Match Funding Restrictions
Match funding is required as the Foundation is unlikely to fund a project in full.
Who Can Apply
Voluntary, statutory and for-profit organisations (including CICs and CIOs) can apply.
Organisations should be able to demonstrate:
Why the funding is needed.
How the funding will be used to unlock and overcome barriers.
That they are committing funding and/or support in kind from its own resources proportionate to its capacity.
Statutory organisations will need to consider how a grant will enable transformation over and above delivering statutory obligations.
For-profit organisations will need to show that charitable funding is necessary to enable transformative change.
Statutory and for-profit organisations will be expected to work collaboratively with the voluntary sector.
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:
Work outside of the Foundation's priority areas for funding.
Organisations and work that do not meet the Foundation's funding criteria.
Day-to-day running costs of local organisations or buildings.
Capital, equipment or vehicle appeal.
Medical research.
Work exclusively focused on campaigning and lobbying.
Retrospective funding.
Endowments.
Individual use.
Organisations working or based outside the UK.
Organisations who have applied and been rejected in the past 12 months.
Eligible Expenditure
The Rayne Foundation's open grants programme is focused exclusively on its three areas of special interest.
Children and young people’s improved mental health and wellbeing – the Foundation prioritises work that:
Supports early childhood (0-5 years including the perinatal period) with family/carer interventions that aim to reduce the impact of early childhood trauma.
Supports the care-experienced, those on the edge of care, or leaving care, with interventions that prioritise improved mental health and wellbeing.
Applications for creative and artistic approaches to achieving progress in this priority area are also strongly encouraged.
Refugees and asylum seekers – the Foundation prioritises work that:
Creates significant new opportunities relating to employability, entrepreneurial endeavours and personal development for refugees and asylum seekers
Supports the mental health of survivors of torture
Open to arts and creative endeavours which actively encourage building community between migrants and the wider community.
Improved quality of life for people in later life and their carers – the Foundation prioritises work that:
Is driven by collaboration in a particular place.
Connects the dots of care provision for people drawing on care in later life and their carers.
Increases agency, voice and visibility of people in later life and their carers.
Embeds and sustains creativity and the arts in the delivery of care.
As well as being within one of its three priority areas, the proposed work must meet the following essential criteria:
Approaches issues differently and enables innovation.
Has potential for wider application beyond the funded proposal.
Is informed by direct delivery and has a clear, positive impact on people’s lives.
Can demonstrate match-funding contributions to the project.
And ideally the following three desirable criteria:
Enables and encourages collaboration between sectors and silos.
Develops best practice and captures learnings to share with others.
Adds to sector expertise and leadership.
How To Apply
Applications can be submitted at any time as this is a rolling, open grants programme with no deadlines.
There is a two-stage application process:
Applicants must first complete the online expression of interest form on the Foundation's website.
Successful expressions of interest will then be invited to complete a full application.
A typical grant application takes 4–6 months to complete.
Documents & links
Contacts
For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:
Grants Team
The Rayne Foundation
3 Bromley Place
London
W1T 6DB
Tel: 020 7487 9656
Email: applications@raynefoundation.org.uk
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Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Communities Fund
Heart of England Community Foundation
Maximum value
£ 3,000
Grants are available to small local groups for charitable projects in Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull that help people who are facing some form of disadvantage or social exclusion.
Background
Funding is provided by the Heart of England Community Foundation. Grants are awarded from the earnings of the Foundation's own endowment fund. The programme incorporates the following funds: Solihull Community Fund, The Coventry Building Society Fund and the Warwickshire Community Recycling Scheme.
Objectives of Fund
The Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Communities Fund aims supports people living in Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull by funding projects that meet one or more of the following aims:
Promote health and wellbeing.
Tackle disadvantage.
Support local solutions to meet local needs.
Promote community cohesion.
Develop sustainable and supportive communities.
Grants of up to £3,000 are available. Funding must be spent within one year.
Who Can Apply
Applications are accepted from:
Registered charities.
Constituted community groups.
Companies limited by guarantee with charitable aims.
Community interest companies (CICs).
Co-operatives (registered community benefit societies and registered industrial and provident societies).
Social enterprises.
To be eligible, applicants must:
Have an income equal to or less than £500,000, as shown in their most recent annual accounts.
Have a constitution or governing rules.
A management committee/board of trustees/board of directors with at least three unrelated people as members.
A bank account in the name of the organisation with at least two unrelated signatories.
Safeguarding policy (if working with children or vulnerable adults).
Equal opportunities policy.
Restrictions
Funding is not available for the following:
Direct replacement of statutory obligation and public funding.
Promotion of religious or political activities.
Groups with significant financial free reserves.
Retrospective grants.
Contribution to endowment fund, payment of deficit funding or repayment of loans.
National charities.
Overseas travel or expeditions.
Medical research and equipment for statutory or private healthcare.
General appeals.
Animal welfare, unless the project benefits people (eg disabled riding schemes).
Statutory work in educational institutions.
Sponsored or fundraising events or groups raising funds to distribute to other causes.
Schools, churches, parish councils or PTAs, unless community benefit is demonstrated.
Boxing clubs or associated organisations.
Eligible Expenditure
Grants can be made for a wide range of purposes, examples of which are as follows:
Start-up costs for new organisations or projects.
Extension and development of existing projects.
Pilot projects (to gather research and evidence).
The purchase of equipment and resources.
How To Apply
Applications can be made at any time.
The application form is available to complete on the Heart of England Community Foundation website.
Documents & links
Contacts
For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:
Grants Team
Heart of England Community Foundation
c/o Stellantis
Pinley House
2 Sunbeam Way
Coventry
West Midlands
CV3 1ND
Tel: 024 77800 520
Email: info@heartofenglandcf.co.uk
Have a question about funding?
Need help on sourcing funding? or help writing a bid? get in touch
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Team
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