Funding News – 15 April 2024

Your weekly funding roundup from GrantTracker.

Funding News

Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Arts Fund reopens

They see culture as the heart of a just society, where all people and communities have a right to express themselves through art and culture. They are looking to work with organisations for whom these aspirations are central to their vision and mission. The Arts Fund supports the long-term development and transformation of these organisations as a route towards social justice and sustainability. Arts for them includes crafts, creative writing (including poetry), dance, design, film, music, opera, photography, digital arts and media, theatre and drama, the visual arts, and cross-arts practices. Amount: £90,000 to £300,000 per application. Next deadline 31 May 2024

Community Foundation NI open grants

  • The Ultach Fund / An Ciste Ultach exists to support the work of communities across Northern Ireland who wish to use and promote the Irish language. Open to registered charities and constituted grass roots community and voluntary groups based in Northern Ireland, priority is given to Irish language community organisations and centres, should the fund be oversubscribed. Grants Available: Up to £5,000. Closes 7 May 2024 (1pm).
  • Keadue Community Grants Fund provides support to local organisations tackling the growing social need in Derry City and surrounding Waterside areas. Organisations and constituted groups which support local people through short and long term crises caused by a range of social factors including poverty, addiction, and low educational attainment, can apply for a grant. Partnerships are encouraged to apply, with one organisation identified as the lead. Grant sizes will typically be between £10k and £20k to be awarded over periods of up to two years includes support for running costs.

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council: Community Investment Fund (CIF)

Community and voluntary organisations in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area can apply for a grant of up to £350,000 from a capital funding stream.  Support from their Community Investment Fund (CIF) is available to eligible community, sporting and interest groups for capital projects that meet community needs and align with key council objectives (Community Plan; Investment Plan). Applications can request up to a maximum of £350,000 and a minimum of £150,000 with applicants evidencing at least 50% match funding secured no later than twelve months from date of letter of offer. Deadline 1 May 2024 (5pm).

Enkalon Foundation

This local Foundation has an annual budget of around £200,000 and makes small grants to a wide-range of interest including education, health, sport, arts and culture, animal welfare, and alleviating hardship and disadvantage. Average grants are £1000. Applications for core running or project costs are accepted but must clearly demonstrate the need for the funding and how the group, users and wider community will benefit from it. Deadlines are quarterly; next deadline 22 May 2024.

European Innovation Council: European Social Innovation Competition 2024

The Competition acts as a beacon for social innovators across Europe, incentivising & rewarding early-stage ideas, shaping our society for the better. The competition will directly support the three solutions that best tackle the defined challenge with a prize of EUR 75.000, EUR 50.000 and EUR 25.000 for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked winners. For 2024, the focus is social innovation in Digital Democracy. The Competition will look for technological and non-technological social innovations, with a particular focus on new participatory and engagement models, breakthroughs, socially sustainable or breakthrough, market-creating and deep-tech innovations embracing the objectives of this year’s competition. Deadline11 June 2024 (5pm Brussel’s time).

EANI: Local Non Targeted/Generic Youth Provision Funding

This is for EA registered youth organisations whose youth work is delivered by volunteers for example, uniformed organisations, church based organisations. The level of funding available will be based on the hours of programme delivered and the average attendance of young people. Funding can be a contribution to your running costs such as heat and light, insurance, and curriculum materials. Deadline 17 May 2024 (4pm).

Upcoming Deadlines

Souter Charitable Trust

The Souter Charitable Trust supports projects engaged in the relief of human suffering in all its aspects in the UK and overseas – especially, but not exclusively, those with a Christian emphasis and ethos. Grants are restricted to UK registered charities only. Whilst there are no minimum or maximum amounts given an average grant would be a small one off in the region of £1,000 - £3,000. No application forms are required. To make an application, apply in writing to (2 sides of A4 sufficient): Souter Charitable Trust, PO Box 7412, Perth, PH1 5YX or by e-mail to [email protected]. Next deadline 19 April 2024 (close of business).

Ulster Scots Agency: Summer Schools Funding

The Ulster-Scots Summer Schools Grant programme is for summer schools delivered from 1 July to 31 August 2024 and aims to support community and voluntary groups who wish to deliver a five-day Ulster-Scots Summer School to children aged 7 to 16 years. Deadline 19 April 2024 (noon).

Baring Foundation: Arts & Mental Health Programme

Their Arts focus is promoting the role of creativity in the lives of people with mental health problems. The purpose of this call is to fund activity to redress the under-representation of male participants in participatory creative activities in the UK for people with mental health problems and to learn what works in this regard.  Grants of £20k to £50k available for developing new participatory arts opportunities for men with mental health problems. Deadline 23 April 2024 (noon).

Community Foundation NI: Evishagaran and Craiggore Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund

Applications are invited from charities and community organisations based within a 7km radius of the Evishagaran and Craiggore wind farm sites (Evishgaran Map; Craiggore Map). Priority will be given to Education programmes for the next generation on the topics of Sustainability and Renewable Energy, Collaborative projects, Projects that aim to improve the health of residents, particularly mental health, and Projects that promote care & support of vulnerable people, particularly relating to the cost of living/fuel poverty. Micro grants of up to £4,000 for small projects and Strategic grants of up to £10,000 for larger scale strategic partnership projects, with one lead applicant (They anticipate supporting up to 2 of these grants). Deadline 23 April 2024 (1pm).

Fundraising Support

Getting the most out of GrantTracker

The second of our Getting the most out of GrantTracker sessions takes place on 17 April. Click the link below to register.

Fundraising Hub

Explore the Fundraising Hub for a wide range of articles and resources to support your fundraising journey. A few are below:

This resource outlines some reasons behind funders wanting organisations to address EDI in the applications alongside advice on broaching the topic in writing, getting started on your journey and where you can find further information on this topic.

After listening to their applicants and grant holders, the Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland are delighted to launch Better Together - their Strategy for 2024-2028 and its accompanying suite of funding programmes. 

360Giving announce UK Grantmaking, a new hub for grantmaking data and insights set to launch in 2024. Find out more and learn how you can be involved.

Get ahead with GrantTracker and access over 1000 funding schemes in NI's leading database.  Just £100 a year for NICVA members and £145 for non-members. Sign up  here.