The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have announced that the Hong Kong BN(O) Welcome Programme has been re-funded for a 5th year. This announcement includes continued funding to the North West RSMP to deliver the North West Welcome Hub as well as continue our work funding vital projects and programmes across the region supporting BN(O) visa holders.

The Government is continuing to fund the following key elements of the Welcome Programme:

• Demand-led funding for local authorities in England to provide English language and destitution support. Funding for English language support will be available for the first three years that a BN(O) is in the UK – this is a change in eligibility for the English language funding and the attached updated guidance has also been produced by Government;

• Funding for the 12 Welcome Hubs across the UK;

• Funding for the Hate Crime Reporting Service for BN(O)s and ESEA communities. There will be a reduction in the operating hours for the service with details to be confirmed; and,

• Funding for the mental health and wellbeing project being delivered by Barnardo’s until September 2025.

Information is also available on the RSMP website or on the Gov.uk BN(O) webpage

Grants are available to support grassroots football clubs across the UK with a priority on supporting children up to the age of 18 access sport and physical activity and/or providing more equipment and opportunity for children.

Find out more here

Tesco and easyfundraising have come together to support voluntary organisations, charities, and CICs. They will donate £1000 funding pots to 5 community organisations this October. Follow these simple steps for a chance to win.

Firstly, register your organisation with fundraising platform easyfundraising. easyfundraising enables your community organisation to receive unrestricted funding from 8,000 leading online retailers including Tesco.

Then shop online at Tesco. Ask anyone who is connected to your organisation to use the easyfundraising platform to shop with Tesco. Each time one of them shops online at Tesco, your organisation will be entered into the draw to receive a £1,000 funding boost. The more people who shop online with Tesco on your behalf, the more chances your organisation has of winning.

Plus each time someone shops with Tesco, your organisation will receive £1.75. That’s £1.75 for free.

Find out more here

GMCVO have launched a new social investment fund for organisations and businesses working in Greater Manchester who are trading for social good and looking to grow.

They are working in a unique partnership with the Greater Manchester Credit Union Consortium, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Access – The Foundation for Social Investment and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to deliver local investment with real impact, in communities where the need is highest.

Find out more here

Grants are available for community groups and voluntary organisations across Stockport for projects and activities that positively contribute to the environmental, economic, or social wellbeing within a particular ward. Grants of between £50 and £1,000 are available.

Aviva, in partnership with WWF and the RSPB, is giving £1 million to support community groups across the UK to protect and restore nature in their local area.

Find out more here

Funding and support to charitable organisations that help young people in North West England. It is made up of two funding streams.  One-off unrestricted grants for small community organisations, the typical one-off grants range from £2,000-£2,500. The Foundation aims to support organisations with a turnover of less than £500,000. Funding stream two is based on long-term funding partnerships for small North West charities that want to strengthen and grow.  Typical grants of £10,000-£30,000 pa for 3 years, to scale or strengthen operational health.

Find out more here

The Department of Health and Social Care is inviting interested organisations to register expressions of interest for its £1 million Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund, aimed at increasing the number of AEDs in public places where they are most needed and help save lives.

An estimated 1,000 new defibrillators are to be provided by the fund, with the potential for this to double as successful applicants will be asked to match the funding they receive partially or fully.

As part of the grant award, applicants will be asked to demonstrate that defibrillators will be placed in areas where they are most needed, such as places with high footfall, vulnerable people, rural areas or due to the nature of activity at the site.

Examples could include town halls, community centres, local shops, post offices and local parks, to ensure that defibrillators are evenly spread throughout communities and easily accessible if someone is experiencing an unexpected cardiac arrest.

Applications are now open for a share of £2.4 million government funding to deliver local projects with a communities and place theme. The funding aims to address the diverse challenges faced by communities, enhance local assets, foster social cohesion, and create opportunities for economic growth.

For more information, criteria and how to apply, visit Stockport Council’s website here

The Cellnex Digital Inclusion Fund (up to £500) is offering small awards from groups of local residents or grassroots constituted community groups who want to get a new project or activity up and running. The Fund will focus on three main areas:

·        Empowering communities and places

·        Increasing confidence, skills and motivation

·        Affordability, accessibility and connectivity.

Who can apply?

If you’re a group of local residents who want to get a new digital inclusion project or activity up and running, or a constituted community group with an income of £2,500 or less, then you can apply.

You need to be based in one of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester and be planning to run your activity in the area where you live.

How much can you apply for?

The maximum award request that will be considered is £500.

The Fund will close once all funding has been fully allocated.

The aim of the programme is to support smaller organisations in the UK that provide activities and services that help children to have a happy, healthy and fun childhood. Grants of up to £2,200 are available.

Applications are assessed once a month with the deadline on the last day of each month.

Grants are available to local community groups and sports clubs for projects that will increase opportunities for young people in disadvantaged areas of the UK to play outdoor sport. Grants in the range from £2,500 to £5,000 are typically available, although a larger grant may be possible in some circumstances.

The initiative invites employees working for either TK Maxx or Homesense to apply for a grant on behalf of a local charity. Grants can be as small as £500.

There’s no official application form - we suggest contacting the Stockport or Cheadle stores to find out more.

Funding of up to £5,000

Applications can be submitted between the following times only.

a. Dec 1st – Dec 20th for February Meetings

b. March 1st – March 31st for May meetings

c. 1st June – 30th June for August meeting

d. 1st Sept- 30th Sept for November meeting

The Trust works with a broad range of charities, primarily in the North West of England, with particular emphasis on:

- Young Persons’ Wellbeing

- Elderly Services

- Education and Training

- Health

- Carers’ Support

- Mental Health

- Child / Family Support

Their initial focus is on grassroots organisations and projects, but they’re eager to hear from anyone who thinks Black Heritage Fund could help them support the Black community.

A variety of funds available including their regular Green Token Giving fund.

Green Token Giving supports small, local, grassroots organisations making a positive impact in their local community. Each year, Asda customers have the chance to nominate and vote for their favourite local good cause via the Green Token Giving programme. Each superstore will feature three community projects online that have been nominated by customers and colleagues. They will all be local, grassroots organisations having a positive impact on their local community. The group with the most online votes will receive a £500 donation with second receiving £400 and third place receiving £300.

The Safer Streets Fund allows forces, local authorities and community organisations to invest in transformative crime prevention initiatives.The money will go towards the prevention of violence against women and girls in public, neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour. These projects will be able to roll out extra CCTV and streetlighting in their communities and expand work to change attitudes and behaviours and prevent these crimes happening in the first place.

Applications are on a rolling basis.

Match funding (50%) of up to £50,000 to help organisations who are supporting social mobility, driving opportunity for education and employability in disadvantaged communities and supporting individuals from ethnic minorities as well as providing opportunities for girls in STEM. Funding will also target organisations who support and provide Health and Wellbeing services to those in need. There will also be funding available to support projects who help their local community become more sustainable by providing innovative ideas to prevent or reduce the impacts of climate change.

Grants of £500 are available for groups wishing to start offering football, those keen to expand their existing provision to new audiences or those already delivering football to under-represented young people. Alongside the grants, the programme will be offering training and support resources to groups to help reduce inequalities in the participation of football.

The programme will focus on including girls and young people from lower socio-economic and under-represented groups: including racially diverse communities, people with disabilities, and people from the LGBTQ+ community.