Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF)

The Small Charities Challenge Fund, run by UK Aid Direct and funded by DFID, makes project grants of up to £50,000 to small UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations that are seeking to address the Global Goals (officially known as Sustainable Development Goals) to create a better world by ending poverty, fighting inequality and addressing the urgency of climate change. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, SCCF’s latest funding round will prioritise applications that can demonstrate that they are responding to the longer-term impacts of COVID-19 in the context of the Global Goals.

Specifically, applicants must be able to explain how their project will address the anticipated longer-term impacts of the virus; and how the risks to project delivery presented by the virus can be mitigated. The next review date for applications is 17:00 on Thursday, 24 September, 2020. FAQs on this change of emphasis on SCCF’s current grant round can be found here, while you can test your eligibility to apply for an SCCF project grant here.

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UK Aid Direct

Two new funding rounds from UK Aid Direct have opened today. Both the Community Partnership and Impact grants have opened for small to medium organisations who can demonstrate that they will be using the funding to achieve the Global Goals of UK Aid Direct, at the same time addressing the long-term impact of Covid-19 in developing countries. The deadline for both grants is 30 June 2020 and a webinar with guidance for applications will be hosted on 28 May at 12:30pm (UK time). Organisations looking to attend the guidance webinar should register online.

The Community Partnership grant is for funding up to £250,000 for projects which last three years or less and the Impacts grant is for funding of between £250,001 and £4,000,000 for projects which will last between three and five years. Both grants have to be for projects in eligible countries

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Covid-19 Homelessness Response Fund

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced a fund of £6 million for homeless charities directly affected by Coronavirus. This fund was launched on the 14 May and is being administered by Homeless Link.

Frontline organisations where over half of their beneficiaries are experiencing homelessness and have a turnover of less than £5 million are eligible to apply for funding, the deadline for which is Wednesday 27 May. The awards must be spent by 30 October 2020.

The minimum and maximum amounts that can be applied for vary by income of organisation with organisations with an annual turnover of less than £100,000 being able to apply for £10,000 and organisations with a turnover of over £1 million eligible to apply for up to £100,000. Organisations with an annual turnover of between £100,000 and £1 million can apply for a grant worth up to 10% of their annual turnover. More guidance can be found from the Homeless Link website.

Organisations can apply for grants to cover the costs of adapting services, or creating new services, that respond to the needs of homeless people affected by Coronavirus, and/or to help alleviate the financial impact of Covid-19 on your organisation.

The application form can be found on Homeless Link’s website.

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BBC Children in Need Covid-19 Response Grants (UK, Isle of Man & the Channel Islands)


In response to the coronavirus, BBC Children in Need are temporarily pausing their current grant programmes to launch two new Covid-19 Response Grants to enable organisations to continue to support disadvantaged children and young people aged 18 years and under. The funding will be open to current grantees and new applicants to help them to respond and adapt to the impact of the coronavirus. From the 18th May 2020 current grant-holders will be able to apply for funding of up to £5,000 over a six-month period through the Covid-19 2020 Booster Grants Programme. From the 8th June registered not-for-profit organisations will be able to apply to the Covid-19 Large Grants programme for funding of up to £80,000 over an 18-month period. Details on both funds will be made available shortly. Click here

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The Rank Foundation

The Rank Foundation remains operational during the COVID-19 pandemic and has made the following funds available to members of its existing network of current and past grant recipients:

  • An Emergency Fund for immediate grants of up to £750 to purchase equipment, technology or memberships; and
  • A Resilience Fund for grants to cover cashflow, fundraising and loss of income challenges relating to the current COVID-19 related climate, including those facing significant, unplanned demand on services.

Internal processes have been streamlined to ensure a swift and timely response to all requests. The charity is also reviewing its Pebble Grants programme to allow for wider public access. If you’re an existing member of The Rank Foundation’s network, you can apply for grants from the Emergency or Resilience Funds via the RankNet Community Platform. Keep an eye out for news on the Pebble Grants programme on the charity website here.

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Funding to Support People of Colour Affected by the Coronavirus (UK)

The Resourcing Racial Justice Fund provides funding to individuals and communities working towards racial justice. In response to the coronavirus, the Fund will provide financial support to organisations, grassroots and community groups, and individuals who are working to tackle the impact of Covid-19 on those who identify as people of colour (POC). Grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 will be available to organisations that respond to the immediate needs of the more at risk and vulnerable, and for more long-term initiatives to enable organisations to continue their work towards racial justice. Applications for this round open on the 18th May 2020 until the 15th June 2020. Click here

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The COVID-19 Impact Programme for Armed Forces Communities

The Ministry of Defence has announced £6 million of funding for armed forces charities doing vital work to support serving personnel, veterans and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak. The money is part of a package of support announced by the Chancellor in April to ensure charities can continue their vital work during the pandemic. The sum is in addition to existing funding for veteran’s mental health and the Armed Forces Covenant Trust.

The money will be administered by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund, backed by the MOD and the Cabinet Office, and distributed in grant form to charities and Community Interest Companies across the UK addressing the impact of coronavirus on the elderly (including care homes), on mental and physical health, on welfare, on domestic violence, on housing, the criminal justice system, service families (including childcare), and in terms of bereavement and employment.

Grants of up to £60,000 (or £125,000+ in exceptional circumstances) are available. Applicants must demonstrate that they have:

  • a strong history of working with people from Armed Forces communities, with at least one year’s worth of published accounts;
  • fewer resources coming into their organisation due to Covid-19
  • the same, or increased, demand for the services that they deliver to people from Armed Forces communities.

The application process opened on Tuesday 12 May and is published on the Covenant Fund’s website. A separate decision-making board for applications has been appointed – this includes representatives from MOD, the Cabinet Office and Cobseo, the sector body for Armed Forces charities. Organisations in receipt of a grant must commit to spending it all by 31 October 2020. The closing date for applications is Friday, 29 May 2020 and detailed guidance on making an application can be found here.

Small and medium sized charities are advised that they can also bid for funding through the National Lottery Community fund, which has an allocation of £370 million to support the sector.

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£5 Million Loneliness COVID-19 Grant Fund

The Government (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Office for Civil Society and Baroness Barran MBE) has launched a £5m fund today to tackle loneliness resulting from the coronavirus outbreak and period of social distancing. National organisations working to tackle loneliness and build social connections are invited to apply for a share of the £5m funding to continue and adapt their critical work. Grants of between £500,000 and £1m will be awarded to successful applicants whose services:

  • can reach people in ‘cold spots’ where informal neighbourly support and small local charities are not able to fully meet needs around social connection;
  • serve the needs of groups particularly at risk of loneliness, including those noted in ONS analysis and Community Life Survey and Active Lives Survey data;
  • continue, adapt or expand existing provision where there is a track record of successful delivery; AND
  • cannot be provided without this additional funding.

Services must meet all of these aims to be eligible for this funding. The application form and further guidance is available here. The deadline for applications is 12pm on Friday, 29 May 2020 and completed applications should be returned by email to the Loneliness Fund team at loneliness@culture.gov.uk.

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National Lottery Awards for All England

The National Lottery has adapted their Awards for All programme to focus on funding projects by organisations that support their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. This programme is now only funding activities that support people affected by the crisis and it is anticipated that this will be the case for 6 months.

Voluntary and community organisations can apply for grants of between £300 and £10,000 to fund their work supporting people at high risk from Covid-19, or people who have faced an increase in challenges as a result of Coronavirus. Projects must involve the local community to be eligible for the funding. Applicants can apply to the fund online through the National Lotter Awards for All website, the application process is ongoing.

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Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: Food Charities Grant Fund

Front-line food charities are now eligible to apply for a grant of up to £100,000 to help them continue to provide food to vulnerable people during the Coronavirus crisis as part of Defra’s new Food Charities Grant Fund. The fund is operating on a first come first served basis with Defra assessing applications in the order that they come in.

Charities are eligible for the grant if they are unable to meet the increased demand for food from vulnerable individuals and supporting charities and have the capacity to distribute all the food purchased with this grant by 9 August 2020. The grant can be used to purchase food for people who are unable to afford food or have moved into contemporary accommodation due to Covid-19, such as domestic abuse victims, those recently released from prison, or newly homeless people. The fund cannot be used to provide food for the extremely clinically vulnerable, as they are being supported by the government.

To apply, charities have to have registered with the eSourcing portal and apply through that.

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