Since our inception in 2012, Big Picture has produced hundreds of films for charities of all sizes, in every sector. To welcome in 2024, we are offering TEN COMPLETELY FREE CHARITY FILMS to UK Registered Charities that apply during the month of January. There really is NO CATCH to this offer, we will work with you to plan, storyboard, film and edit a broadcast quality film, all we ask is that our travel expenses are covered (which is usually minimal).
For any charities interested in this offer, which closes on 31st January 2024, we ask you to complete a short, online application form:
All applications will be acknowledged and following the closing date all applications will be reviewed by our trustees. From experience we expect to receive many more than 10 applications, and all charities that have applied will be notified by 9th February.
For more information about Big Picture please visit our website, where you can see examples of our work and see how we have been helping UK charities for almost 14 years:
LA promotional pack for the Community Ownership Fund (COF) Round 3 Window 3 which opened in December, the fund is open to incorporated voluntary and community organisations as well as the new addition of Parish and town councils that came with R3.
The re-launch brings about new features and an improved user experience, meaning it has never been easier to find activities, groups and services in your area. The Essex Map is a real asset for organisations within the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector, as well as the statutory and local government. It provides the opportunity to put a voice out there for services and activities that support the needs of the local community and helps them to thrive. If you feel something is missing that supports the wider Essex community, please add it on to the Essex Map.
New features of the Essex Map include:
A Franchise Option – if your organisation covers multiple locations, you can now set up a ‘franchise’. This is an option for when you set up a new listing or edit an old one. Please contact us if you need help with this.
Set Up a List – within your account, you can now set up a list. Simply click on a listing you like, on the top right hand side there is a blue button that says “save to list”. You can choose if you’d like your list to be public or private.
Verified Tick – to receive a verified tick, you will need to claim your own listing. Please contact us if you need help with this.
Last Updated – you can now see when the listing you are viewing was ‘last updated’ at the bottom right hand side of the page.
‘New’ Badge – if the listing is new, it will have a ‘new’ button show up for a few days.
If you need support with any of these new features, or help navigating the new Essex Map, we will be hosting drop in sessions online with a member of the Map team who will be able to answer any questions and help you with your query.
The Change Project is offering free online training to professionals in Essex on ‘Engaging perpetrators in domestic abuse programmes’ on Wednesday 17th January 2024. The training will cover topics such as how to recognise domestic abuse, how to approach the conversation with families to engage with domestic abuse support and how to refer perpetrators on to Domestic Abuse Programmes.
The Change Project is a domestic abuse charity offering free funded places on our Domestic Abuse Programme in Colchester working with perpetrators of domestic abuse and supporting victim/survivors.
If you are interested in attending this free training course please click on the link below and register.
Alternatively, if you are interested in hearing more about the funded places and making a referral, please email us at: clare.whalley@thechangeportfolio.org
Grants plus business support are available to social entrepreneurs that are looking to start or grow an existing social venture. The funding is being made available through the UnLtd the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in and around the UK.
The grants are being made available through two funding streams:
Grants of up to £18,000 to grow an existing social enterprise that has been operating between 1 and 4 years.
Grants of up to £8,000 for social businesses not yet established or been running under a year.
UnLtd are committed to providing 50% of their awards to Black, Asian and minority ethnic social entrepreneurs, and/or disabled social entrepreneurs.
To be eligible applicants need to be:
Aged 16 and over
Living in the United Kingdom
Willing to participate in a learning experience
Working to benefit people living in the United Kingdom
Have a real social impact
Fulfil a clear need and demand
Have clear outputs and goals
In addition to the Awards, UnLtd has two focus areas where they think social entrepreneurs can make a big difference. UnLtd has dedicated teams and specialist support available to social entrepreneurs with ideas to help people in the areas of:
Healthy Aging
Access to Employment
The closing date for this funding round is the 31st December 2023.
The Rayne Foundation makes grants to charitable and not-for-profit organisations across the UK in four areas of special interest.
Our areas of special interest are:
Young people’s improved mental health;
Arts as a tool to achieve social change;
Improved quality of life for carers and for older people;
Better opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers.
As an independent funder, an important part of our role is to support work which is untried, tests new approaches and has clear objectives. We favour work which could change the way issues are tackled in our society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation
We receive many more applications than we can fund and for this reason have a two-stage application process to reduce the time and effort you spend making your application. It may help to look at examples of recent grants before you apply.
Characteristics of the organisations and projects that we fund
We look for all of the following characteristics in the organisations and projects that we fund:
Wider than local application and awareness of the bigger picture
We favour organisations and projects which could change the way issues are tackled in our society and which could have lessons for others beyond the funded organisation. We look for good ideas that other people can learn from, creative ways of tackling entrenched or new problems, and ideas which have potential to be replicable. As a result, we are more likely to fund projects which are untried or in their early-to-mid stages of development than established, long-running services. The organisations we fund will demonstrate an awareness of what is going on in their field nationally and how their work complements what else is available. They will be able to tell us why they are best placed to deliver the proposed activity.
Real expertise and sector knowledge
The organisations we fund will be experts in their field. They will have a good understanding of the needs of their client groups and how to support people to bring about change. They will demonstrate capacity for listening and responsiveness to beneficiaries and partners. They will be thoughtful and creative in their thinking about how to meet those needs. We will assess whether plans to deliver the work are realistic and achievable. We will also look at the financial aspects and what might happen beyond the life of the grant.
Commitment to demonstrating results and sharing learning
The organisations we fund will be able to explain why they believe their activities will lead to positive change for users and how they will gather evidence to demonstrate this. We favour organisations which think carefully about how to evaluate their work and which plan to share their learning widely. If the work could be funded on an ongoing basis by statutory agencies, we want to understand if the evidence is sufficient to meet the needs of potential commissioners.
Strong leadership, management and track record
We want to see that funded organisations are well governed and managed, that they have good finance and risk management systems, and that they have the necessary skills and expertise to deliver their objectives. We also believe in backing good people and will favour organisations led by capable and committed people who are ambitious for their organisations and their users. We want to see a track record.
Direct benefits to vulnerable and disadvantaged people
We prefer to fund work which brings clear and direct benefits to vulnerable and disadvantaged people. This means that we are more likely to fund front-line organisations and will only fund second-tier or research organisations for projects which have a demonstrable benefit to end users.
Practical aspects
What sort of organisation can we fund?
We fund charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Large, national organisations or ‘household name charities’ are unlikely to receive a grant unless they are the only organisation in a position to tackle a particular problem. We do not fund statutory bodies such as hospitals, local authorities, government departments or schools.
What sort of grant can we make?
We will consider funding salaries and project costs (including a reasonable contribution to overheads or on-costs) for up to three years. We do consider grants towards an organisation’s core costs but we only tend to award these when an organisation is making a step-change in the way that it works or tackles a particular issue and where a core grant will provide greater flexibility during the transition period.
Typical grant size
Our grants typically fall in the range of £10,000 – £20,000 per annum for up to three years. We prefer to fund alongside others as we are unlikely to be able to fund your project in full. We will also consider the size of your request relative to your overall turnover. Small, newer organisations in particular are unlikely to receive a larger grant from us if that would equate to more than 10% of total income, unless it is towards and organisation’s first paid post. Please consider all of these factors when deciding how much to ask for.
Finances
We consider that organisations with high levels of unrestricted reserves are in less need of our funding. This means that organisations with more than nine months’ running costs in unrestricted reserves are less likely to receive support. At the same time, organisations with tiny reserves or an overall deficit will need to convince us that their organisation is viable and they are taking action to increase reserves.
Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care and ICS Integration, Councillor John Spence said: “Our new carers’ strategy for Essex is aimed at ensuring high-quality information guidance and advice, that carers know their rights and that they feel well supported.
“Grants from this fund will particularly help the last of these, as local organisations and charities will be able to identify those projects which will best enhance the lives of the carers in their part of Essex.”
This fund will enable the development of projects that complement and are integral to the Essex wide carers offer, and that of partner organisations’ services supporting carers of all ages. The aim is to build more community based local provision to support carers within the communities which they live.
Applications open today and close on 30 January 2024. They will be reviewed by local panels in each of the Alliance Partnership areas. Please circulate to anyone you think might be interested and for any enquiries contact essex.carers@essex.gov.uk
Registered charities, not-for-profit organisations, and schools/PTAs can apply for grants of up to £3,000 for projects that are of benefit to their local community.
The funding is made available by the Ford Britain Trust to support a range of projects focusing education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities.
Applications will be considered from all UK locations. However, organisations based in Essex (including East London), Bridgend )including South Wales), Southampton, Daventry, Manchester and Liverpool – areas close to Ford locations – will be given priority.
Funding will support capital projects such as refurbishments, or expenditure on items such as furniture, equipment or computers.
There are two types of grants to apply for:
Small grants for amounts up to £250. The small grants programme is currently closed.
Large grants for amounts over £250 and up to a maximum of £3000. The deadline for applications to the large grants programme is the 31st January 2024.
New funding scheme to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in England improve their energy efficiency.
The £25.5m VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme is now open to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in England improve their energy efficiency.
It is part of the package of over £100 million of support being delivered by the government to help frontline delivery organisations with the increased cost of living.
The scheme will be delivered by a consortium of partners, led by Groundwork UK and supported by Energy Saving Trust, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Locality and Social Investment Business.
The VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme will have 2 elements:
Eligible organisations can apply for the cost and delivery of an independent energy assessment. This will help identify how to reduce bills through measures such as improving or installing new energy features in the building, or changing how energy is used. These assessments will be useful to organisations whether or not they apply for the second element. This part of the scheme is now open for applications, and will remain open until August 2024.
Organisations with an energy assessment may then be eligible to apply for a capital grant to install the recommended energy efficiency measures in their premises. This part of the scheme will open to applications in January 2024 and grant rounds will also run until August 2024.
To apply for an independent energy assessment, organisations must:
be based and operating in England
be a VCSE organisation, with charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes
be delivering frontline services or operating a hub that delivers multiple frontline services
be able to evidence the need for energy efficiency support
be able to evidence that they are financially sustainable
not be suitable for blended finance or loan support through other energy focused schemes
Additional eligibility criteria will apply to the capital grants. These criteria will focus on the organisation’s relationship to their building and the evidence and impact of the requested energy measures.
Priority will be given to organisations:
for whom energy is the biggest concern
directly supporting individuals and communities with critical needs, particularly those related to the rising cost of living
with a turnover of less than £1m a year
Practical support will be available to help organisations manage capital installation projects. All measures will need to be installed and paid for by March 2025.