The Henry Smith Charity: Strengthening Communities

Overview

The Strengthening Communities grant programme aims to support and strengthen the most disadvantaged communities across the UK. It is only open to organisations with an annual income of between £20k- £500k that are working in areas within or immediately next to an area within the 10% most deprived areas in England and Scotland, and within or immediately next to an area within the 15% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland and Wales. They use the Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation to establish eligibility for each country.

This grant programme is intended to be as flexible and helpful as possible to the organisations they are supporting, so they will provide grants for running costs which may include rent, overheads, salaries, increasing existing service provision, project costs, improving sustainability and can include small capital items needed to support your work.

The Strengthening Communities grant programme is focused on geographic communities. They want to fund organisations providing a range of services supporting people living in their community. Services which are widely accessible to the whole community and respond to, and address the needs of the people living in it.

They also recognise there is a wider definition of community, beyond geographical area. Communities of people brought together by faith, race or ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation and who share social ties, common perspectives, and engage in community activities and care for each other. If your work supports a more focused community (e.g., young people, women, LGBTQI groups or BAME communities) you are eligible to apply provided you meet the key criteria for the Strengthening Communities grant programme. This includes being based in and working within a geographical area of high deprivation.

Who can apply?

They want to fund grass roots, community-led organisations located in and working in the most deprived areas in the UK. So, for this grant programme they only fund organisations supporting communities in the most deprived areas which are physically located within, or immediately next to the most deprived areas.

They use the Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation to establish eligibility, so before you apply, you must use the deprivation link for your country provided within the guidelines to check whether you are eligible for this programme.

Grants are only made to organisations with an annual income of between £20k and £500k

They want to fund established organisations that have a track record in their local area. Organisations must be at least 18 months old and have published their first set of annual accounts

They make grants to fund charitable work. They primarily fund registered charities, but are willing to make grants to other types of not for profit organisations, such as Community Interest Companies (CICs) or constituted community groups if they can explain how they would use their funding for charitable purposes

Please note: if your organisation is not a registered charity, they require you to submit a constitution, which shows your charitable purpose. If you are a CIC, they require you to provide details of how your constitution prevents funds being removed from the organisation (asset lock).

They are looking to fund work established organisations with a track record of delivering services directly to beneficiaries and want to fund work that enables:

• People from across the community to participate in activities which improve connectedness, opportunities and wellbeing
• People who are excluded, vulnerable or facing other forms of hardship to have access to community-based services that support positive lasting change
• A stronger, active, more engaged community

Key grant details

Grant size: £20k – £70k per year

Length: Most grants they award under this programme are for 3 years which is the maximum length of funding that can be requested. If your request is for less than 3 years, there should be a clear reason.

Decision timescale: 6 months

Deadlines: none

Qualifying criteria

Please only apply for this grant if you meet the following criteria:

Organisation size: £20k – £500k

Location of work: UK only, both physically based and working within the 10% most deprived areas for England & Scotland and within the 15% most deprived areas for Northern Ireland & Wales

Funding covers: Running costs only

Organisation type: Community-led charities and not for profit organisations

For recently awarded grants visit the website here

For FAQ's visit the website here