Motability: Active Travel Grant Programme

Overview

About this programme

Through this grant programme they hope to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve active travel options for disabled people.

‘Active travel’ is defined as all modes of travel that allow people to get around under one’s own steam – whether by walking, cycling, push scooters, or use of wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Active travel includes travel for commuting or leisure but does not include competitive or social sport. Through an extensive programme of research and engagement the Motability Foundation has identified four Routes to Impact in the Active Travel sector which they are seeking to support with grant funding

• Raise awareness
• Improved vehicle and equipment supply
• Increase travel confidence and safety
• Shape best practice

They believe that targeted support in these areas has the greatest chance of delivering meaningful change for disabled people, and supporting Motability’s key outcomes of:

• Access – Increased ability to access people and places using transport
• Choice and Control – Improved independence and control to make decisions
• Connect – Increased social connections and relationships
• Education – Increased ability to access education and training
• Work – Increased ability to work and pursue a career
• Wellbeing – Improved sense of health and wellbeing

These Routes to Impact have been developed following an extensive programme of research and stakeholder engagement across the sector. Grant-funding available through this programme will focus on these areas.

Motability Foundation’s Active Travel Grant Programme helps charities and organisations to improve and expand access to quality and affordable active travel equipment and journeys.

It also ensures disabled people have the same opportunities to make decisions about how they travel, their impact on the environment and to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that active travel can provide.

Examples of areas where we are focussing our grant making include but are not limited to:

• Providing funding to ensure the voices and needs of disabled people inform and influence design requirements, and crucially, that they are shared with industry and Government to raise awareness.
• Providing funding to charitable programmes that introduce disabled people to different active travel products and services.
• Supporting existing programmes that have a clear focus on increasing travel confidence and safety for disabled people, to enable them to confidently use active travel products and services.
• Providing funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that are already successful in supporting active travel and provide best practice solutions but need further support to remain operational or increase the service they provide, to help more disabled people.
• Providing funding to programmes, charities or organisations to help fund more high quality and affordable active travel equipment for disabled people.

What funding is available?

The Motability Foundation is awarding £50 million in Grants to Charities and Organisations during the next financial years ending March 2025.

A portion of this has been allocated to the Active Travel Grant Programme.

Grant Value

• Minimum - £100,000
• Maximum - £4,000,000

Grant length

You can apply for one, two or three years’ funding in any year of the programme. For example, you could apply for £102,000 in total over three years, which would be £34,000 per annum.

They are pleased to say the final payment date can be beyond 31 March 2025 this can be split over one, two or three years and can be applied for in any year of the programme.

What can be funded?

• Active travel work which is helping disabled people get from A to B, or active travel as a recreational activity. This does not include competitive or social sport. For example, adapted bikes for disabled people to cycle for personal transport could be considered but adaptive bikes for competitive cycling could not be considered.
• Continuation funding for schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and who provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
• Staff or volunteer training and costs
• Full cost recovery grants which includes indirect costs
• Local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of active travel and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.

Priority will be given to organisations who:

• Are looking at other active travel modes outside cycling.
• Have well-established ways of working that make a demonstrable difference to the lives of disabled people.
• Are making both an immediate and longer term impact on the lives of disabled people.
• Are providing solutions to the challenges set out in the routes to impact.
• Can demonstrate that their application takes into account the views and needs of their beneficiaries and they will continue to be involved during the delivery of the work.

Who can apply?

Motability wants to support medium or large charities and organisations with well-established ways of working.

They ask that Applicant organisations meet the following criteria:

• You are an incorporated organisation, overseen by, and subject to the rules of a regulator such as the Charity Commission, or Companies House. Organisations should have a charitable purpose.
• You have been active for at least three years.
• You have had an annual income of at least £150,000 per annum over the last three years.
• You hold free reserves equivalent to at least three months of operating costs. Please contact them before applying if you do not hold three months of free reserves. The Motability Foundation will not generally award a Grant to Charities or Organisations holding more than 12 months of operating expenditure in reserves.