Gloucestershire Funders – information from the VCS Alliance

The VCS Alliance has issued the following information about funding to support the county during the Coronavirus pandemic:

Gloucestershire Funders

Gloucestershire Funders is a new collaboration between eight charitable foundations and organisations who can provide funding for charities, groups, people and activities, in Gloucestershire.  We have come together to support the county during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listening to what’s needed

We have spent two weeks listening to charities across the county to understand the impact of COVID-19.  Gloucestershire charities and civil society groups have made an incredible response to this emergency.  We have heard how you are changing how you work and adapting what you offer with speed and ingenuity, against the backdrop of worrying financial uncertainty.

What are we doing?

As a group of funders, we want to adjust rapidly too, to work differently in response to this emergency – to support what’s most needed in Gloucestershire. We want to support you by making it as easy as possible for you to apply for funds, without having to make lots of separate applications.  So, we are joining forces to share information and intelligence so that between us we can support the county in four ways.

For a list of the funders included in the Gloucestershire Funders group, see below.

1. Immediate responsive funding

We have heard that there is a need for the following immediately:

  • Revenue funds for civil society organisations whose immediate survival is at risk, to ensure that they can continue to provide their existing services
  • Revenue funds for charities who want to reimagine and reconfigure their services in light of the new environment they are operating in and the challenges facing the people they exist to serve
  • Capital funds for charities already developing spaces and places which will be of benefit to people in the post-pandemic recovery period, where those places or spaces are now at risk

How to apply

There are two routes to apply for ‘immediate responsive funding’:

  1. To apply to the Gloucestershire Community Foundation, please complete the simple online application form and they will respond to you directly: With your permission, the Gloucestershire Community Foundation may also share your application with the Gloucestershire Funders (group listed below) to see if any other funder can contribute.
  2. To apply to any of the other Gloucestershire Funders listed below, please send one side of A4  to Georgia.Boon@barnwoodtrust.org providing the following four pieces of information:
    • What does your organisation do, where and with whom?
    • What do you need money for and what difference will it make?
    • What will you spend the money on and in what timeframe?
    • Contact details for the person we should contact about this application

With your permission, Georgia Boon at Barnwood Trust will immediately share this information across all the funders listed in the group below. We will report back to you within a week if possible, to let you know which funders may be interested and who to contact to find out next steps.

2. Potential proactive funding

Our information gathering exercise has revealed that there are a number of groups of people who are at particular risk during this emergency.

We will convene virtual meetings with key Gloucestershire charities serving needs in the county, together with commissioners of services, to identify where there are gaps that charitable funding could assist in meeting, if possible.

We will, over time, be in touch with organisations working with specific groups and relevant service commissioners to start these discussions.

3: Mentoring and support to charity CEOs and Chairs

These are unprecedented times and charity CEOs and Chairs are facing extraordinary challenges.  We have heard a number of people say that talking with experienced colleagues and people dealing with the same issues in this crisis can be helpful.  We have had offers of voluntary mentoring through the Cranfield Trust, from experienced business people, charity Chief Executives and Chairs.

We are working with the VCS Alliance to put together an offer of both:

  • 1-1 and group mentoring for charity Chief Executives and Chairs
  • facilitated online peer support groups for charity Chief Executives

As soon as these opportunities are available, they will be communicated via our networks and on social media. We will also share other leadership mentoring opportunities for community leaders who are grappling with leadership dilemmas during this crisis, as they arise.

4. Longer-term recovery, redevelopment and support

Whilst there is a lot of focus on the immediate impact of the pandemic on charities, groups, communities and people, many are also considering the long-term impact and the recovery process that will follow.
The challenge for funders is getting the balance between providing both immediate support and responding to the long-term impact.  With that in mind, as a collective of Gloucestershire Funders we are interested in supporting applications for project and capital funds for initiatives contributing to:

  • the individual recovery and resilience for children, young people and adults most affected by the impact of the pandemic;
  • strengthening communities affected by the pandemic and investing in those demonstrating new ways of working that strengthen partnerships between communities, public and private sectors in response to need.

Tell us what’s needed

Organisations, communities and groups considering these issues are invited to discuss ideas with us, in the first instance, by calling Georgia on 07516 030263 or emailing Georgia.Boon@barnwoodtrust.org.  Your ideas will be shared with the Gloucestershire Funders and we will use our networks to identify potential longer-term sources of support.

Who are the Gloucestershire Funders?

We are a group of eight funders committed to work together as flexibly, swiftly and helpfully as we can, for the benefit of Gloucestershire charities, people and groups.

We will explore ways of sharing due diligence information and aligning our reporting processes to try and reduce the administrative burden on charities, whilst still maintaining our own good governance (please bear with us while we work these things out).

We also feel that, in good conscience, we need to say that we think there is going to be much more demand than we have the funds to respond to, but we are committed to doing as much as we can, and still ensure our ability to go on funding into the future.

The Gloucestershire Funders, in alphabetical order, are:

  • Barnwood Trust
  • Create Gloucestershire
  • Gloucestershire Disability Fund
  • Gloucestershire Community Foundation
  • National Benevolent Charity
  • Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office
  • Summerfield Trust
  • Thirty Percy Foundation

We are also in close contact with the VCS Alliance, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the District and County Councils.

And, in contact with other charitable funders in Gloucestershire, including Ernest Cook Trust, National Lottery for Gloucestershire, Pied Piper Trust, St James’s Place Foundation, The Henry Smith Charity County Grants and The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.

Get in touch
Barnwood Trust are acting as the central point of contact for the Gloucestershire Funders for the time being.  Please send any communications for the joint Gloucestershire Funders to Georgia.Boon@barnwoodtrust.org or call Georgia on 07516 030263.

Support from the Cranfield Trust

As stated above The VCS Alliance and Barnwood Trust have been speaking to the Cranfield Trust about offering mentoring and peer support for charity Chief Executives and Chairs. In the meantime the Trust offers:

Are you supporting vulnerable people? 

The VCS Alliance is trying to gather intelligence on the sector and changes to service provision that you may have introduced. The sector is at the frontline of supporting vulnerable individuals and we are looking to collate information on what services are available. Please let us know what you are doing and who you are supporting by filling out a quick survey. We are particularly interested to hear from organisations that have reshaped their service to meet local need in the following areas.

  • Food
  • Utilities & home circumstances
  • Mental Health
  • Personal Care
  • Self-management of long term conditions
  • Nature & horticulture
  • Physical activity
  • Creativity including arts & culture
  • Befriending
  • Digital advice

If you are currently providing help in any of these areas, please complete this short survey at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ZG5B5F/

Remember if you wish to promote the services you are providing, the best way of doing this is to register with the help hub at https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/gloucestershires-community-help-hub/.

Funding Opportunities Emergency Funding Bulletin

In light of the number of emergency funds that are being launched, the VCS Alliance has compiled a list of funds we are aware of that may be useful to you right now. You can find this on our website at http://www.glosvcsalliance.org.uk/external-funding-opportunities-bulletin/. We have already sent this to subscribers to our funding bulletin. We will keep the list updated on the webpage, last amended on 9 April.

Chancellor sets out support package for frontline charities

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £750 million support package for UK charities continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak.

£360 million will be directly allocated by government departments to charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the crisis. This includes hospices, those supporting domestic abuse victims and vulnerable children charities.

£370 million will be available for small and medium-sized charities including through a grant to the National Lottery Community Fund. This will support organisations at the heart of local communities, including those delivering food, essential medicines and providing financial advice.

The Chancellor also announced the Government will match fund donations to the BBC’s Big Night In charity appeal on 23 April, pledging a minimum of £20 million.

Read the full announcement at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-sets-out-extra-750-million-coronavirus-funding-for-frontline-charities.

Gloucestershire Community Resilience Fund – Covid-19 Response

Please note this includes an update and new contact details to those announced last week.

This fund to is to support local voluntary sector agencies and community groups who are supporting vulnerable people during the Covid-19 crisis to cover additional costs they may incur due to increased activity or functions that they have insufficient resources to meet.

Funding Criteria
The funding can only be used for expenditure in relation to the Covid-19 Crisis including but not exclusively:

  • Setting up of Community Floats to purchase food and essential supplies for vulnerable people and families
  • Development of digital/virtual support – equipment such as mobile phones or tablets
  • Expenses incurred by volunteers such as petrol
  • Developing infrastructure to support vulnerable people

Local discretion will be used in administering the fund in each District.

Who is this for?

  • Community or voluntary groups
  • Registered Charities
  • Community Interest Companies
  • Town and Parish Councils

The fund cannot be used to:

  • Support the mainstream activities of an organisation e.g. ongoing yearly spending commitments including salaries and administration costs.
  • To create an ongoing funding commitment from the county council.

Contact Details:
Cheltenham cheltenham.gov.uk/communitypride
Cotswold community.support@cotswold.gov.uk
Forest of Dean community.support@fdean.gov.uk
Gloucester community.wellbeing@gloucester.gov.uk
Stroud hwb@stroud.gov.uk
Tewkesbury communitydevelopment@tewkesbury.gov.uk

COVID-19 Emergency Surplus Food Grant

As part of the Government’s response to supporting key infrastructure, Defra is funding the COVID-19 Emergency Surplus Food Grant to be administered by WRAP for not-for-profit food redistributors.

Phase 1 is for targeted organisations that have previously applied to the fund.

Phases 2 and 3 will be launched, today, 9 April. Phase 2 will provide funding opportunities for small surplus food redistributors. Phase 3 is aimed at medium to larger operators.

The aim to assist surplus food redistributors in overcoming challenges they are currently facing in obtaining surplus food from food businesses and distributing it to people in need or those considered vulnerable.

https://wrap.org.uk/content/covid-19-emergency-surplus-food-grant

Help Gloucestershire Bike Project help key workers travel safely

Gloucestershire Bike Project is running a crowdfunding campaign to provide free bikes to Gloucestershire’s NHS staff and other key workers who need a way to travel safely and easily to work during the COVID-19 crisis. The Project has already donated all their available bikes and are raising funds to offer more. Project Co-ordinator Maureen explains, “The reasons people are asking for a bike are heart wrenching, all these people doing their jobs, knowing that they are risking their own and their families help.  All they are asking for is a bike so they can travel safely!” If you can help, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-glos-keyworkers-travel-safely-during-covid19.

#FeedGloucester
This is a crowdfunding campaign with charities, schools, community groups and churches coming together to raise money to feed those in need in Gloucester due to Covid-19. Read more at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/feedgloucester-1

Feeding the 5000
The Diocese of Gloucester is fundraising to help feed the most vulnerable people in our communities, collaborating and supporting The Long Table Stroud to alleviate food poverty during this crisis. They are serving three core groups: Vulnerable/at risk people, Foodbanks and the Over 70s. Details at https:/www.gloucester.anglican.org/2020/feeding-the-5000/.

Be Well at Home
The Isbourne’s Community Wellbeing: Be Well at Home series has been developed to support people who are isolated at home.  The YouTube series includes tips, advice and techniques from The Isbourne’s affiliated tutor team to provide a holistic toolkit that people can access to support their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health and wellbeing.

You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQFPAeWhsgrLyNs9ZNPnYzMmHHsSCDnl7

Please let Bonnie Lloyd know if you share this with your clients so she can understand the reach the Isbourne is achieving.  Email Bonnie at bonnie@isbourne.org.

New activity from ReConnect

The ReConnect project, part of Creative Sustainability in Stroud, offers a befriending scheme for people affected by Stroke, Dementia, Aphasia, and other long term health conditions, and their carers.

Reconnect is now offering a pen pal service where children, young people and adults can exchange letters with those who are isolating. There is no need for a formal referral, letters will go through CSCIC so there is no need for participants to swap addresses.
If people would like to access this service please contact coryn@cscic.org or louise@cscic.org. Their website is www.cscic.org.

Headway Gloucestershire

Due to the risks that COVID-19 poses and following government guidelines, Headway House is temporarily closed. Although our centre is closed, our staff are still working hard to provide support.  Our helpline (01452 312713) is open between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Friday so survivors and their families can call us anytime they need us and we can help them to solve any problems or difficulties they experience in this time.  We will also be in touch with our clients each week, to check how they are getting on and explore what we can do to support them. We’ll be sending activities to help them keep active and challenged, and we’ll be inviting them to join virtual online meetings and activities.

We will keep you up to date with our plans and we hope to be able to open Headway House again soon.

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