Bulletin 3 Covid-19 Funding

Dear Members, 

CSO is continuing to support our members through this difficult time. If there is anything we can do to help or support you at this time please contact us by using the kahiye@councilofsomaliorgs.com email and will come back to you asap. All of our staff are set up for home working, using video conferencing etc.

We will continue to post regular updates, funds available to help your organisation through this time and guidance both on our social media and website. We have compiled relevant funding opportunities from the Charity Bank.

Please check our website for public events and members events.

As well as sharing what we are doing and seeing, we want you to tell us how we can help and support you and we will do our utmost to assist. 

1. CSO Zoom FREE FundRaising and Budgeting Workshops on Every Thursday 11 am to 1pm

CSO is enhancing its support to its members in relation to FundRaising. In addition to updates on what funding is available we are now from 23rd April 2020 every week offering 2 hours of generic workshops with Tebussum Rashid, our Fundraising Consultant and Iqbal Hossain, our Accountant. 

The aim of these workshops is to help you with the questions in the funding, and knowing your finances in applications and also help you understand key approaches of what funders are looking for in an application. We have timed it to make it easier during Ramadan.

We will look at current funding opportunities and also ask that you prepare for each session by emailing sukoonltd@gmail.com summary of your proposals and the grants you wish to apply for.

COVID-19 Funding options

We have compiled a list of funders who are funding Covid-19 issues. 

UK wide funds

• Government funding
  On 8 April the government announced a £750 million package of funding to support the work of charities during the coronavirus outbreak, this includes:
  £370 million for small and medium-sized charities, including through a grant to the National Lottery Community Fund for those in England, will support local organisations including those delivering food, essential medicines and providing financial advice. Further details of how the funding will be made available are yet to be announced.
  £360 million to be directly allocated by government departments to charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the crisis. These will include:
   - hospices to help increase capacity
   - St Johns Ambulance to support the NHS
   - victims charities, to help with potential increase in demand
   - vulnerable children charities, so they can continue delivering services on behalf of local authorities
   - Citizens Advice to increase the number of staff providing advice during the crisis 

• National Emergencies Trust
  The National Emergencies Trust (NET) has launched an appeal to raise funds for local charities and grassroots organisations that have been impacted by Coronavirus. The trust is planning to distribute grants through a network of local community foundations. Organisations in need of funding will need to apply directly to a community foundation, not to the NET. To find your local community foundation please visit the Community Foundationswebsite.

• National Lottery Community Fund
  All National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) funding decisions in the next six months (up to £300m of funding) will be devoted to responding to the COVID-19 crisis. The NLCF will prioritise existing grant holders and applicants with activities specifically geared to supporting communities through this crisis, and helping organisations overcome liquidity issues caused by COVID-19.

• Emergency loan fund for charities and social enterprises
  The Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund will enable social lenders, including Charity Bank, to provide emergency loans to affected charities and social enterprises. No personal guarantees and no fees or interest for 12 months. This is part of a £100 million package of support announced by Big Society Capital. Applications are expected to open in the second half of April. Those interested are encouraged to emailloanenquiries@charitybank.org or to complete the standard loan form on our website.

• CAF Coronavirus Emergency Fund
  The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has launched a £5m Coronavirus Emergency Fund to help smaller charitable organisations in the UK affected by the impact of COVID-19. Grants of up to £10,000 are available. You can apply for unrestricted funding for core costs, staffing, volunteer costs, supplies and equipment, communications or other critical charitable areas. Applications for the initial round of funding are currently paused. 

• Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund
  The Leathersellers' Company has launched a fast track application process for one-off grants of up to £3,000. It could be particularly useful for funding small projects or to cover unexpected costs arising from COVID-19. Applications are open to UK registered charities who support:
   - the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless;
   - provision of food and essential supplies;
   - victims of domestic violence;
   - nursing care to vulnerable patients.
  The application form for Stage 1 of the emergency small grants programme is now closed to new applicants.

• The Yapp Charitable Trust
  The Yapp Charitable Trust has invited small UK charities affected by the impact of COVID-19 to apply for grants of up to £3,000. Registered charities in England and Wales, with a total annual expenditure of less than £40,000, can apply for funding for core costs and staffing. Grant fund open - for details on how to apply please visit The Yapp Charitable Trust website.

• Heritage Emergency Fund
  The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced a £50m fund to support the heritage sector as an immediate response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The Fund is available to organisations across the full breadth of heritage. Organisations which are either a current grantee, or still under contract following a previous grant, can apply. The fund is now open for grant applications of between £3,000 and £50,000 until 30 June. For more details and application criteria please visit the Heritage Emergency Fund website.

• John Lewis Partnership Community Support Fund
  The John Lewis Partnership has launched a £1m Community Support Fund. Individual Waitrose shops will decide how to use their share to support their local community. For more details please read the John Lewis Partnership press release.

• Clothworkers' Emergency Capital Programme
  The Clothworkers’ Emergency Capital Programme (CECP) will award small capital grants of up to £5,000 for essential capital items to adapt or increase services in response to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The programme is open for applications, please visit the Clothworthers' website for details on eligibility and key features of the fund.

• Cadent Foundation
  The Cadent Foundation recently launched and is funded by the UK’s biggest gas network Cadent. UK charities or groups with charitable purposes can submit applications for grants of up to £100,000. Applications close on 31 May. Visit the Cadent Foundation website for details on how to apply.

• Standard Life Foundation
  The Standard Life Foundation has launched funding for work directly related to the Coronavirus pandemic. Applications are open to all organisations undertaking charitable work. It is likely that grants will be made in the range of £5,000 to £50,000, however, there is no set amount that people can apply for. The application process is currently open. For more details on how to apply, visit the Foundation's Coronavirus pandemic application page

• Barclays COVID-19 Community Aid Package
  The newly launched Barclays Foundation will initially provide a COVID-19 Community Aid Package of £100 million to charities working to support vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, and to alleviate the associated social and economic hardship caused by the crisis.

• Tesco Bags of Help COVID-19 Communities Fund
  A new short-term fund to support local communities. Successful applications will receive a single payment award of £500 to organisations who are supporting vulnerable groups. Visit the Tesco website for eligibility details. The fund is currently closed in selected areas, check the Tesco Community Grants website for details.

• The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust
  The charitable trust is offering grants of up to £1,500 for eligible small charities. The Trust is currently accepting applications. For eligibility criteria please visit The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust website.

• Neighbourly Community Fund
  The Neighbourly Community Fund is offering grants of up to £400 to charities and community groups that are actively supporting communities affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. The Fund is currently accepting applications. For eligibility criteria please visit the Neighbourly website.

• Magic Little Grants 2020
  The Postcode Community Trust and Localgiving are providing charities and community groups with the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £500. Magic Little Grants are currently accepting applications. For eligibility criteria please visit the Localgiving website.

England funds

Sports England

Sports England will make up to £195m of funding available to help the sport and physical activity sector through the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. This includes the following:

• A £20m Community Emergency Fund, available immediately for clubs and community organisations. Grants between £300 and £10,000 are available.

• A £5m pot for existing partners if they're facing specific financial difficulty.

• A £55m pot to provide support during an ongoing period of restrictions, to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and, when the period of restrictions is over, to help organisations get back to business and adjust.

• A £115m rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to established partners.

Arts Council England

Arts Council England (ACE) has made £160m of emergency funding available to organisations and individuals who will need it during the COVID-19 crisis. It has also changed the funding requirements for individuals and organisations currently in receipt of funding.

Applications are currently open for the second round of submissions and are scheduled to close on 30 April. For more details visit the Arts Council COVID-19 support page.

National Lottery Awards for All England

The programme provides funding between £300 and £10,000, and is currently accepting applications from voluntary and community organisations in England. For eligibility criteria please visit the National Lottery Awards for All England Website.

CSO is not at the moment able to provide funding application support but we have made arrangements with Tebussum Rashid of Sukhoon Ltd, who is our Fundraising Consultant to provide support with applications at reasonable cost.

Tebussum is available to assist CSO members at a discounted rate of £150 for half a day and £250 for full day with applications. You can contact her on sukoonltd@googlemail.com. 

Iqbal Hossain, our Accountant, is also available to assist CSO members with budgeting of applications at a discounted rate of £200 for upto £20K & £300 for upto £50K applications. You can contact him on mihbd19@yahoo.com.