Hi there, here is April’s update!
I’ll be making a few changes over the next couple of issues of this newsletter. I’ll still be including as much grant funding info as possible, but after sending this out every month for over 5 years – I need to shake it up a bit to keep it relevant and interesting – for me as much as for you!
So here goes:
#SubscribeOffer
In the future, each month I’ll be including news of an offer from one of the subscribers to this newsletter. These offers will be focused upon services or products that are likely to be useful to ‘not for profit’ organisations or schools. They may be free, or to pay for – but I’d encourage high quality and good value above all else.
Perhaps you are a virtual assistant offering admin support, or a funder with a new funding stream (please get in touch if you are haha!); whatever your service, opportunity or offer – please get in touch.
I can’t actually recommend, particularly if I don’t know your product/service – but I think readers of this newsletter know to do their due diligence. But I’m happy to help small businesses and not for profits whenever I can.
If you have an offer you would like me to share – please just reply to this email and let me know.
First up is Tor Mackenzie of Rochester & Associates
Is your charity benefitting from Microsoft’s charity discounts and up to 100% grants for non-profits on 365 licences? 😊
Here are two simple questions for charities to answer to establish whether they could be eligible.
- Do you use Microsoft Word?
- Would you like to know whether you are on the correct Microsoft licence package?
If you answer yes to both of those questions it could be time for a further discussion, which could potentially save your organisation a significant amount of money.
You can either book in a call with Tor via www.calendly.com/tor-mackenzie or call on 07775800156 to have a non-technical, no obligation discussion.
This will help to establish how much money you can potentially save and/or which benefits you are missing from the Microsoft software.
And before we jump into the grant funding round up –
Would you like a bit of extra help with preparing, creating and submitting your funding applications?
Take a look at the Straight Forward Funding Membership Programme.
Low cost, high impact support delivered on a month to month basis – no contracts, no commitment, a simple ‘pay as you go’ process.
Open now to new members.
#Funding News
Boost Charitable Trust provides funding and support to inspiring programmes which help improve the lives of the disadvantaged and disabled through the power of sport. They offer two different levels of funding:
Small Awards, up to £750, which are considered through a shorter process;
Large Awards, over £750, which are considered by the full trustee body at the next trustee meeting. Most of their more recent Large Awards have been in the range of £2,000 to £7,000.
The Edith M Ellis 1985 Charitable Trust Applications to the Trust’s grant-giving programme are now open and will close on 31 May 2025. Successful applicants for the current round will be informed by 31 July 2025. Categories for Grant Giving (Please note that the grant criteria are under review. The categories listed below were revised in February 2024, and further changes are expected during 2024 and 2025.)
- Quaker work and witness, particularly on work relating to peace
- Peace-building and conflict resolution
- Interfaith and ecumenical understanding
- Peace work connected with climate breakdown
They value applications that fulfil more than one of our criteria.
Barchester’s Charitable Foundation is a registered charity that helps older people and adults with a disability across England, Scotland, Wales and Jersey. Their focus is about connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community, and they support applications that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged.
They help individuals with:
- Manual and powered wheelchairs
- Mobility scooters
- Specialised trikes / bikes
- Car adaptations
Their grants for individuals range from £100 up to £1,000. They also help small community groups and small local charities. They do not have a formal definition for a small charity, but if a charity has financial reserves in the hundreds of thousands or millions, it is very unlikely that they would be able to help.
They help groups with:
- Activity projects
- Equipment and materials for use by members
- Member transport
- Day trips, outings and group holidays in the UK
Their grants for groups range from £100 up to £2,500.
It takes up to 10 weeks to process an application.
Patagonia support innovative work that addresses the root causes of the environmental crisis and seeks to protect both the environment and affected communities. They focus on places where They’ve built connections through outdoor recreation and through their network of retail stores, nationally and internationally.
They encourage work that brings underrepresented communities to the forefront of the environmental movement and defend communities whose health and livelihoods are threatened by environmental exploitation.
They support multipronged campaigns that push for greater environmental protections and force the government to abide by its own laws. They accept one proposal per group in a given fiscal year (May 1–April 30).
Typical grant size ranges between $5,000 and $15,000 Proposals are reviewed and grants decisions are made by an employee grants council in Europe.
There are two annual deadlines for this process:
May 31st (all applications received in May will receive a response by the end of August)
September 30th (all applications received in September will receive a response by the end of December)
Warburtons financial giving programme is aimed at supporting projects, activities and organisations. Community grants of up to £400 are available to support charitable organisations towards broader activities which improve Health, Place or Skills for families in their community. Quarterly deadlines in November, February, May and August. The current round closes on 5th May.
Twice a year, Northern Powergrid Foundation offer grant funding of up to £20k to community resilience projects. The current grant window is open until 11th May 2025.
Projects include:
- Setting up community hubs with solar panels, heat pumps, and generators to ensure safety during power outages, helping them to become self-sufficient and reduce energy waste.
- Energy Resilience during emergency events
- Vulnerability – protecting the welfare of vulnerable people in the communities served by Northern Powergrid
- Fuel Poverty – helping to prevent and relieve those in fuel poverty through educational advice and support programmes.
- Levelling the rural divide – supporting communities who are particularly remote or isolated and have experienced power cuts due to poor weather in the past.
- Innovation – using innovative or transformational solutions to improve energy resilience for households in Northern Powergrid’s regions.
- Collaboration – supporting communities or groups who work together to tackle issues to improve energy resilience.
- Charities – supporting existing charitable organisations or groups whose remit is to enhance energy resilience across Northern Powergrid’s regions.
Shoosmiths Foundation are now open as of 17 March 2025 for the next round of the funding. They are inviting applications for projects in the UK that advance access to justice, for which the Foundation will distribute grants of between £25,000 and £50,000 to the successful applicants.
On this occasion the Shoosmiths Foundation welcomes applications from charities that work in any of the following areas in regard to increasing access to justice:
- sustaining or improving community access to specialist legal advice
- leveraging organisation’s and/or educational institutions pro bono programmes to increase access to justice.
Next deadline 18 April 2025, but may close this round of funding sooner once they have received sufficient suitable applications. Therefore, they encourage early applications.
#Just for Schools
Henry Smith Charity – Holiday Grants want to help children who experience inequity and/or have disabilities to go on fun trips. They fund schools, youth groups, and non-profit organisations planning one-time trips for children aged 13 and under. They prioritise fun and new experiences, such as camping, adventure activities, or visits to the seaside.
In 2024, 60% of the grants were given to organisations working in areas in the top 20% of deprivation within the four nations of the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).
For groups of children with disabilities, they look at the group’s access needs and the levels of deprivation in your area.
Grant amount: £500 – £2,750 per trip
Length of activity: Day trips or residential trips up to 7 days
Funding covers: One-off recreational trips (e.g. camping, adventure activities, seaside visits). No high-cost places, such as theme parks, musicals, sporting events, or trips with educational or religious aims.
Community: The trip should be for children aged 13 and under.
The trips are for children experiencing financial hardship, systemic inequity, or living in areas of high deprivation. We also consider applications for children with disabilities.
Location of work: Within the four nations of the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
Eligible organisations: Schools, youth groups, and not-for-profit organisations
Applications open from 20th March – 21st July for trips taking place between 1st May and 31st August 2025 (Note from Lisa: Apply as early in this window as possible)
#Useful Stuff
Acumen Academy have a range of free to access ‘How To guides’ covering aspects of Marketing and Sales, Fundraising and Business Strategy
Safe: A new podcast from the Youth Endowment Fund
Safe is a series of conversations about violence affecting children and young people, with experts who are working hard to stop it. Each episode starts with a simple question — ‘when you were young, what did being safe mean to you?’ — before exploring how guests’ life and career journeys led them to create sustainable solutions to violence.
Small Charity Week is a campaign that amplifies and supports the amazing work of small charities across the UK. Monday 23 – Saturday 28 June 2025
#Before I Go…
I’m reading: Don’t Have Sex 9 Months Before Christmas: and Other Practical Financial Tips by RoseMarie Keogh-Smyth. Now – full disclosure, Rosemarie is a friend of mine – but this book is well worth a read if your personal finances need a bit of a spring clean. And at the time of writing, this book is just £3.98 on Amazon or 78p to buy on Kindle.
I’m watching: Technically I’ve just finished binge watching The Walk In starring Stephen Graham.
I’m listening: I really need to stop listening to podcasts when I go to bed – as I only ever seem to remember half the episode… but the last one I listened to was Sinking Cargo Ship: Adrift Without a Lifejacket from the Real Survival Stories. I like this show as even if I do fall asleep – at least I always know they survived…!
I’m doing: A spot of gardening! I’m determined it will look good this summer. Fingers crossed!
I’m learning: How to gel plate print and I’ve been totally inspired by Yeates Makes I’d highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys creating art.
Are you making the most of my free resources?
Use these links to receive my:
Schools and Education free termly newsletter
Visit my resources page for a host of free tools and resources
‘Straight Forward Funding Resources’ Facebook Group, where I post more info about funding, along with any useful information and resources.
Would you like a bit of extra help with preparing, creating and submitting your funding applications?
Take a look at the Straight Forward Funding Membership Programme.