Are you fed-up of complicated application forms, waiting a long time for a decision and not getting enough helpful feedback?  Our grant opportunity seeks to address these challenges and more! 

United St Saviour’s Charity, Community Southwark and Partnership Southwark have worked with VCS groups, the statutory sector, and funders to develop a grant process that aims to break down barriers to funding that VCS organisations experience in Southwark as highlighted in Community Southwark’s recent state of the sector research.  

This grant opportunity seeks to reduce health inequalities at a targeted neighbourhood level through strengthening small, local VCS groups. 

This grant is a pilot with VCS groups involved in the decision-making process about how funds are distributed.  It is a learning opportunity for all involved and following the first round of funding, we have made changes based on feedback from groups involved for the second round.   

Important dates: 

The grant opportunity opens on Monday 30th October 2023 and closes on Monday 11th December.  Decisions will by made by Monday 29th January 2024 and we aim to distribute funds within 4 weeks. 

Eligibility criteria: 

  • A not-for-profit organisation (including unincorporated groups, CICs, CIOs and more) operating in Southwark 
  • Supporting people in at least 1 of the following wards: Camberwell Green, Faraday, Old Kent Road, Nunhead and Queen’s Road, Peckham.  You can find ward names and areas on our website. 
  • An annual income of £40,000 or less. 
  • A group that supports people with disabilities and/or mental health needs. This can be preventative work and doesn’t have to the main focus of an organisation’s work. 
  • Your organisation will need to confirm they have the following: A safeguarding policy, a governing document such as a constitution, a bank account in the name of your organisation 
  • Groups who have received funding in the 1st round are not eligible to apply for this round 

What the funding can be used for: 

  • Funds granted will be on an unrestricted basis to fund whatever the organisation needs, including core/overhead costs. Grant applicants do not need to detail how they intend to use the funds when they apply. 
  • There is no timescale for funds to be used but we’d like to be able to report on its impact by March 2024.  This does not mean grantees should spend all the funds by then, but it would be helpful if grantees had an idea of how they might use the funds and/or what impact they think they might have. 

Important: 

Please note that VCS groups in Southwark will decide how grants are distributed via 2 decision-making stages.  If you are short-listed for the 2nd stage, you will be required to review 10 applications and submit your scores and feedback electronically.  You will need to do this between the 15th and 29th January 2023 and the organisation you represent will receive a good will gesture of £100 in recognition of your time.  For more information on this, please refer to the application introduction – link below.   

Find out more and apply: 

To find out more please download our application information here: Funding Differently – application introduction 

To apply please visit here: United St Saviour’s Charity grant portal 

You will need to log on (if you have applied for a grant from United St Saviour’s Charity before) or create a new account in order to start the application process. 

If you have any queries, please contact Katherine at katherine@communitysouthwark.org or on 07599 653 488. 

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