Deadline: 22 November 2019

UK Community Foundation has launched the Nationwide Building Society – Community Grants programme to help people into homes of their own and its ambition that everyone should have a place fit to call home stands firm today.

Community Foundations come in all shapes and sizes, but what they all have in a common is a commitment to making a difference to people’s lives and the places they serve.

The Nationwide Community Grants programme awards grants of up to £50,000 across 11 UK regions annually.

Outcomes

• Preventing people from losing their home
• Helping people in to a home
• Supporting people to thrive within the home environment

Nationwide believes doing what is right by their members and their communities is at the heart of what it means to be a building society. Following a member vote in 2007, Nationwide invests at least 1% of pre-tax profits to support good causes each year.

Priorities

• Illustrate a clear link to Nationwide’s ambition for everyone to have a place fit to call home and can demonstrate the impact their project will have on the local community.
• Projects that are supporting people in housing need in original or creative ways. This
• includes both projects already delivering local impact and those carrying out research to find new ways to challenge the housing crisis.
• Have projects/ideas that have the potential to be used by others across the country.
• Have robust plans to measure and report on the difference the grant will make.
• Can demonstrate sustainability beyond the life of the grant, by building the skills of staff and volunteers, diversifying funding streams and providing long-term solutions for the people they are helping.
• That can evidence knowledge of local issues and have a network of local connections.

Creative Or Replicable Approaches

Fund ongoing projects that are effectively supporting local people as well as those trying out new approaches, this could include:

• Carrying out research to find new ways to challenge the housing crisis
• Piloting approaches that will support the organisation to work in new areas geographically or thematically; or reach new people
• Replicating ideas that have been evidenced to work elsewhere

Funding Information

Nationwide grants are between £10,000 and £50,000 and the funding period is between one and two years.

• Nationwide will fund between 50% to 100% of the total cost of the project. For example, if applicants organisation is seeking funding for an £80,000 project, applicants should apply for a minimum of £40,000.
• Successful organisations will be required to raise any remaining project costs within two months of the award.
• Nationwide will fund a maximum of 25% of an organisation’s annual income, for two-year projects this can be per annum. For partnership projects they will accept a combined income.

What Foundation will Fund

• Core costs of up to 20% of the requested grant amount – including running and facility costs, office equipment, supplies, any travel and accommodation, printing etc (this does not include staff costs).
• Staff and volunteer costs for the lead partner – including full-time staff, part-time staff, project delivery staff costs and other related expenses.
• All staff costs must be paid at least the Real Living Wage determined by the Living Wage Foundation.
• Small-scale capital costs – including one-off expenses for equipment or fixed assets that may have use or benefit beyond the life of the grant/one financial year, such as computer hardware or perishable capital that are required for the delivery of a project, such as paint, paintbrushes and gardening equipment.
• Activity costs – that help to facilitate projects or activities, but that fall outside of capital, staffing & volunteering costs; such as catering or insurance.
• Development and capacity building costs – to support organisational sustainability; such as staff/volunteer training, external consultancy fees.
• Building works and refurbishment costs where they are essential to the successful delivery of the project.

Eligibility Criteria

• This fund is open to registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, Community Land Trusts and housing co-operatives.
• Co-operatives and community benefit societies registered with the Financial Conduct Authority are also eligible as long as their associated activities target housing and/or homelessness.
• Partnership and consortia are encouraged to apply, the lead partner must be an eligible entity and will manage the funds if successful.
• Eligible organisations need to have a minimum of three unrelated trustees and two unrelated bank signatories.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/our-programmes/nationwide