Deadline: 13-Apr-2026
The Emily Bolitho Fund provides small grants to help residents of Penzance facing hardship due to poor health or low income. Local not-for-profit organizations in Penzance can apply for up to £2,000 per application, with individual awards capped at £500, to support practical essential needs such as accessibility improvements, furniture, childcare, and kitchen equipment.
Emily Bolitho Fund Overview
The Emily Bolitho Fund is a small hardship support fund designed to help people in Penzance who are struggling because of ill health or financial difficulty.
Applications must be made by eligible local organizations rather than individuals directly. The fund encourages collective applications that support several people through one request, especially where young people may benefit.
What Is the Emily Bolitho Fund?
The Emily Bolitho Fund offers practical financial assistance for residents experiencing hardship.
It is intended to help meet essential living and well-being needs, rather than provide general unrestricted funding to organizations.
This is a local welfare-style grant fund focused on direct community benefit in Penzance.
Funding Amount
The fund provides:
- Up to £2,000 total per application
- Up to £500 per individual award
This means organizations can submit a single application that supports multiple individuals, as long as no one person receives more than £500.
Who Can Apply?
Applications must be submitted by organizations that support individuals facing economic hardship and are based in Penzance.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible organizations include:
- Local charities
- Community groups
- Voluntary organizations
- Social enterprises
- Other not-for-profit organizations
Core Eligibility Conditions
Organizations should:
- Be not-for-profit
- Be based in Penzance
- Support individuals facing economic hardship
- Deliver direct local benefit to people in the community
- Be able to submit requests on behalf of eligible individuals
Who Can Benefit?
The fund is designed to support residents of Penzance who are experiencing hardship due to:
- Poor health
- Low income
- Related economic or personal vulnerability
The fund is especially useful where a small grant can make an immediate practical difference.
What Can the Fund Support?
The Emily Bolitho Fund prioritizes practical, essential support.
Priority Needs
The fund may support:
- Accessibility improvements
- Furniture
- Childcare support
- Kitchen equipment
These examples suggest the fund is focused on basic household needs, daily living support, and improving quality of life.
Stronger Applications Usually Show
- A clear individual or household need
- Direct practical benefit
- Financial hardship or health-related vulnerability
- A modest, realistic request
- Immediate local impact in Penzance
Collective Applications Are Encouraged
One of the most important features of this fund is that it encourages collective applications.
This means organizations are encouraged to submit one application that supports multiple individuals, rather than separate applications for each person.
Why This Matters
Collective applications can:
- Reduce admin burden
- Help more people through one funding round
- Make small grants more efficient
- Be especially useful for projects involving young people or groups with similar needs
Who Is Not Eligible?
Some organizations and funding uses are clearly excluded.
Ineligible Organizations
The fund does not support:
- Commercial profit-making organizations
- Organizations with significant free reserves
- Statutory bodies
- Public sector organizations
- Health authorities
- Schools
- Hospitals
- Local councils
Other Ineligible Applicants or Situations
The fund also excludes:
- Regional offices of national organizations that do not directly benefit local communities
- Organizations whose work does not directly benefit people
- Organizations promoting religious causes
- Organizations promoting political causes
- Organizations with overdue monitoring reports
What Costs or Uses Are Not Supported?
Ineligible Uses of Funding
The fund does not support:
- Contributions to endowments
- Deficit funding
- Loan repayments
- Funding for grant-making bodies
- Retrospective funding (costs already incurred)
This means the fund should be used for current, direct, practical support, not for covering old costs or general financial gaps.
Why This Fund Matters
The Emily Bolitho Fund is valuable because it provides small but highly practical hardship support for local residents.
For people facing poor health or low income, a grant for furniture, childcare, kitchen essentials, or accessibility can have an immediate effect on safety, comfort, and dignity.
For local charities and community groups, it is a useful source of responsive small-scale welfare support.
How to Prepare a Strong Application
Recommended Steps
- Confirm your organization is eligible
Make sure you are a Penzance-based not-for-profit supporting people in hardship. - Identify direct beneficiary needs
Focus on practical needs such as furniture, accessibility, childcare, or household essentials. - Use a collective application where possible
If several people need similar support, combine them into one well-structured request. - Keep the request modest and clear
Stay within £2,000 total, with no more than £500 per individual. - Show direct local benefit
Clearly explain how the grant will improve the lives of residents in Penzance. - Check compliance before applying
Ensure you have no overdue monitoring reports and do not fall into an excluded category.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Applying as an individual instead of through an organization
- Submitting from outside Penzance
- Asking for unrestricted or deficit funding
- Requesting retrospective costs
- Applying as a school, council, hospital, or public body
- Exceeding the £500 per person cap
- Failing to show direct benefit to local residents
- Ignoring overdue monitoring requirements
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the Emily Bolitho Fund?
It is a small grant fund that helps residents of Penzance facing hardship due to poor health or low income.
2. How much funding is available?
Organizations can apply for up to £2,000 per application, with individual awards capped at £500.
3. Can individuals apply directly?
No. Applications must be submitted by eligible organizations on behalf of individuals or groups in need.
4. What types of support are prioritized?
Priority needs include accessibility improvements, furniture, childcare support, and kitchen equipment.
5. Who can apply?
Penzance-based not-for-profit organizations such as local charities, community groups, voluntary groups, and social enterprises that support people facing economic hardship.
6. Can one application support multiple people?
Yes. The fund encourages collective applications that benefit several individuals through one application.
7. What types of organizations are not eligible?
Commercial businesses, public sector bodies, schools, hospitals, councils, organizations with significant free reserves, and groups with overdue monitoring reports are not eligible.
Final Takeaway
The Emily Bolitho Fund is a practical small grants opportunity for Penzance-based not-for-profit organizations helping residents affected by poor health or low income.
With up to £2,000 per application and £500 per person, the fund is best suited to direct, essential support that improves daily life quickly. Strong applications will be local, clearly targeted, modest in scale, and focused on real practical needs for individuals or small groups in hardship.
For more information, visit Cornwall Community Foundation.