abrdn Financial Fairness Trust Grant Applications (United Kingdom)

Deadline: 3-Jun-22

The abrdn Financial Fairness Trust has announced Trust Grant Applications. Their mission is to contribute towards strategic change which improves financial well-being in the UK. They want everyone to have a decent standard of living and have more control over their finances.

Objectives

• Fund strategic work, including policy work, campaigning and research, which has the potential to improve financial well-being at a national scale.
•  Develop partnerships, encouraging collaborative working and a more joined-up approach, convening where they can add value.
• Share learning, knowledge and evidence widely, becoming a key organisation working in the field.

Focus Areas

Their funding programmes focus on income, spending and assets.

• Income: An adequate income is key to improving financial well-being. They are interested in helping people on low to middle incomes and how certain factors can make a big difference.
  • Income programme focuses on four areas:
    • Wages
    • Pensions
    • Taxation
    • Welfare benefits
• Spending: Spending is part of daily life and having control of it is a key part of managing money. They are interested in how to curb impulsive and compulsive spending. They are also interested in how those on low-to-medium incomes can access credit and the difficulties that arise if there are problems keeping up with payments.
  • Spending programme focuses on five areas:
    • Cost of living
    • Payment problems
    • Consumer spending
    • Borrowing
    • Problem gambling
• Assets: When you have nothing to fall back on, you are unable to deal with economic shocks. Four-in-ten of they have savings of less than £500 and a majority of people do not save regularly. Although wealth overall in the UK has grown, it remains unfairly distributed.
  • Assets programme focuses on four areas:
    • General saving
    • Retirement saving
    • Taxation
    • Housing

Funding Information

• There is no minimum or maximum size of grant and the amount you request should be the amount you need. Their grants range between £10,000 and £200,000, with most between £50,000 to £120,000 in total.
• The amounts may be spread over one, two or three years, and sometimes for shorter periods, for example six months. For example, if you are awarded a grant of £60,000, this could be £20,000 each year over three years, or £40,000 in the fi rst year and £20,000 in the second.

Who they aim to benefit?

•  Their aim to address specific c inequalities, differences and vulnerabilities through the work they fund. Their aim to improve the lives of those living on low-to-middle incomes in the UK, who are struggling to make ends meet, and who are cycling in and out of hardship. Whilst it’s vital to ensure that those facing financial hardship are supported they also believe it’s important to prevent people falling into financial difficulties. A priority is work focused on younger generations.
•  Some groups are more affected than others. For example, disabled people, black and minority ethnic communities and single parents are more likely to have low incomes and have few assets compared to others. These problems can be even greater for those facing multiple disadvantage. There are also some people facing extreme hardship.
• Closely linked to this are people who are vulnerable financially. This is where people, due to their personal circumstances, are especially susceptible to financial detriment, particularly when a firm, government or other organisation is not acting with appropriate levels of care. This includes vulnerability as a result of health problems, disability, or due to a problematic situation such as redundancy, bereavement or divorce. They believe that focusing on work that addresses the root causes, rather than supporting individual beneficiaries, is a more sustainable approach to improving f nancial well-being.

Eligibility Criteria

• They fund organisations undertaking charitable activities. You don’t need to be a registered charity. Organisations they fund must have a governing body with at least three non-executive directors/trustees (at least three who are not employees of the organisation or affi liated to it in any other way).
• They will fund a wide range of organisations including voluntary organisations, think tanks, campaigning groups, research bodies and universities. They are also able to partner with other funders, government, employers and regulators in jointly funding relevant work.

For more information, visit abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.

For more information, visit https://www.financialfairness.org.uk/en/funding