Deadline: 26-Sep-21
The County Durham Community Foundation is seeking applications for the Community Mental Health & Learning Disability Connector Grant to provide grants for voluntary organizations and community groups that are providing mental health and wellbeing support to the population of County Durham.
The funding has been provided through the Durham and Tees Valley Mental Health and Learning Disability Partnership.
Priority Areas
Priority for funding will be given to locally based community organisations that support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of people resident in County Durham. It is intended that the funding will be used in two ways:
- To allow smaller, grass roots organisations or projects providing mental health and emotional wellbeing support either to be sustainable in the short term;
- To test new or different ways of working/ideas, that would enable larger scale projects to be developed that would have a greater reach and impact.
Funding Information
- Grant awards of between £5,000 and £10,000 will be considered. Projects should be completed within 12 months of the grant award date.
- (NB: this fund is also accepting applications for up to £25,000 via a separate application form available on the CDCF website. Groups can apply to both the Small Grant stream and the Large Grant stream, however applications must be for activities that are distinct and not dependent on the result of the other application.)
Outcomes
The funding is expected to deliver the following outcomes:
- Retention of much needed , non-stigmatising community resources and services for people with mental health difficulties across the lifecourse (including people with learning disabilities and autism);
- Increased capacity to support those most vulnerable to mental health difficulties and emotional distress (including people with learning disabilities and autism);
- A reduction in loneliness and social isolation, and increase in reported connectedness and recovery;
- Intelligence about gaps in need and provision to help influence and shape future mental health and learning disability commissioning and transformation programmes.
Geographic Focus
- The Fund supports residents of County Durham. Please note that applications that do not show clearly that the beneficiaries of the funding are residents of County Durham will be rejected.
Eligibility Criteria
Organisations seeking funding must satisfy the following conditions:
- Volunteer-led organisations, registered charities and CIOs must:
- Have a management committee with a minimum of four unrelated members;
- Have a bank or building society account in the name of the organisation/group, with a minimum of two unrelated cheque signatories;
- Have charitable aims;
- Provide evidence of good governance practices and sound financial management (including registering with the Charity Commission, CASC or other governing body, depending on the size of the organisation);
- Usually, you must register with the Charity Commission if your charity is based in England or Wales and has over £5,000 income per year. They may ask for evidence of this in the form of a letter from the Charity Commission confirming receipt of your application for charitable status.
- Social enterprises, Community Interest Companies (CIC) and other companies must:
- Have a management committee with a minimum of three directors, or four directors if two are related;
- Have clear charitable purposes and a defined social benefit;
- Have a recognised status (e.g. a company limited by guarantee), and be registered with the necessary relevant body (e.g. Companies House);
- Have a nominated organisation as an asset lock body.
For more information, visit https://www.cdcf.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/grants-for-groups/community-mental-health-learning-disability-connector-grant-2/