Cost of Living Crisis Greater Manchester Funding Programme – United Kingdom

Deadline: 13-Jan-23

The Eric Wright Charitable Trust offers £5000 grants to help sustain the existing activities of medium-sized voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations across Greater Manchester, which are themselves financially struggling, and that support people most affected by the cost of living crisis.

Funding Information

• Organisations can apply once for £5000. Thirty-six grants are available totalling £180,000. The allocation of funding across Greater Manchester’s ten localities is in proportion to the relative size of the VCSE sector.

What they can fund?

• All funded activity must take place within one locality of Greater Manchester and you must fully complete it and have completed a monitoring form no later than 31 October 2023.
• They are deliberately not providing examples of the kinds of activities VCSE groups need to be providing to struggling communities. They want you to tell them what it is that you do that achieves the best outcomes for end beneficiaries.
• Any kind of usual organisation costs can be included in your grant application as long as your activities centre on the support of communities that are struggling the most. Costs can include salaries, expenses, overheads, consumables, equipment, administration, training, communications, etc.
• The grant application form will ask you to summarise the costs you need most help with to keep providing your services.
• Please be realistic and thorough in estimating your eligible costs as the external panel will be looking at this when assessing your application. Where possible you should base your proposed costs on actual previous amounts disbursed.
• Successful applicants must keep full records of all costs funded by this programme. However, they will not ask you to provide evidence of expenditure unless adverse issues emerge in the delivery of your funded activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• The key eligibility requirements are:
  • organisations must have an annual turnover between £50,000 and £250,000 and be based and operating in one of the ten localities of Greater Manchester
  • organisations must already be delivering support activities within the chosen locality to people who tend to be most affected by social inequality and the cost of living crisis
  • New project activities are not required, this funding aims to help sustain anti-poverty organisations that are themselves struggling to keep operating any typical organisation costs can be included in your grant application, e.g. salaries, expenses, overheads, consumables, equipment, administration, training, communications, etc.
  • Only VCSE organisations are eligible to apply, e.g.
    • Charitable Incorporated Organisations
    • Community Benefit Societies
    • Community Interest Companies
    • Companies Limited by Guarantee
    • Registered Charities
    • Organisations that are not constituted
    • Unincorporated Associations
  • You must be based and operating in one of the ten localities of Greater Manchester, i.e.
    • Bolton
    • Bury
    • Manchester
    • Oldham
    • Rochdale
    • Salford
    • Stockport
    • Tameside
    • Trafford
    • Wigan
  • Grants are available to help fund the costs of your existing activities in that area of Greater Manchester. Unfortunately, they are not able to fund activity across localities or outside Greater Manchester.
  • The turnover limit for eligible organisations is £50,000 to £250,000.
  • The 2021 Greater Manchester State of the VCSE Sector report identifies organisations within the income bracket as amongst those needing greatest levels of investment to maintain activities.
  • Organisations with annual turnovers greater or less than £50,000 to £250,000 are ineligible to apply. (Within the city of Manchester Macc is developing smaller funding opportunities for micro organisations.)
  • Your organisation must already provide support activities to vulnerable communities of people in your locality most affected by social inequalities who are struggling to cope with the worst of the cost of living crisis.

Ineligible

• They cannot fund:
  • Any organisation or activity not based in one locality of Greater Manchester
  • Groups not working for the sole benefit of struggling communities there costs that you do not plan to incur by October 2023
  • Any political organisations nor activities involving evangelism
  • They will prioritise applicants that plan to use the full £5000 grant available.

For more information, visit Eric Wright Charitable Trust.