Deadline: 1-Mar-22
In partnership with Virgin Media O2, Hubbub is launching a £400,000 fund to make tablets and free data available to community organisations across the UK.
The fund is exclusively supporting organisations such as local authorities, charities and social enterprises who work closely with temporary accommodation services, such as centres for refugees, housing for those at risk of homelessness or women’s refuges.
The fund will have both social and environmental benefits; helping people in temporary accommodation who are facing digital exclusion access the internet, while reducing e-waste by maximising the use of refurbished digital devices.
Funding Information
The grant will provide one-off, start-up funding of between £50,000 – £120,000 per organisation, to establish or further develop Tech Lending Hubs, where tablets will be loaned to residents in temporary accommodation on a temporary basis. Successful applicants will need to demonstrate that they will be actively collaborating with community groups to ensure that the provision of a tablet loaning service will have a transformative impact.
Eligibility Criteria
The grant is open to any organisation that can prove they are an officially constituted body, registered in the UK. They anticipate that the majority of applications will be from (but not exclusive to):
- Local authorities
- Charities
- Community Interest Companies
- Social enterprises
Note: The fund is open to social enterprises that have a clear charitable mission, that can demonstrate the positive difference they are trying to make and which, in a ‘wind-up’ situation, pass remaining assets on to another non-profit social enterprise that has a charitable purpose.
Criteria
- You must demonstrate how the grant funding will help you to develop or expand the services you already provide by making tablet lending available to people in temporary accommodation.
- You must spend the grant on the purchasing of refurbished tablets via Hubbub, or alternatively evidence you can obtain refurbished tablets elsewhere. Funding can also be partly used for staff costs, where this is additional to existing expenditure plans and not cover core operational costs.
- You must have proven existing relationships with community groups that provide services within temporary accommodation, where tablets can be distributed to those in need for short-term use. These groups might include centres for refugees, housing for those at risk of homelessness or women’s refuges.
- If you already run a tablet lending scheme, you must demonstrate how the grant will deliver significant impact by adding to existing services.
- You must demonstrate that your Tech Lending Hub can be sustained long-term.
- You must be willing to share your learnings and results to inspire and enable others.
- Successful grant recipients will be asked to sign a contract with reporting requirements, in order to safeguard Hubbub’s charitable status, ensure the funding is being spent on the agreed project, and obtain data that can be used in reporting.
For more information, visit The Tech Lending Community Fund.
For more information, visit https://www.techlendingcommunityfund.co.uk/