Deadline: 14-Aug-23
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is inviting applications for the Transformational Grants Programme to make a small number of grants to create systemic change for Armed Forces communities.
Under this programme, they will fund a very small number of projects that will deliver permanent and significant changes or improvements for Armed Forces communities, where there are hidden needs not being met by current service provision.
Your project will need work with people from Armed Forces communities who have needs that are having a significant impact on their lives, but who cannot access specialist services because these services are not available or accessible to them.
Under this programme, the Trust hopes to support projects that deliver long term change. The aim being that the project delivery will alter the landscape for the Armed Forces community with this particular need, which may ultimately result in fewer or no applications for funding support for this need. Your transformational aims should be UK-wide in focus, even if the initial delivery is in a specific region or country. Applications which are aiming for transformation in (only) one of the four countries will be considered where a strong case is made. Your project must deliver long term sustainable benefits in at least one of the four Nations of the UK.
Themes and Priorities
- Highly focused: They are looking for projects that are highly specific and targeted to the needs of a particular and specific community of people within the wider Armed Forces community.
- Evidence of need: They are also looking for applications that can be clear about the evidence of why their project is needed. Your application should explain why the needs that your project will address require resource and explain the difference that this will make to people’s lives.
- Transformational impact: They are expecting to deliver systemic change, through funding projects that demonstrate an intent for long-term transformation, extending much further than the initial beneficiaries and the organisation receiving the grant. This may relate to how, what, where and by whom services are delivered in the future to this specific cohort, or instigate wholly new strategic solutions. Your application must describe how the impact of the project will continue after the grant has ended.
- Consultation and collaboration: You should be able to show how the people who will benefit from this project will be able to shape it and that you will work collaboratively with other organisations over the life of your grant.
- They expect this programme to be highly competitive, and that they will receive more good applications than they can support. They will only fund one project for each specific community within the wider Armed Forces community.
- If there are a high number of good quality applications, the Trust may not prioritise themes that were supported last year.
Funding Information
- You can apply for a grant of up to £300,000 in total towards a project being delivered over a period of between 3 and 5 years.
Who will benefit?
- They will consider projects that support specific groups of people with serving personnel and/or their families or veterans and their families, who do not currently have access to services that meet their needs.
Eligibility Criteria
- You must have been registered in the UK (with one or more of the charity commissions for England and Wales, or Scotland or Northern Ireland and/or Companies House) for at least two years at the time of your application.
- Your organisation must have a minimum of three unrelated trustees at the time of applying, and, if successful, throughout the life of your grant, and this must be verifiable at all times on the relevant charity regulator’s website.
- Charities that have been registered for less than three years should provide clear evidence of their governance arrangements and why they are confident they have the expertise to take on a grant of this size.
- Charities that have been registered for less than three years may be subject to enhanced monitoring arrangements were a grant to be awarded.
- They will consider applications from charities that are not Armed Forces specific, but they will be expected to show that they will work in partnership with Armed Forces organisations. If working with this sector is new to them, they will need to make a strong case for why they are now wishing to do so.
- Community Interest Companies (CICs), local authorities, health bodies and other organisations that are not eligible to apply directly, could play a highly effective role in delivering projects in collaboration with an eligible organisation.
For more information, visit Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.