Deadline: 28-Nov-22
The Dorset Community Foundation is seeking applications for the BCP Food and Warmth to support groups delivering community initiatives to address food insecurity and supporting vulnerable households in BCP to keep warm this winter. This includes food provision activities and Warm Welcome community spaces.
Priorities
- Grants will be awarded to applicants that are delivering community initiatives that address and support BCP households impacted by the rising costs of living. The scheme is intended to cover a wide range of support for low income households in need, including families with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people.
- They would encourage applications from groups and organisations that are helping to support residents with:
- Access to food, including providing free or low cost food, community meals, food vouchers, equipment or food skills initiatives
- Keeping warm support and initiatives, both within the home and out in communities
- Warm welcome spaces enabling people to escape from the cold and connect with others – where groups are incurring additional costs in offering their space
- Other community initiatives that relate to helping with the cost of living challenge
- Groups applying for a Warm Welcome community space are encouraged to read this guide from Martin Lewis before applying – Setting up a Warm Space in your Community – there are a lot of helpful ideas to consider including a guide on how to estimate your increased utility bills.
Funding Information
- Grants of up to £10,000 are available.
- They welcome applications for smaller amounts (from £500) that might support basic costs for a Warm Welcome space – please ask for what you need
You can use the grant to:
- Contribute to increased utility bills incurred as a result of opening for additional hours to offer a Warm Welcome local space to enable people to escape from the cold and connect with others
- Provide items that support people to keep warm such as blankets, clothing, and energy efficiency measures such as curtains, draft excluders etc
- Other community initiatives addressing identified needs relating to keeping warm this winter
- Provide free or low cost food items, food parcels or food vouchers
- Provide free or low cost fresh or frozen meals for use at home
- Provide free or low cost meals in a community setting (including transport costs to access community meals)
- Deliver skills and learning to support people to access food e.g. teaching food preparation and cooking (including cost of cooking equipment at training venue or for beneficiaries to use at home)
- They can support any costs associated with providing the above including perishable and non-perishable goods, capital costs and equipment (e.g. additional fridges or storage at your organisation), staff and volunteer costs, transport and venue hire, administrative costs, reasonable contribution to organisation overheads/core costs.
- They welcome partnership bids from two or more groups co-delivering a project or to share a capital item.
Eligibility Criteria
- Groups must be local to Dorset. They do not fund national charities but can fund local branches if they are managed separately and financially independent.
- Organisations that can apply:
- Registered Charities
- Constituted Community and Voluntary Organisations
- Community Interest- Social Enterprises (companies limited by guarantee that have a clear not-for-profit clause in their governing document and clear charitable or social objectives)
- To be eligible the organisation must have:
- At least 3 unrelated people responsible for running the organisation (for registered charities these are your Trustees, for CICs/Social Enterprises these are your Directors)
- A written constitution or set of rules that sets out the purpose and management of the organisation
- A bank account in the name of the organisation with at least two unrelated cheque signatories
- An appropriate Safeguarding Policy
All applicants should please note:
- Grants for the provision of cash awards or white goods to households are not eligible
- Grants supporting debt advice are not eligible
- Warm Welcome community spaces should be free (including refreshments), open at least once a week, and welcoming; this might mean providing hot drinks, offering someone to chat to, encouraging people to talk to others, or enabling access to wider support services. All ideas are welcome.
- Food provision grants cannot be used to replicate or replace Free School Meals but families in receipt of Free School Meals are eligible as beneficiaries of funded services, where additional support is needed
- There is no requirement for means testing to identify financial hardship but groups should describe their own approach to ensuring that beneficiaries are in need of support
- Groups should describe how the service will compliment any existing services and demonstrate they are connected with other organisations serving the community, to ensure services are joined up
- Where possible, groups should make beneficiaries aware of support available from Citizens Advice which includes: fuel poverty advice and access to cash grants & home improvement schemes, benefits checks and support with applications & appeals. Household Support Fund – Citizens Advice Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (citizensadvicebcp.org.uk)
Exclusions:
- Schools are not eligible but they can fund PTA groups if they meet their eligibility guidelines
- They cannot fund the promotion of religion or political causes – faith based organisations should advise whether their Food or Warm Welcome offer will include an introduction or discussion of faith
- They cannot fund public bodies to carry out their statutory obligations
- They cannot fund animal welfare organisations
- They cannot offer retrospective funding for items already purchased or work completed
- Organisations with more than 12 months’ unrestricted reserves are usually not funded
For more information, visit https://www.dorsetcommunityfoundation.org/funds/bcp-food-and-warmth-support-fund/