UK: Hill Dickinson Foundation Tower Hamlets Programme

Deadline: 6-Jan-23

The Community Foundation for Merseyside is inviting applications for Hill Dickinson Foundation Tower Hamlets that aims to make a positive contribution to the communities in which the firm operates by supporting local grassroots organisations and projects.

Fund Priorities

• Homelessness, food poverty, mental health and employability (access to work).
• In the Covid world that they are living in they are looking to support projects that:
  • Tackle the issues of homelessness (cause or effect)
  • Seek to alleviate food poverty
  • Assist those suffering from ill mental health and or encourage positive mental wellbeing
  • Support access to work for those who have either found themselves unemployed or are aspiring to rejoin the workforce through other reasons
• Examples of the sorts of projects that may be funded:
  • Projects that offer advice and guidance to people at risk of homelessness
  • Peer mentoring projects that focus on improving mental health and wellbeing
  • Confidence building and education sessions to homeless people to help them move on and gain employment
  • Drop-in center’s for homeless people
  • Food banks and social supermarket projects
  • Support groups and helpline/counselling services for people with mental health issues
  • Projects that look to achieve a positive mind-set change around mental health, e.g. self-confidence and or awareness raising projects
  • Projects that offer advice and guidance for people who have become unemployed
  • Confidence building and education sessions to those who have become unemployed
  • Projects to offer mock interviews or retraining opportunities to those who are unemployed
  • Employability projects across the board.

Funding Information

• The maximum amount you can apply for is £2,500.  The total budget available is £10,000 therefore we expect to provide between 4 – 6 grants across Tower Hamlets.

Eligibility Criteria

• The programme is aimed at small grassroots groups with an income level of under £200,000. Hill Dickinson would prefer to fund a specific project and be the principal funder rather than a contributor towards a much larger project cost.
• Your group is based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets or you can prove that 95% or more of the beneficiaries of your proposed project are from this area
• You have a formal constitution or governing document in the name of the group
• You are connected with or meeting the needs of the local community and are able to evidence this
• You can provide a copy of the group's latest annual accounts or income/expenditure document and a list of your current Trustees/Directors/Management Committee
• You can provide a copy of the most recent bank statement for your group
• You can provide a copy of the group’s current Safeguarding Policy. All applicants must ensure that they have relevant policies, procedures and insurances in place to undertake certain activities
• Only complete applications can be processed therefore applicants need to submit all supporting documents within 7 days of submitting their application
• NB: If you have received a grant from us in the last 12 months and have already submitted copies of the above documents, you do not need to send them in again. However, a bank statement is required with every application.

Ineligible

• The following items cannot be supported via the fund:
  • Statutory organisations or work that is their responsibility
  • National organizations that cannot demonstrate local governance and control of local finances
  • Private Businesses or Companies Limited by Shares
  • Organisations with fewer than three unrelated Trustees/Directors/Management Committee members
  • Commercial ventures
  • Purchase/maintenance of vehicles
  • Activities that will have already taken place before tjhey offer you a grant
  • Politically connected or exclusively religious activities
  • Projects for personal profit
  • Trophies and medals
  • CCTV/Security measures
  • Organisations that are set up for the benefit of animals or plants: environmental group that work with animals or the environment (such as city farms) are acceptable
  • Groups comprising just one family
  • Debts and other liabilities
  • Reclaimable VAT
  • Travel outside UK
  • Gifts or projects exclusively for the purpose of entertaining – social events can be funded where there is a clear community benefit.

For more information, visit Hill Dickinson Foundation Tower Hamlets.