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Advice sector funding
Further to the announcement of £76m funding to ‘support the most vulnerable’ last weekend, the government has tonight provided more details of two elements of the funding :
- £10 million for domestic abuse accommodation services
- £6 million for frontline homeless charities.
More: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/domestic-abuse-charities-can-apply-for-vital-funds
Further to our story last week Government announces more than £5m of new funding to support social welfare law advice sector in England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic .... the Community Justice Fund is now open:
New COVID-19 Homelessness Response Fund for frontline charitable organisations with an annual turnover of less than £5m where more than 50 per cent of beneficiaries are people experiencing homelessness ...
Homeless Link will be distributing the Fund on behalf of the MHCLG.
More: https://homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2020/may/12/covid-19-homelessness-response-fund-2020-21
Update from the London Community Response:
The London Community Response was launched four days after the start of lockdown, and has now awarded over £11m to support the capital’s community and voluntary organisations during the covid-19 pandemic.
.. The £11m represents over 1,100 grants that have been awarded across every London borough, focusing on priority areas identified through listening to communities and civil society groups. Groups have used London Community Response funding for essential work supporting people across communities - including supplying emergency food packages, adapting advice services and ensuring that rough sleepers are kept safe.
More: https://londoncommunityresponsefund.org.uk/over-ps11m-awarded-charities-london-community-response
Details of what funding has been provided so far is available at: https://londoncommunityresponsefund.org.uk/news/who-has-been-funded
The Standard Life Foundation has published details of the coronavirus projects it has funded
https://www.standardlifefoundation.org.uk/funding/projects-funded#CPF
New from the MOJ:
COVID-19 funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence support services:
These prospectuses provide charities with information about two different Ministry of Justice funds and how the assessment processes will work for each one during the coronavirus pandemic.
More: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-funding-for-domestic-abuse-and-sexual-violence-support-services
New from the Home Office:
COVID-19: Home Office extraordinary funding for domestic abuse support services:
Guidance on the forthcoming £2 million Home Office fund for domestic abuse charities affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Before coronavirus struck the nation, Independent Age was exploring how to strengthen collaboration with older people and local organisations with the aim of shaping a more active role in supporting communities. But right now, our focus must be directed towards the current crisis. We can’t do this alone which is why our trustees have released £2 million from Independent Age’s funds to help smaller organisations across the UK working with older people hardest hit by the virus.
Our Grants Fund will comprise of four separate funding rounds. In each round we will make £500,000 available where organisations can apply to receive up to £15,000 each.
More from the govt on the £750m for charities:
The “Coronavirus Community Support Fund” distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund will open for applications this Friday, 22nd May.
£200 million worth of grants will be available for organisations who are supporting people and communities experiencing disproportionate challenges and difficulty during the pandemic, and those that provide services and support for vulnerable people and have seen an increase in demand or have lost income. Further funding will be committed and informed by emerging priorities, as the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups and charities is understood.
Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund will start to reach frontline organisations within a few weeks. Applications to the Fund will be handled through The National Lottery Community Fund’s well-established funding infrastructure, which they use to deliver around £500 million of grants to local organisations each year. A joint panel set up by DCMS and NLCF will advise on distribution of funding.
In addition, the Culture Secretary announced today that £150 million from dormant bank and building society accounts is to be unlocked to help charities, social enterprises and vulnerable individuals during the coronavirus outbreak.
... and from the Community Fund: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news/press-releases/2020-05-20/statement-about-the-coronavirus-community-support-fund
Mental health, ambulance, social care, learning disabilities, autism and dementia charities are among those set to receive millions of pounds in government funding, Health Minister Nadine Dorries has announced today.
The Emergency Advice Appeal, a joint initiative by the Access to Justice Foundation and the London Legal Support Trust, to help the legal advice sector during the COVID-19 pandemic has now raised over £442,665, hitting its fundraising target of £400,000.
https://atjf.org.uk/emergency-advice-appeal-hits-fundraising-target
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/emergency-coronavirus-appeal-smashes-400000-target/5104501.article#.XtjG1VaiL-Q.twitter
In Northern Ireland:
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey MLA has said a £15.5million COVID-19 Charities Fund to help local charities facing financial difficulties as a result of the current public health emergency will open on Monday 15 June.
The funding programme will provide financial support to charities which have lost income due to the impact of COVID-19 and are unable to cover unavoidable costs until September 30th 2020.
The programme will provide up to £75,000 for eligible organisations and will be administered on behalf of the Department for Communities by The National Lottery Community Fund. The amount of funding required to cover immediate costs and prevent short term closure will vary for each organisation.
An extra £37.8 million support package will be available to debt advice providers this year so they can continue to provide essential services to help more people who are struggling with their finances due to Coronavirus, minsters have announced.
Article from Patrick Butler of the Guardian on VCS funding.
Coronavirus leaves one in 10 UK charities facing bankruptcy this year
Makes for some very grim reading…
One in 10 UK charities are facing bankruptcy by the end of the year as they struggle to cope with a £10bn shortfall caused by soaring demand for their services and lost fundraising income due to the coronavirus pandemic, a study shows.
The analysis by Pro Bono Economics, an independent charity, says the coronavirus crisis will trigger a £6.4bn loss of income for charities over the next six months just as demand for extra services – ranging from health to debt advice and social care – piles on extra costs of £3.7bn.
From NPC:
On 8 April 2020, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £750m package to ‘ensure [charities] can continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak’ ...
... using government sources ... we have attempted to break down the allocation of the £750m into its sub-funds, in a way that is both clear and accessible.
More: Where is the government’s £750m package for charities being spent?
Couple of related updates:
The coronavirus funding scheme for small charities faces renewed criticism, after it emerged that the government has withdrawn from agreements about how to distribute £60m.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) pulled out of plans to distribute around £60m to small charities via delivery partners without warning a fortnight ago, according to several sources familiar with the discussions.
The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) has opened a £45m programme to fund charities and social enterprises working with people “disproportionately impacted” by the coronavirus.
The money will be distributed through five partnerships, which includes £5m for migrant and refugee charities made available by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and another £5m for homelessness charities via Homeless Link.
A further £5m will be distributed to charities giving welfare advice, while nearly £20m will go to social enterprises.
And then more from the Access to Justice Foudnation:
We’re delighted to announce that the Community Justice Fund has secured a £5 million grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, which will provide vital funding to specialist legal advice organisations adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The £5 million grant from The National Lottery Community Fund will be administered via the Community Justice Fund (CJF), a joint initiative between the Access to Justice Foundation and five other leading social justice funders. The CJF was set up to support specialist social welfare law advice agencies dealing with the immediate impact of the pandemic, as well providing longer term support for the sector’s wider renewal.
Government’s small charity coronavirus fund to close next month:
Small charities in England have until 17 August to apply for funds from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund.
The £200m scheme, which is funded by the government and managed by the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF), was opened in May on a first-come, first-served basis with no deadline.
Yesterday NLCF said in a statement that it has decided to close applications next month.
Along with a number of small charities no doubt!
Barely a quarter of a £200m emergency coronavirus fund for small charities in England has been allocated, and still less paid out, even though Rishi Sunak promised money would be distributed “at pace” when he announced the fund in early April.
The Guardian has learned that applications for grants from the pot are being assessed not only by the National Lottery Community Fund, which was publicly handed the task, but are also being privately vetted by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been awarded a £1.4m contract for the work.
The Guardian has learned that applications for grants from the pot are being assessed not only by the National Lottery Community Fund, which was publicly handed the task, but are also being privately vetted by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been awarded a £1.4m contract for the work.
£1.4m seems a bit steep to me, but at least we can be sure that allocation of our public money is being audited carefully by a competent and professional business. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48621095
I think you’ll find there is an algorithm involved in the sift.
New report from the Justice Select Committee includes -
‘We recommend that the Ministry of Justice considers further grants for law centres and other not-for-profit legal services providers that are at risk of collapse. The Ministry of Justice should report back to us with its decision and provide its reasons if it decides not to provide such grants, and state what provision it will make for users of the centres that cease operations.’
Lots of figures in here (... can’t seem to get them to add up):
New £3.1 million grant to enhance free legal advice and support, jointly delivered by the Ministry of Justice and the Access to Justice Foundation:
- major £500,000 investment already awarded to a number of larger charities to provide new national-level services
- £2 million of funding from the programme will be awarded to smaller not-for-profit organisations at regional and local levels in the autumn.
- around £270,000 of the grant has been diverted for emergency support to several organisations providing vital expert advice to litigants in person
This emergency funding is in addition to the MOJ’s £5.4 million cash injection for law centres and other legal advice charities to help people with housing, debt, discrimination and employment problems during the COVID-19 crisis.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-support-for-those-representing-themselves-in-court
Lots of figures in here (... can’t seem to get them to add up):
A post in Cabinet awaits Shawn.
No, he’s realised he can’t add up.
Meanwhile in other news ....
£5m digital fund for charities launches
... although apparently only £1.75m of the £5m will be given away in grants ... the remaining £3.2m will fund “expert support”
https://www.wearecast.org.uk/programmes/catalyst-the-national-lottery-covid-19-digital-response
https://www.thecatalyst.org.uk/covid-digital-fund
... the remaining £3.2m will fund “expert support”
Which friend of Gove and Cummings is that?
... the remaining £3.2m will fund “expert support”
Which friend of Gove and Cummings is that?
Cummings lives about quarter of a mile from me, so might cycle down his road later with my laptop on prominent display.