VCSE Cost of Living Crisis Fund

Closing date

The VCSE Cost of Living Crisis Fund aims to help charities, community organisations and community interest companies that are struggling with the increasing cost of delivering services due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The fund will award grants of between £2,000 to £4,000, which can be used towards an organisations' increased running costs for the next year.

Charities, constituted community organisations, or community interest companies limited by guarantee; with an annual income of up to £600,000 can apply to this fund.

Organisations need to be based in Newcastle or Gateshead and should be improving the health and wellbeing of local people in Newcastle and / or Gateshead.

The total amount of funding that is available from the NHS in grants is £285,000, and we expect to make between 71 and 142 grants.

You can see the full Frequently Asked Questions here

 

Who can apply?

To be able to apply to this fund your organisation should be doing work that improves the health and wellbeing of local people in Newcastle and / or Gateshead.

Below are examples of some of the types of work that you might be undertaking:

  • Tackling health issues: You might be helping people to improve their health through diet, exercise, or working on alcohol or drugs reduction or abstinence. You could also be tackling loneliness, isolation, or supporting people to improve their mental health. 
  • Preventative work: You might be undertaking work that helps to build on communities’ strengths and to combat poor mental health. You might be encouraging children to stay active or working with older people to ensure they have friendship networks.
  • Reducing health inequalities: You could also be working on the wider determinants of ill health and be reducing health inequalities, by working on projects that have health benefits. You could be providing active local transport, sustainable food production, or zero carbon houses.

Organisations must meet all the criteria below to be eligible to apply:

  • Either be a registered charity, constituted community organisation, or a community interest company limited by guarantee;
  • Undertake activities that are charitable and legal (but your organisation does not have to be a registered charity);
  • Have an annual income of £600,000 or less (this will be judged by looking at your organisation’s most recent set of annual accounts);
  • Have unrestricted reserves of no more than 12 months expenditure (this will be judged by looking at your organisation's most recent set of annual accounts);
  • Be based in Newcastle or Gateshead (judged by your organisation's registered address)
  • Your organisation must be improving the health and wellbeing of people in Newcastle and/or Gateshead;
  • Have a written governing document (such as a constitution, articles of association or a set of rules);
  • Have a governing body with at least 3 unrelated members;
  • Have a UK based bank or building society account in the name of the organisation with at least two unrelated signatories;
  • Have an appropriate safeguarding policy in place (every organisation that undertakes charitable work has a duty to safeguard volunteers, staff members, participants and donors).

We will prioritise organisations that are:

  • Smaller organisations with lower annual income levels;
  • Organisations working in the top 10% most deprived areas of Newcastle or Gateshead (we will use the 2019 Index of Multiple deprivation to assess this);
  • Organisations that are particularly badly impacted by increasing costs (those organisations which have running costs that have increased significantly and where the organisations reserves are low).

How much can you apply for?

Organisations can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £4,000 to cover additional running costs for the next year.

What sort of work will we fund? / costs cover?

Increases in any of the following costs can be funded through this grant fund: staff costs; utilities such as energy costs; rent; food and drink; increased transport costs. You can also apply to fund other running costs if you have seen these costs increase significantly recently.  

What cannot be funded?

  • organisations that do not meet our eligibility criteria
  • responsibilities of statutory agencies
  • profit-making work
  • party political activity                    
  • activities promoting religious beliefs         
  • work outside the UK
  • applications from individuals
  • overseas travel                                                                            
  • interest payments on loans                                  
  • building purchase
  • costs that your organisation has already incurred (‘retrospective costs’)        

How much funding is available?

The fund has a grants budget of £285,000 and we anticipate making between 71 and 142 grants.

How to apply

To apply, please complete our brief online application form by 4pm on Thursday 15th of September.  

***Please be aware that you will need to complete the application in a single sitting. You will be unable to resume your application if you close it before submitting, and your progress will be lost.

We regret that we are unable to accept late applications. We encourage you to submit your application form before the closing date. We would like to get grants out to organisation’s as soon as possible and we will make some grants before the fund closes.

Connected Voice will also be hosting an Information, Question and Answer webinar on Friday 19th August at 1pm, to help applicants develop their applications.  Please register for the event here.

How to get help

We encourage you to contact us if you have any queries about applying, or any problems you might have with accessibility. When you send in your email please provide your organisation name and contact name. If you would like to speak to someone also include your contact telephone number. We will do our very best to respond to your queries as soon as possible, we can usually reply within a couple of days

If you have a problem with filling out the online application form, please email the Connected Voice Support and Development team on connect@connectedvoice.org.uk

If you need some additional support to apply, or you have any questions about the fund, please email grants@connectedvoice.org.uk

 

How decisions will be made

The applications that are received will be reviewed and assessed by Connected Voice. A grants panel made up of voluntary organisations that represent the voluntary sector on the Newcastle Gateshead Clinical Commissioning group will decide on those applications that will be recommended for funding. None of the organisations involved in the decision-making process will be eligible to apply to the fund.

Application timetable

Fund opens 

Thursday 11th August at 9am

Fund closes

4pm on Thursday 15th of September

All applicants will be notified by

Friday 19th of November

 

Application form questions and guidance on how to answer them. This is to allow you to see the questions in advance. To make an application you need to visit here 

No 

Question

Guidance

Section 1 – Eligibility criteria

Questions 1 – 5 are about your organisation, to check that you are eligible for this fund.

1

Is your organisation a registered charity, CIC or a constituted community organisation?

Yes / No answer

2

Is your organisation based in either Newcastle or Gateshead?

Yes / No answer

3

Does your organisation undertake health or wellbeing work in Newcastle and/or Gateshead?

Yes / No answer

4

Does your organisation have an annual income of under £600,000?

Yes / No answer

5

Does your organisation have unrestricted reserves of no more than 12 months expenditure?

Yes / No answer

Section 2 Documents

In this section, please upload the supporting documents that have been requested.

     6)Last set of annual accounts for the organisation (these should be signed)

Please upload the last set of annual accounts for your organisation (these are sometimes called annual accounts). These accounts should be final and signed.

     7)Your organisation’s safeguarding policy(ies)

Please upload your organisation’s safeguarding policy or policies here.

     8)Your organisation’s governing document (such as a constitution or a set of rules) Please upload your organisation’s governing document here.

If you are struggling to upload your documents please email: connect@connectedvoice.org.uk

 

Section 3 – Organisation Details

9

Name of organisation

Put the name of your organisation in this box. This should be the name that your organisation is registered under with bodies like the Charity Commission. 

10

Name of main contact

Please include the name of the person who can be contacted about the application here.

11

Email address of main contact

Please include the email address of the person who can be contacted about the application here.

12

Phone number of main contact

Please include the phone number of the person who can be contacted about the application here.

13

Organisation’s postal address

Please include the postal address of your organisation here. Your organisation needs to be based in either Newcastle or Gateshead to apply to this fund.

14

Organisation type

Please select one of the following types of organisation here. Your organisation must be either a registered charity / Community Interest company (limited by guarantee), or a constituted community organisation.

15

Charity or CIC number

If your organisation is a charity or a Community Interest Company please include your registration number here. If you are a community organisation leave this section blank.

 

Section 4: About your organisation

16

Please write a short paragraph which outlines what your organisation does.

Use this section to explain what your organisation does. You could tell us things like what you were set up to do, what you are trying to achieve, what you do and who it is for (your beneficiaries) (150 words).

17

Please tell us more about the health and wellbeing work that your organisation does in Newcastle and/or Gateshead (include any details of activities, services and who you work with).

Tell us more about the health and wellbeing work your organisation does, who you work with, how many people you support, what you do and the difference your work makes (150 words).

18

Please tell us how the cost of living crisis has affected your organisation. Include any costs that have increased and by how much, using percentages or actual costs (This question is not about how the cost of living crisis has affected the people who come to you for help).

Explain how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting your organisation. Tell us things like which of your costs have gone up, by how much (figures or percentages is fine). Also tell us how this is affecting your work – you might have had to reduce the hours you’re open, or offer fewer services, or maybe you’ve had to turn the heating down.

19

Does your organisation work in any areas in Newcastle or Gateshead that are in the top 10% most deprived? (these are in the top 10% most deprived on the Index of Multiple Deprivation).

Yes / No. You can find a list of wards in questions 20 and 21 that show areas that are in the top 10% most deprived in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2019.  If you work in any of these areas, answer yes and then answer question 20 and 21. If you answer no, then move onto question 22.

20

Newcastle wards

These wards have areas in them that contain the top 10% most deprived areas (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019). If your organisation works in any of these wards, please tick the wards that you work in.

This question includes a list of ward names. If your organisation works in any of these wards, please tick the wards that you work in. You can find ward maps for Newcastle by following the link below:

Newcastle ward map

 

21

Gateshead wards

These wards have areas in them that contain the top 10% most deprived areas (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019). If your organisation works in any of these wards, please tick the wards that you work in.

This question includes a list of ward names. If your organisation works in any of these wards, please tick the wards that you work in. You can find ward maps for Gateshead by following the link below:

Gateshead ward map

 

Section 5 Financial information:

Please use the following section to provide financial information about your organisation. Questions 22 – 27 relate to your organisation’s accounts for the last complete financial year. Questions 28 – 32 relate to your organisation’s year to date (current financial year).

 

The last set of annual accounts for your organisation (sometimes called annual accounts) should have been signed off by your trustee board or management committee (they should not be in draft form).

22

Last financial year end date:

Please tell us the end date for your organisation’s last complete financial year. Your financial year must be a twelve-month period but may be different to a calendar year.

23

Total income for the last financial year:

Please write your organisation’s total income for the last complete financial year. To be eligible for this fund your organisation should have an annual income of £600,000 or less in your last complete financial year.

24

Total expenditure for the last financial year:

Please write your organisation’s total expenditure for the last complete financial year.

25

Total restricted reserves for the last financial year:

Please write your organisation’s total restricted reserves for the last complete financial year. Restricted reserves are funds that your organisation holds, which must be spent in a particular way.

26

Total unrestricted reserves for the last financial year:

Please write your organisation’s unrestricted reserves for the last financial year. Unrestricted reserves are funds that can be spent on things that advance your organisation’s purpose, in agreement with your management committee or trustee board. To be eligible for this fund you must have unrestricted reserves of no more than 12 months expenditure.

27

Please tell us if there is anything of note about your organisation’s accounts for the end of the last complete financial year.

If there is anything you need to highlight in your organisation’s accounts, then please include it here. This could include things like operating surpluses or deficits, or about your reserves. This question is optional. If you don’t have anything to include, please leave this blank.

28

Total income for the year to date (current financial year)

Please write your organisation’s total income for the year to date (current financial year).

29

Total expenditure for the year to date (current financial year)

Please write your organisation’s total expenditure for the year to date (current financial year).

30

Total restricted reserves for the year to date (current financial year).

Please write your organisation’s total restricted reserves for the year to date (current financial year). Restricted reserves are funds that your organisation holds, which must be spent in a particular way.

31

Total unrestricted reserves for the year to date (current financial year).

Please write your organisation’s total unrestricted reserves for the year to date (current financial year). Unrestricted reserves are funds that can be spent on things that advance your organisation’s purpose, in agreement with your management committee or trustee board.

32

Please tell us if there is anything of note about your organisation’s accounts for the year to date (current financial year)

This question is optional, you can use this space if there is anything in your accounts for the current financial year that you want to highlight. This might include information around any surpluses, deficits or your reserves.

Section 6: Budget In this section, please tell us the amount of funding that you are requesting and provide a breakdown of how your organisation would spend this money.

33

Total amount of funding

Put the total amount of money you are requesting here. The total amount you request must be between £2,000 and £4,000.

34

Please tell us how you will use this funding.

Please provide a breakdown of how you will spend the grant that your organisation receives. If you would like to apply for any other running costs that have increased because of the cost-of-living crisis you can include these in the “Other” box. Please also explain what these costs are for.

 

APPLICATION FORM ENDS