Funding Round-up – Grants & Support for Individuals (Part 3), Autumn 2023

MVA offer a further collection of announcements focusing on themes of funding and support for Individuals aimed at helping charities and similar groups continue their work.

Whilst every effort has been made to provide up-to-date information, due to the varying nature and progress of public policies and other related activity, MVA do advise that some of the details below may have changed since the time of its issue and ask that readers please check with each organisation’s website for the latest news.

Green Doctors Project from Groundwork
Green Doctors can provide advice and support for households in Kent and Medway; helping them stay warm and save money on their home energy bills.

Enabled by Groundwork, they can deliver free and balanced energy advice based on a resident’s household and circumstances, offering one-to-one consultation (by phone or home visit) at a time convenient to that resident.

For more information, visit the Green Doctors website or call 0800 233 5255. You can also email them at greendoctorsouth@groundwork.org.uk.

The Essential Living Fund from Glasspool Charity Trust
The Glasspool Charity Trust is one of the few national charities offering grants to individuals which have no restrictions on the type of beneficiary: They say their funding is open to any UK resident.

The Trust says they aim to provide timely, life-enhancing support to people in need: Short-term involvement for long-term impact.

The Trust can provide small, one-off grants to individuals and families in need of financial support for everyday items to help them set up or remain in their home or improve their overall well-being.

The Trust do specify they cannot accept enquiries from individuals directly, advising that applications should be through working with front-line advice and social care agencies who are offering a package of support.

They also suggest exploring other funders through the Turn2us funding portal to help individuals and families in need of financial support.

At the time of writing, there was no recognised deadline, suggesting this is a Continuous Rolling Programme and applications can be accepted at any time.

More information and how to apply can be found at the Glasspool Charity Trust website.

Hardship Help for Families in Kent (KCC/LCPG)
Produced by Kent County Council (KCC) on behalf of the Local Children’s Partnership Groups (LCPG) this Directory of Support is designed for families experiencing hardship, and aims to make it easier for service partners to help families get the right support, at the right time, and in the right way.

The producers say the Directory focuses on practical help for families facing hardship; but do recognise that hardship can also impact on individual wellbeing and family functioning too.

So, their resources of available support are growing regularly, and the Producers also say their Directory of Services and area Bulletins could help identify the right services for the families that Support Agencies are working with.

To use the Directory or find out more, visit the Directory portal.

Help for Households from UK Government
The Government has a dedicated web platform offering support for individuals to help with the Cost-of-Living crisis.

The Platform offers various support to help with the Cost-of-Living, and save money with their energy saving tips, including:

• Information about Cost-of-Living payments
• Guidance to Save Energy and Lower Bills
• Support with Mortgage Payments
• Details of available support for disabled or those who have a health condition, and
• Support with Household costs

The platform also offers mental health support provided through the NHS’s Every Mind Matters campaign to help with any anxiety that may be caused by the crisis.

More information is available on the UK Government website.

Local grant giver and community support organisation Kent Community Foundation (KCF) also has services that can offer support to individuals and families in need. To find out more, you can contact KCF on 01303 814 500.

MVA continues its efforts to provide coverage of local and national news and events from the Voluntary and Charity Sector.

If you would like to see coverage of specific news or subject to help your charity, your project, your community group or enterprise, you can get in touch by email at info@mva.org.uk, you can also contact MVA via the website.