Lloyds Bank Foundation has launched package of grant funding for small charities looking to link up and collaborate on local or regional issues around supporting people reliant on benefits and asylum seekers and refugees needing suitable housing.

The funder’s Local Collaborations fund aims to help small charities to improve their lobbying on issues around asylum seeker accommodation and improving the social security system.

Collaborations of charities can apply for grants of £100,000 over two years, with the opportunity to exend funding for further year with an additional £50,000.

The Foundation states that the funding “cannot be used to fund direct delivery of services and is exclusively to support partnerships to influence locally and regionally”.

It is only for lobbying around one of the following themes:

• making the social security system work better for those facing the greatest challenges;
• making sure people facing complex issues have access to suitable move-on accommodation;
• improving support and services for asylum seekers and refugees.

Policy makers expected to be lobbied include councils, mayors, regional bodies, housing associations as well as the media and the public.

Application close at 5pm on 22 September. Applicants will be notified of final decisions and grants awarded by the end of February and work is expected to start within three months of the grant award.

“A decade of austerity, the impact of the pandemic and the heightened pressures of the cost of living are making life much harder for people, widening inequality and deepening trauma,” said the Foundation.

“We’ve seen time and again the huge difference small local charities make to our communities and people within them. Their deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of the people they support means they are best placed to make a difference where others can’t.

“But small charities can’t do it alone. So many already have strong relationships, partnering with other charities, grassroots organisations, community groups, and local partners to support people facing complex issues and barriers.

“Building impactful collaborations that push for the change needed to make a positive impact on people’s lives takes time, resource and perseverance but it’s needed more than ever.”

This local lobbying collaboration funding from the Foundation follows the launch in March of an earlier tranche of funding, to help charities improve their national lobbying efforts. This offered grants of between £30,000 and £150,000. Applications for this process closed in May.

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