As the nationwide lockdown continues, charities are in desperate need of financial support. We've provided a round-up of some of the funding options available.

The National Emergencies Trust

The National Emergencies Trust launched a coronavirus fundraising appeal for local charities in March. The British Red Cross is managing donations and distributing over £20m to local charities around the UK.

National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund has committed to give £300m of lottery funding to charities working in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It is releasing up to £300m in National Lottery funding and devoting it entirely to addressing the current crisis.

National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund announced a £50m fund to support the heritage sector in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The fund collates money raised by the National Lottery and will address immediate pressures facing heritage projects in crisis over the next three-six months.
It will offer grants of between £3,000 and £50,000.

The Arts Council

The Arts Council in England announced £144m of National Lottery funding would go towards an emergency response package to support individuals and organisations across the cultural sector in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

The British Film Institute (BFI)

The BFI has made £4.6m of National Lottery funding available to alleviate immediate pressure for organisations and individuals in the screen industries hardest hit by the pandemic, ranging from emergency funding for freelancers whose contracts were suddenly cancelled through to grants for audience facing venues which have unexpectedly had to close.

Arts Council of Wales

Together with the Welsh Government, the Arts Council of Wales has put £5.1m from National Lottery sources into a £7m Arts Resilience Fund for Wales. The fund will provide support for arts funded individuals and organisations to help them through the Coronavirus crisis.

Sport England

Sport England has announced a package for charities totalling £195m. It usually invests more than £250m of National Lottery and public money each year, but will be providing a £20m emergency fund for charities and a further £55m to fund new ways ensuring people remain active.

Sport Wales

Sport Wales has launched a Sport Resilience Fund, with £4.75m from National Lottery sources to support sports clubs and their partner networks ensuring the nation is able to remain active

Creative Scotland

Creative Scotland has repurposed over £10m National Lottery funds to keep funding flowing to those in most immediate need due to the impact of the crisis. Resources have also been redeployed to ensure those working across Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries can maintain their practice during the coming months.

Sportscotland

sportscotland is accelerating £16.4m of investment across the sporting system (£8.2m The National Lottery and £8.2m Scottish government) to support Scottish Governing Bodies (SGBs), local partners and clubs and community organisations.

Small Business Grant Fund

A fund for any charities who receive Small Business Rates Relief, or Rural Rates Relief. Eligible charities can receive up to £10,000 from their local council as a one-off payment to provide some relief during the crisis.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The council has opened a £500,000 National Lottery funded Artists Emergency Programme for freelance artists, creative practitioners and performers. Grants of up to £5,000 each will be used to support the research, design and future presentation of arts event and performance, including resources to help artists develop their creative practices.

John Lewis and Waitrose

John Lewis and Waitrose have launched a £1m community support fund for charities across the UK, to help those in need in local communities.

Barclays

Barclays has launched a £100m community aid package. The fund is made available through the establishment of The Barclays Foundation, which has been set up to initially provide funding for charities working to support people impacted by the pandemic and to help alleviate the associated social and economic hardship.

Hymans Robertson Foundation

The Hymans Robertson Foundation has launched a hardship fund for charities affected by coronavirus. The fund is open to applications from charities that are already funded and supported by the foundation and will offer individual grants of £500 to £5,000. It makes weekly funding decisions based on the urgent needs of vulnerable people and communities as a result of the pandemic.

City Bridge Trust

City Bridge Trust announced emergency funding for 170 small charities across the capital to help support them through the coronavirus pandemic. The London funder is giving grants of up to £15,000 to all of the small charities it supports, which may be having to cope with a sudden loss of income due to Covid-19. Funding worth an estimated £1.25m will be given to all of the organisation' s grantees with a turnover of less than £ 500,000.

CAF

CAF has launched a £5m emergency fund for small charities to reduce the impact of Covid-19. The organisation will fund grants of up to £10,000 to small charities that are directly impacted by the pandemic. Charities with an income of £ 1m or less can apply for the funding. All charities must be registered with the Charity Commission, Scottish Charity Regulator or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Update: This fund has currently been paused following a surge in demand. The organisation hopes to grow the fund further to issue more grants in future.

Big Society Capital

Big Society Capital announced it is launching an emergency loan fund for the charity sector, with around £100m being made available for charities.

Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT)

Thomas Pocklington Trust launched a £500,000 emergency fund to help support charities dedicated to sight loss, which are supporting blind and partially sighted people during the pandemic. It has suspended its usual grant funding activities and will use funds previous allocated to its normal grant programme to fund organisations working on sight loss.

Cadent Foundation

Charities and community groups are able to apply for individual grants from the Cadent Foundation of between £100 and £100,000. It has already committed money to charities including the Trussell Trust, which it gave £240,000 to help food banks respond to Covid-19.

Standard Life Foundation

The Standard Life Foundation has launched coronavirus funding for campaigns, policy and research relating to the pandemic. Charities can apply for grants of any size, although most grants are likely to be between £5,000 and £50,000. It is designed for organisations which improve living standards for those on low-to-middle incomes in the UK.

Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland

The foundation has launched a coronavirus response and recovery fund to help local charities and community organisations in the North recover from the impact of Covid-19. It was launched with an initial £200,000, but businesses, the public and other funders have been able to top this up.

Mental Health Response Fund

The Department of Health and Social Care has made £5m available to mental health providers, which are experiencing an increase in demand for their services due to coronavirus. Small and large grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 are available.

Giant Digital

Giant Digital, a specialist digital agency working with non-profits and ethical organisations, has launched a resource grant worth £20,000 in response to the pandemic. Applications open on Wednesday 29 April and will close at 5pm on Wednesday 6 May. Successful applicants will be notified by Monday 11 May. Applicants will be selected based on where the organisation feels its skills can make the biggest impact, but it encourages all charities to apply - regardless of size, cause or internal resource.

Zurich Community Trust (ZCT)

The charitable arm of Zurich UK has unveiled a £2m support package for charities working to tackle the crisis. The funds will be used to support Zurich's national and local charity partners, including Dementia UK, Alzheimer's UK, The Soup Kitchen (London) and Wiltshire Community Foundation.

This is just a sample of some of the funding available. The list will be updated regularly. ■

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