Supporting organisations across the North East with grants up to £25,000 to change, survive, adapt and grow

1. About the Growth and Resilience Fund

The Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland developed the Fund in partnership with NorthStar Foundation, County Durham Community Foundation and The Mercers’ Company to support excellent north east charities and social enterprise organisations which want to change, survive, adapt and grow so they can better address needs in communities.

The Fund aims to make grants of £5-£25k and provide access to non-monetary support via existing Community Foundation initiatives (e.g.  pro-bono support  and TrusteeMatch) and external schemes.

In addition, the Fund will also support some groups who are unsuccessful in getting a grant but are identified as one that would benefit from some consultancy/development support. These will be identified from the main grants programme. This support cannot be applied for separately.

2. Who is eligible for a grant?

Applications are sought from charitable organisations and social enterprises in line with standard Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland eligibility and exclusion criteria who are:

• Working in the North East (Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley area with priority given to those working in Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland, County Durham and the Tees Valley.
• Priority will be given to those organisations with a turnover under £500k, however the Fund is open to organisations with an average annual turnover of between £100k and £1m.

Applicants MUST demonstrate that the application is driven by the lead staff person in the organisation (CEO etc.)

3. What are grants available for?

North east charities and social enterprises can apply for support to cover the costs of activities that help them change, survive, adapt and grow so they can better address needs in communities. To this end groups could be looking at any of the following areas to develop though this is not an exhaustive list:

• Exploration of new income generation opportunities/expansion of existing activities.
• Takeover of community assets or to bring assets to life
• Expansion of existing activities
• Formal partnerships/mergers but not TUPE costs.
• Restructuring of management or services
• Board development/governance reviews and improvements
• Leadership development (e.g. mentoring programme or learning visits for CEO)
• Strategic business and financial planning
• Piloting of new approaches/services
• Introduction of service efficiencies

An example of what grants could be used to:

• Act as bridging finance so organisations can get from A to B with continuity of service/staff
• Contribute to core costs during change period
• Support investment in digital or operational restructures/streamlining
• Finance research on approaches and opportunities including new income streams, collaborations, mergers etc.
• Cover the costs of external consultants, trainers, facilitators, researchers etc.
• Resource new equipment/facility improvements where linked to service adaptation/expansion
• Support legal and other professional advice costs

4. What size grants will the fund make?

Grants of up between £5,000 and £25,000 will be available and can be used over one or two years, commencing April 2019. If required, non-monetary support for grant recipients will be agreed when offers are made.

5. Application process

There is a two-stage application process. 

Stage One – Expression of Interest

The first stage is to provide apply online using the form provided via the "Apply Online" button above. 

Your application form needs to outline how you intend to use a grant to help your organisation change, adapt and grow so it can better address needs in communities. If you would like to work with consultants and have already identified them, please include this within your information.

The deadline for submitting an application is 9am Monday 10 December 2018

Stage two – Panel Presentation

Applicants selected following stage 1 will be invited to present to a panel made up of the partners in the week commencing 4 March 2019. Applicants will be asked to talk about their plans for 10-15 minutes which will be followed by up to 15 minutes of questions and discussions with the panel.

Following stage two, successful applicants will be required to meet with one of the partners to further identify any consultancy needs they may require. Unsuccessful applicants may be offered support for consultancy and development if appropriate.