BSSEC » Grants & funding

SCVO’s ‘Meet the Funder’ event makes a welcome return for 2017

October 27, 2017

This, just in from Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)… Having taken a year out in 2016, Wednesday 22nd November sees the return of SCVO’s Meet the Funder event for 2017. With a focus on Social Capital and Social Investment, this year’s conference and

Continue Reading →

USE IT! programme opens social enterprise challenge with £3K awards; also, forthcoming awareness workshops

September 28, 2017

This news just in from iSE… USE IT! Programme — social enterprise challenge iSE is delighted to announce that applications for the USE IT Challenge are now OPEN. The USE IT Challenge offers existing social enterprises the opportunity to WIN an award of £3,000 to help

Continue Reading →

HS2 announces Community and Environment Fund

September 13, 2017

HS2 in conjunction with the Department for Transport and Groundwork has just announced £40m in funding to help projects aimed at minimising the disruption to local communities arising from phase one HS2 construction. There is an existing Business & Local Economy Fund (aimed specif

Continue Reading →

West Midlands Academic Health Science Network — ‘Celebration of Innovation’ awards now open

February 15, 2017

West Midlands Academic Health Science Network’s (WMAHSN) annual Celebration of Innovation Awards will be formally launched today (15 February) at the Merdian LIVE event. Following on from the success of last year’s awards — which saw more than 80 entries from ac

Continue Reading →

Save Our Support plans second lobby against cuts to services for most vulnerable

February 01, 2017

Birmingham Changing Futures Together is one of the organisations co-ordinating opposition to the cuts currently planned for the city’s various Supporting people services (see earlier post). It has just issued the following statement: I am writing to you asking for your support f

Continue Reading →

New funding for small charities and VCOs in Birmingham and the Black Country

October 19, 2016

The Heart of England Community Foundation (HoECF) has just announced that its new Birmingham and Black Country Communities Fund is now open for applications. This fund is aimed at small (income under £50,000 p.a.) charities and voluntary and community groups across Birmingham and the

Continue Reading →

Funding opportunities in health, tech, young people and older people’s care

October 11, 2016

Here’s a selection of funding opportunities we’ve picked up from various bulletins and newsletters over the past couple of weeks: 1. The Nominet Trust’s Social Tech Seed is an open grant-funding programme that offers entrepreneurial organisations early-stage investm

Continue Reading →

HLF launches new £10m grants programme to help 11-25s engage with heritage

September 29, 2016

The Heritage Lottery Fund yesterday launched a £10m pilot programme and is inviting groups of charities and other organisations to apply for funding. The Kick the Dust programme aims “to make heritage relevant and inclusive for 11 to 25 year olds” and is inviting consortia of three or

Continue Reading →

Government announces £80m ‘Life Chances Fund’

July 04, 2016

The Cabinet Office has just today announced that as part of the Prime Minister’s life chances strategy a new £80m Life Chances Fund has been opened and will continue for the next nine years. The fund is described as a “top-up fund” for locally developed Social Impact

Continue Reading →

Santander launches £2.5m small grants programme

March 22, 2016

The Santander Foundation — Santander’s community grants and funding arm — has just been relaunched as The Discovery Foundation with a new £2.5m programme of small grants of up to £5,000 for charities, CICs, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises. The g

Continue Reading →

NatWest SE100 announces 2015 awards — over £30,000 will be won

July 28, 2015

Each year The NatWest SE100 Index recognises social enterprises listed in the Index that have demonstrated some of the best business practice within the sector. In 2014 five social enterprises were awarded £32,500 in prize money – and this year there again five NatWest SE100 awards to

Continue Reading →

BLF announces ‘Help Through Crisis’ fund of £30m

July 06, 2015

The Big Lottery Fund has just announced a new ‘Help Through Crisis‘ programme worth £30m aimed at “projects that draw on the strengths and personal experiences of people facing hardship so that they can overcome immediate difficulties and be ready for opportunities a

Continue Reading →

Office for Civil Society announces £20m local sustainability fund

June 25, 2015

NCVO chief exec Stuart Etherington has just circulated an email stating: I’ve just been chairing the Minister for Civil Society’s first keynote speech since the election. The major announcement was the launch of a £20m local sustainability fund… The fund will provide

Continue Reading →

Paul Hamlyn Foundation announces new £2m fund to tackle social issues

June 23, 2015

Third Sector Online has just announced that the Paul Hamlyn Foundation is to launch a new £2m fund aimed at enabling people with “big ideas” to develop activities and ideas that can help tackle major social issues. The Ideas and Pioneers Fund will support “people who

Continue Reading →

Power to Change announces “initial grants programme” criteria

May 01, 2015

Further to this post, Power to Change, the new Big Lottery-backed fund supporting community businesses in England, has just announced that the criteria for what it is calling its first “initial grants programme”. “The initial grants programme see will up to £9m of gr

Continue Reading →

Comic Relief ‘Tech for Good’ fund targets non-profits

April 15, 2015

Comic Relief has just launched Tech for Good, a one-off fund offering grants of up to £60,000 to not-for-personal-profit organisations using digital technology to create social change by delivering new ideas or more effective services. The programme is specifically targeted at not-for

Continue Reading →

Birmingham Post Growth Fund offers grants for businesses

February 20, 2015

The Birmingham Post Growth Fund, in partnership with Bournville College, is now open again for applications. The scheme, which is financed through the Regional Growth Fund, provides grant funding to help businesses grow and create sustainable new jobs. Companies can bid for grants of

Continue Reading →

Santander/UnLtd social enterprise development awards 2015

February 17, 2015

The Santander/UnLtd Social Enterprise Development Awards (SEDA) programme for 2015 is open for applications! Working in partnership Santander and UnLtd are providing support to ambitious social ventures with future high growth potential and intensive acceleration services for ventures

Continue Reading →

Big Lottery Fund announces ‘Power to Change’ endowment of £150m

January 22, 2015

The Big Lottery Fund has just announced that it has endowed £150m to the new trust set up to run Power to Change, the new fund supporting community enterprises. The announcement coincides with the publication of a new report on the community enterprise sector published by Social Finan

Continue Reading →

Bibsy Bananas is latest in surge of social enterprises to take up loan finance

September 11, 2014

by Steve Walker

ART (Aston Reinvestment Trust), a social enterprise itself, has been lending to social enterprises since it started in 1997. In recent years, perhaps not surprisingly in view of the challenging economic environment and huge public sector spending cuts, very few have come forward look

Continue Reading →

12 3

BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL SOCIAL ECONOMY CONSORTIUM C.I.C., trading as BSSEC. A community interest company registered in England and Wales with company no. 07992674. Registered office: c/o Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES | All rights reserved | Copyright 2013-BSSEC | Created by Citizen Click