The Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales is offering small charities grants of up to £100,000 towards their core costs.
The grant-maker has today begun accepting applications from charities in England and Wales with annual incomes of between £25,000 and £1m that are working to address complex social issues such as mental health, homelessness or domestic abuse.
It said a total of £12m is available, with the grant-maker expected to make a total of about 170 grants each year through the fund.
About half of these will be worth up to £100,000 over three years and the other half will be up to £45,000 over the same period.
The foundation said it had refined its grant-making process, with improvements including a continuously open application process and a simplified reporting procedure.
Charities can check if they are eligible for funding and apply for grants through the grant-maker’s updated website. The foundation said it hoped to be able to give a final decision on funding applications within five months.
To be considered for funding, organisations must meet a number of criteria, including having a track record of working with people aged 17 and over, having free reserves of less than 12 months and having delivered services for more than a year.
More details on the grant-maker’s funding criteria can be found here.
Harriet Stranks, director of grants at the foundation, said: “Small charities are undervalued and under more pressure than ever, but they are reaching people and communities that big charities and organisations simply can’t.
“Our ambition is to support small and medium-sized charities over the longer term.
“This gives the charities we partner with greater flexibility over how they use those resources, allows them to build in-depth relationships with us and lets them take advantage of the wide range of development support we offer, including training, consultancy and mentoring.”
For more information and to apply, visit the foundation’s website.