Small charities supporting people with complex social issues will be able to apply for two-year grants of £50,000 from the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales’s new Covid Recovery Fund from next week.
The £7.4m fund will open for applications on 3 August, for charities across England and Wales with an annual income of between £25,000 and £1m .
Eligible organisations must be working to tackle complex social issues such as mental health, homelessness or domestic abuse, and must have a proven track record of helping people achieve positive change in their local communities, the foundation said in a statement.
Funding will be offered to 140 charities, and at least a quarter of the money will be allocated to charities led by and for black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities.
The foundation said ring-fencing funds would help “to ensure that the funding is distributed equitably to the charities that are best placed to serve the communities that need it most”.
The statement said: “We know there is an explicit link between the vast majority of our complex social issues and racial injustice, and that these intersecting inequalities are best addressed by the small charities that are rooted in the communities they serve.”
Each grant will be accompanied by dedicated organisational development support, in the form of a development partner, who will work with grantees for a year to help them identify and address their organisational needs.
“These last few months have been immensely trying for the voluntary sector, yet small and local charities are continuing to help the people that need them most,” Paul Streets, chief executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation, said.
“They have been developing innovative ways of reaching people, adapting their service delivery models, forming strong partnerships with local agencies to coordinate support and so much more.”
He added: “Covid-19 has also shone a light on the historic and structural inequalities of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. As a funder, we have a responsibility to respond to the needs of minoritised people by supporting the charities that know and understand them best.”
The fund will be open for applications from 10am on 3 August until 5pm on 11 September. A Q&A webinar with the members of the foundation’s grants team will take place at 2pm on 11 August.
More information can be found here.