We are delighted to have awarded 27 grants totalling over £352,000 in our second funding round of 2024.
After reviewing 139 Expressions of Interest received, 67 organisations were invited to submit a full application. A total of 62 applications were received of which 27 were awarded funding with grants ranging from £1,000 to £25,000 over 1-2 years.
We are delighted to have awarded 30 grants totalling over £388,000 in our first round this year.
After receiving 185 Expression of Interest, 131 organisations were invited to submit a full application and, after a rigorous assessment and scoring process, 30 were eventually successful with grants rangingd from £1000 to £25,000 over 1-2 years.
The Wharfedale Foundation was established in 2009 and has distributed grants totalling more than £300,000 to date.
When the Foundation was originally set up the founders were clear in their intention to support a broad range of causes tackling isolation and exclusion, integrating marginalised groups and tacking disadvantage all to pursue their aim of building stronger, more inclusive communities.
Over the ensuing years the Trustees have pursued this approach and continued to support charities with similar aims and objectives to those organisations originally funded by the founding trustees.
Furthermore, a steadfast commitment to provide unrestricted core funding has been at the forefront of the provision of grants with minimal reporting required, thus entrusting the organisations supported to continue to deliver their objectives.
With the unprecedented recent effects on society, through the pandemic and current cost of living crisis, there is a stark increase in the dependence being placed upon civil society as a source of intervention.
With the acknowledgement that there is much immediate need for financial support the Trustees have decided to act now by concentrating on the spending of the Trust’s remaining resources within a specific timeframe.
This will be achieved by providing a limited number of larger grants over the next two years to have a greater impact on the sustainability of struggling smaller grassroots organisations and projects.
Uell Kennedy, the chair of Trustees said, ‘’By adopting a spend down strategy this will focus the trustees to utilise the resources of the Foundation in a targeted way to achieve the Trust’s objectives at a time of unparalleled need.’’
The Trustees have therefore developed a strategy for the phased final distribution.
The government has launched the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund (CCLF), which will be delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF).
The £76 million package of funding aims to maintain and expand support for people and communities under severe pressure because of the increased cost of living, by distributing grants to critical frontline services seeing increased demand and increased delivery costs. This funding is for organisations that support people and communities under severe pressure because of the increased cost of living. The main priority is to fund organisations supporting low-income households and individuals and grants are between £10,000 and £75,000.
The full details can be found here.
The think tank, New Philanthropy Capital, has released the first in a series of briefings for charities, funders and policy-makers on how environmental change and policies affect different people. The first briefing focuses on young people. It found that:
• environmental crises will harm not only young people’s physical and mental health, but also their education, development, and income.
• Young people on low incomes are more likely to be affected by the changing environment than their more affluent peers, with those from ethnic minority communities and disabled young people disproportionately represented in low-income households.
Read the report here: NPC resource hub
The National Lottery Community Fund has published a new report about distributing funding to communities where existing social infrastructure or capacity is low, and is affecting the achievement of long-term goals. The report summarises 10 approaches taken across the UK, many in areas marked as priority one on the Government’s Levelling Up Fund index. Read the report here.
Nearly 30 civil society organisations have joined forces to call on the independent public inquiry into the pandemic to investigate the role structural racism played during the pandemic. The letter points to recent data showing that almost all minority ethnic groups died disproportionately from Covid-19 and highlights the fact that the pandemic is not just a health crisis, but also a social and economic crisis.
The full letter can be read here: The Runnymede Trust | News – Bereaved families and civil society organisations call for structural racism to be explicitly interrogated in the COVID-19 Inquiry
A report by NCVO
NCVO’s annual Road Ahead analysis of the changing operating environment for anyone working in the voluntary sector has been released.
Unsurprisingly, the cost-of-living crisis is expected to continue having an impact on the voluntary sector in 2023. The analysis from the Road Ahead predicts that the voluntary sector will face a number of challenges in terms of recruitment and retention of staff and volunteers. Funders supporting wellbeing will be crucial this year as many charity leaders are worried about burnout in their teams.
Strengthening equity, diversity and inclusion in the voluntary sector will continue to be high on the agenda. Research by NCVO, Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University found that nearly four out of five voluntary organisations had plans to address equity diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and over half had revised their EDI approach since March 2020. However, there is still much more to be done, from changing how organisations are run and widening reach to challenging the root causes of inequalities. The Road Ahead analysis concludes that the sector must continue to focus on building inclusive spaces and using data to gain new insights into inequalities and disparities in the communities they serve.
Read the NCVOs report and associated articles here: The Road Ahead 2023: Supporting staff, trustees and volunteers | NCVO
For further 2023 cost-of-living information, read the Resolution Foundation’s Living Standards Outlook Report 2023
Charity Aid Foundation’s (CAF) annual survey of charity leaders was published last week, revealing that 58% of the charity leaders surveyed said that their number one challenge was to generate income and achieve financial sustainability. 21% of charities said they planned to use charity reserve funds to cover income shortfalls rather than for capital expenditure – this was twice as many as in 2019 (10%).
The second challenge facing charity leaders is meeting demand for services (30%), followed by a reduction in public/government funding (26%). Despite these challenges, the majority of charity leaders 81% are optimistic about the future of their organisation. When it comes to demand for charities’ services, most leaders (86%) expected demand to continue to increase following the pandemic. 80% were confident they could meet this demand, but were less optimistic about the wider sector, especially around government support for the sector
For a limited period, we are focusing on funding organisations that seek to help disadvantaged marginalised groups in their communities who are most affected and isolated by the pandemic. Groups might include refugees and asylum seekers and others affected by poverty and isolation. For a limited time, you won’t need to have a special project for us to fund. Instead, we might consider funding your day-to-day work or expenses if you are helping these disadvantaged groups and making a real difference.
Our overall funding approach remains:
If you annual income is less than £100,000 and you are in Yorkshire or the Humber you can apply. We have simplified our application process. There is now only one stage and one application form!