The Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales’s Local Collaborations Programme is currently offering grants of up to £100,000 over 2 years for collaborations led by small charities in England and Wales that are seeking to influence and achieve local or regional change around:
1. Improving the social security system – in particular, making the social security system work better for people facing the greatest challenges by
o Ensuring benefits are not taken away unfairly.
o Improving the quality and appropriateness of employment support to those facing complex issues, and/or
o Increasing the availability of support for people facing crisis/destitution.
2. Improving access to suitable accommodation for people with complex needs, particularly by:
o Improving the affordability of accommodation.
o Improving the appropriateness of accommodation, and/or
o Increasing the availability of accommodation.
3. Improving the appropriateness and availability of support and services for asylum seekers and refugees.
New collaborations where a minimum of 3 partners are working together on a local issue and established collaborations with a partnership agreement may apply for a grant of up to £100,000 over 2 years. The Foundation expects to award approximately 15 grants across England and Wales through its Local Collaborations programme.
Grants can cover activity costs, staffing, core costs where they relate directly to the proposed project and evaluation for a range of influencing activities, including (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
o Activities to engage decision-makers including local authorities, metro mayors, regional bodies, statutory agencies, housing associations, as well as the media and public.
o Actions to Influence social policy.
o Policy development, and
o Research.
Small charity collaborations must:
o Be in a defined local or regional geography that makes sense for the work (town/city, local authority, across counties, region).
o Be led by small and local charities.
o Challenge discrimination and inequalities.
o Have at least three organisations in the partnership.
o Intend to influence an issue/challenge locally that aligns to the programme's themes, and
o Support and enable people with direct experience of the issue to influence change.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the Foundation’s website.
The Expression of Interest deadline is 5pm on Friday 22nd September 2023. Please note that collaborations interested in applying to the programme are strongly advised to contact the Foundation to discuss their proposal by Friday 8th September 2023.
