In response to the Cost-of-Living Crisis, the Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity has brought forward its usual September grant round to earlier in the summer. It opened on Monday June 20th and will close on Friday 22nd July 2022 or as soon as 40 applications have been received, whichever is the sooner.
The theme for this round is 'Developing Resilience' and will focus on supporting organisations that provide urgent money guidance and emergency debt help."
Projects should focus on:
o Building financial capability skills for those who need it most, and
o Urgent money guidance and emergency debt help to those in need of support through the cost-of-living crisis.
The MSE Charity is particularly interested in funding projects which use memorable, innovative, and or creative ways of delivering financial life skills which will make a lasting impact on the way people think, behave and manage their money.
The MSE Charity is a modest grant-making charity that makes a limited number of awards each year. For example, in the September 2020 round, the Charity made 9 grants totalling £58,467.
Grants of up to £7,500 are available. While matched funding is not essential, applicants applying for a project with a total value of over £7,500 will be expected to demonstrate where the remainder of the funding will come from. Full-cost recovery can be included in an application, but must only relate to the project being applied for (rather than ongoing or core running costs). This free to access page on the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) website provides an explanation of full-cost recovery.
Funding is not available for:
o Capital equipment such as laptops, projectors or other electronic devices.
o Projects that only provide debt advice/management, or
o Statutory agencies.
Further information, guidance, an Eligibility Quiz and an online application form can be found on the MSE Charity website.
The deadline for the September 2022 is Friday 22nd July 2022.
The theme for the next round, called “'Raising the Next Generation”, which will open in January 2023 unless brought forward, will be for projects that enable young people aged under 25 to learn financial life skills and to grow during the difficult financial climate.
