Since 2009, the People’s Postcode Trust has awarded over £11 million to 1600 projects across Great Britain.  During 2016, the Trust will be changing the remit of its Small Grants Programme, with two rounds opening to all constituted voluntary and community organisations, registered charities, social enterprises and community interest companies in England, Scotland and Wales.

Applications will now only be invited for projects that focus on the following themes:

– Prevention of poverty.
– Healthy living initiatives.
– Upholding human rights.
– Facilitating reconciliation projects which help disadvantaged or at-risk groups.

Examples of projects which may fit within the Trust’s new criteria include:

– Training programmes to boost skills and opportunities for disadvantaged people, including volunteer training programmes aimed at providing skills to the long-term unemployed.
– Projects that tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour and homelessness, including projects aimed at at-risk young people or young people leaving care.
– Projects that support at-risk families, providing and early intervention to help tackle family breakdown.
– Programmes that improve the physical and mental health of disadvantaged groups, enabling them to live more fulfilling lives.
– Programmes that promote human rights and empower disadvantaged groups enabling them to create a better life for themselves.
– Provision of services around domestic violence centres or refugee advice centres.
– Projects that bring different groups of people together in a way that promotes understanding of differences and promotes justice, including programmes that promote migrant rights and help groups integrate into new environments.

Grants range from £500 to £20,000 for those in Scotland and England, and up to £10,000 for those in Wales, and can be used for:

– Purchase of capital items and equipment.
– Staffing/training costs of up to 50% of total amount requested.
– Running costs of up to 20% of the total amount requested.
– Volunteer expenses up to 25% of the total amount requested.
– Marketing costs of up to 10% of the total amount requested.
– Building renovations that have an ecological or wider impact on the services an organisation can provide.

The first round is due to open on 1 May 2016 with a deadline of 31 May 2016. The second round will open on 1 September 2016 with a deadline of 30 September 2016.

http://www.postcodetrust.org.uk/