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Here’s a guide to receiving our Funding News emails, it also includes details of how you can search for funders that we’ve written about previously.

Grow YOUR COMMUNITY with Esh is a scheme funded through the Esh Group construction company. Grants of £1,000 maximum are available for groups across South and West Yorkshire - two awards will be made in each district, so eight will come to South Yorkshire. Projects should fit Esh Group’s core values:

• Help bring people in neighbourhoods and communities closer together
• Improve quality of life for local residents
• Support people who are disadvantaged or vulnerable communities
• Help to increase people’s prospects of becoming employed
• Involve minority and hard to reach groups
• Promote healthy living, sustainability and promote equality

The Trust will support ongoing or new projects. Full details, along with the guidance notes and application forms are on the website; completed forms must be posted to the Trust.

Deadline: 13 August 2012.
Contact: Esh Group Community Team, 3360 The Pentagon, Century Way, Thorpe Parke, Leeds, LS15 8ZB
Website: http://www.eshgroup.co.uk/corporate-responsibility/community/gycwithesh/

SYFAB is running free funding surgeries for groups in Doncaster - you can book a one hour appointment with a funding adviser to talk about any issue connected with funding - how to choose the right funder, what to say in an application form, or just find out how funding works, and where to start.

The next two dates for this are 28 May and 25 June, at Doncaster CVS offices, near the station. You need to book an appointment.

Contact: SYFAB
Telephone: 0114 249 4343
Email: advice@syfab.org.uk

The Sheffield Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DATT) are inviting you to step into their Dragons’ Lair…

DATT have grants of up to £5,000 for innovative ideas that could help structure people’s time and support recovery for people with drug and alcohol problems.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity please contact Tracey Ford or Simon Finney, their contact details are below.

You can request an application form and guidance by telephone or email, the contact details are below.

Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS) have also reported this opportunity on their website, you can read their news story here.

Contact: Sheffield Drug and Alcohol Action Team
Telephone: 0114 2736 851
Email:
To request an application form: Yvonne.allsopp@nhs.net
For more information: tracey.ford1@nhs.net or simon.finney@nhs.net
Website: www.vas.org.uk/news2/34

The Sheffield Star reports that a small local charity in Barnsley, Captain Allott’s charity, is inviting bids from groups in Wombwell, Hemingfield and Jump. They meet only twice a year, and the next deadline is approaching. Grants are generally no larger than £400.

Preference will be given to organisations which show a willingness to raise money of their own. The charity doesn’t have a website, but there are some details about it on our Funding Search database (you need to register to view it). Applications need to be made in writing, on the form  available from the correspondent below.

Deadline: 1 June

Contact: Secretary to the Allott’s Charity, c/o Council Governance Unit, PO Box 634 Barnsley, S70 9GG
Telephone: 01226 773061.
Email: patjepps@barnsley.gov.uk

The Positive Activities Fund for work with 8 to 13 year olds is now open for applications in the North East Sheffield Community Assembly Area -  Firth Park, Shiregreen & Brightside, Southey and Burngreave wards.

Grants of up to £2,000 are available to groups working with this children of this age, doing positive activities which will make a difference to their area.

The website below has full details of the scheme, including guidance notes, application form, and  child protection forms which will need to be completed.

Closing date - Monday 11 June 2012

Contact: Accountable Body Services Team
Telephone: 0114 273 4074.
Email: accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
Website: http://northeastassembly.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/positive-activities-fund-2012-13/

The Travel Innovation Fund is a scheme from Sheffield City Council to help people who find it difficult to travel.

It will be if interest of groups who work with, or include, people who are elderly, disabled, or have other conditions that make traveling difficult. Voluntary or private sector organisations can apply; the aims of the fund are:

• Create new business, projects or social enterprises that help people to travel more and to more places
• Support a range of innovative projects which focus on developing the adult social care market in Sheffield
• Enable providers to develop innovative ways of improving service quality, reduce costs and transfer efficiencies to their customers
• Stimulate new ways of working.

The fund will make grants between £1,000 and £20,000. Applications need to be made online - the application form and guidance notes are on the website. Several support sessions have been planned, where you can talk to someone about your bid - contact Emma below for details of these.

Deadline: 22 June 2012

Contact: Emma Crawley
Telephone: 0114 2685271
Email: accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
Website: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/in-your-area/grants/smallgrants/travel-innovation.html

Awards of up to £4,000 are available from Sheffield’s Green Bond for projects with the following priorities:

• Green space
• Waterways
• Young people.

This will be the last round of the Green Bond Awards.

You can register your interest on the form available from the website.

Deadline: 29 June
Contact: Anna Cooper, Groundwork
Telephone: 0114 263 6425
Email: anna.cooper@groundwork.org.uk
Website: www.yorkshire.groundwork.org.uk/south-yorkshire/news–events/news/2012/green-bond.aspx

South Yorkshire Community Foundation have asked us to publicise one of their grant schemes that funds projects in certain parts of Rotherham.

The Loscar Wind Farm Community Fund can give small grants of up to £1,500 to projects based in Harthill, Woodall, Thorpe Salvin and Wales.

Funding can be for general community activities that benefit the residents of the areas or projects and initiatives that, educate, promote or implement:
• Sustainable use of energy and energy efficiency
• Sustainable use of other resources
• Reducing climate change
• Nature conservation
• Charitable environmental projects that address the needs of the local community

Further information and application forms are available from the website.

Don’t forget that South Yorkshire Community Foundation offer a range of grants for groups in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, go to their website for more details.

Deadline: Ongoing
Contact: South Yorkshire Community Foundation
Telephone: 0114 242 4294
Email: grants@sycf.org.uk
Website: www.sycf.org.uk/apply_for_a_grant/the_loscar_wind_farm_community_funds/

The Big Lottery Fund came to events SYFAB organised in Barnsley and Rotherham recently, because of low levels of successful applications in those areas. We learned some interesting things from their presentations about the two key grant schemes:

Reaching Communities – the commonest reasons for failure are not identifying need, unclear outcomes, and not fully involving users in the planning and delivery of projects. While the fund maximum is £500k, the panel which makes awards expects any project above £300k to be an example of excellent practice. We ran workshops to help people work on the reasons for failure, but it is clear that the whole need/outcome/activity thread is a tricky one to get your head round. We hope to run separate training sessions on this in the future. The Lottery’s Big Learning Zone has lots of guidance on this and other topics.

Awards for All – around half of applications are funded, so this is a fund with a very high chance of success. Three things can give an eligible bid the highest points score – it is your first application to the fund, your total project costs are less than £10k, and your total income is below £10,000. While you are asked which of the four outcomes your project meets, it is better to explain how you meet one or two well, than try and justify a poor fit with three or four.

Don’t forget, if you are struggling with applications for either of these, SYFAB can help by looking at draft bids and giving feedback. This service is free for small groups (those with no paid worker), and charged at a subsidised rate for other South Yorkshire groups with an income below £300,000. Contact SYFAB for more details.

Contact: Big Lottery Fund
Telephone: 0845 4 10 20 30
Website: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

Contact: SYFAB
Telephone: 0114 249 4343
Email: advice@syfab.org.uk
Website: www.syfab.org.uk

The Sheila McKechnie Fondation (SMK), have announced their annual Social and Economic Justice Award, sponsored by Shelter and Barrow Cadbury Trust.

It is an award for individuals,  aimed at campaigners who are tackling social and economic disadvantage and inequality, so could well apply to people within community or voluntary groups.

Winners  receive a tailored package of support,  including one to one coaching and a residential skills-building weekend.

More about the scheme, including a video of last year’s winner, and application and nomination information are available on the website.

Contact: SMK

Website: http://www.smk.org.uk/social-and-economic-justice-20/