Tag: fundraising and grants

A Call for Stories to Celebrate the Warm Homes Programme

To celebrate and showcase 11 years of working together on the Warm Homes Programme, Age UK’s Corporate Partnerships Team are looking to record some case studies to demonstrate the impact of the programme.

We have now been working in partnership to deliver the Warm Homes Programme for over 11 years! To celebrate this, we are aiming to showcase stories from across the Age UK Network to demonstrate the impact that the programme has had, and we would be grateful for your help to do so.

Do you know someone who has benefited from the Warm Homes Programme and would be willing to share their story on camera? And are you as a local partner interested in being involved to highlight the incredible work you have done to bring this programme to life?

We want to celebrate not only the impact that the Warm Homes Programme has had on older people but also to highlight our long-standing partnership with e.on. Our aim is to share the stories with our corporate funders to demonstrate the incredible success of the programme and the impact it has on older people. We would also share the footage with you for your own use.

Filming Details:

  • We are hoping to film later this month but this can be flexible based upon your availability.
  • We would like to co-ordinate one day of filming, this can either be at your Age UK/Cymru office or in the older person’s home depending on availability and individual preference.
  • We would like to highlight the story of an older person who has received support either through a Home Energy Check or a Benefits Entitlement Check.    
  • We would also like to film someone from the Age UK/Cymru Partner to understand the impact of the programme in your community.
  • We will of course be more than happy to share the footage with you for your own promotional use.  

Contact Details

If you would like to get involved and showcase the incredible work you all do, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting Tayla Shirley at Tayla.shirley@ageuk.org.uk. 

Alternatively, if there is someone else in your organisation who would be interested in taking part, please feel free to pass this along and ask them to get in touch.

Applications now open for this year’s Warm Homes Programme

As you may have seen in our post earlier this week, the Warm Homes Programme is set to return this Autumn! Find out more here, including how to apply and details of an upcoming introductory webinar.

Dementia MCST Programme | Final round of funding – applications close Monday 13th June!

A reminder that applications for the final round of funding for the Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme are open! Find out full details below.

A reminder that applications for our third and final round of funding for Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme are open! This is the final grant period for our MCST programme, the grants are for £20,000 and the closing date for applications is Midday on Monday 13th June 2022. You can find out full details of this funding on the loop here, and please do get in touch if you have any questions – dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk.

We look forward to receiving your applications. Please feel free to contact dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk if you feel a small deadline extension following the 13th of June would be helpful.

If you are having any trouble accessing the loop, please email theloop@ageuk.org.uk.

Dementia MCST Programme – Final round of funding now open!

A reminder that applications for the final round of funding for the Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme are open! Find out full details below.

A reminder that applications for our third and final round of funding for Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme are open! This is the final grant period for our MCST programme, the grants are for £20,000 and the closing date for applications is Midday on Monday 13th June 2022.

You can find out full details of this funding on the loop here, and please do get in touch if you have any questions – dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk.

We look forward to receiving your applications. Please feel free to contact dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk if you feel a small deadline extension following the 13th of June would be helpful.

If you are having any trouble accessing the loop, please email theloop@ageuk.org.uk.

Sport England and Crowdfunder – Active Together Funding Scheme

Get up to £10,000 to help keep your community physically active through Sport England and Crowdfunder’s Active Together Funding Scheme.

We wanted to let you know that Crowdfunder UK and Sport England have teamed up to make £7.5 million of match funding available to help the physical activity sector through the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and support the safe return to play. They are encouraging not-for-profit organisations who play an important role in keeping their community physically active to get involved. Applicants must set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds that can then by matched by Sport England with funding of up to £10,000.

Active Together is specifically targeted at organisations who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing crisis.  

For more information about the Active Together fund please follow this link:

click here to find out more!

Additional Information

Please note: the ‘Pledge Criteria’ taken from their website is as follows:

  • If your application is approved, you’ll get match funding of up to 50% towards your initial crowdfunding target, up to a maximum of £10,000.
  • To receive a pledge, you will need to do two things (the ‘pledge conditions’):

1) raise at least 25% of your initial target

2) raise this from a minimum number of supporters.

  • Following receipt of a pledge you will also need to reach 100% of your initial funding target to receive the funds from Sport England.
  • Sport England reserves the right to vary these pledge criteria; projects will be notified if their pledge criteria will vary from the stated terms above.

Dementia MCST Programme – Final round of funding now open!

The third and final round of funding for the Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme is now open! Find out full details below.

We are excited to announce that applications for our third and final round of funding for Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme are now open! This is the final grant period for our MCST programme, the grants are for £20,000 and the closing date for applications is Midday on Monday 13th June 2022. You can find out full details of this funding on the loop here, and please do get in touch if you have any questions – dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk.

If you are having any trouble accessing the loop, please email theloop@ageuk.org.uk.

Chance to win £5,000 by entering the Craig Macdonald Memorial Prize

If your organisation is working in your local communities to help close the digital divide, you have the chance to win £5,000 by entering the Craig Macdonald Memorial Prize in the Digital Leaders 100 Awards 2022

Is your organisation working in your local communities to help close the digital divide? If so, you have the chance to win £5,000 by entering the Craig Macdonald Memorial Prize in the Digital Leaders 100 Awards 2022. Find out full details below.

Craig Macdonald was a technology professional dedicated to public service who passed away suddenly in early 2020. In honour of Craig’s memory, Tech Investor Rob Wilmot is partnering with Digital Leaders for the second time to award a prize of £5,000 for the best grassroots organisation working in their local community to help close the digital divide.

Last year’s winners were Knowledge Pool, a free training platform in Doncaster offering intensive training in Microsoft tools. Information about Knowledge Pool and how the Craig Macdonald Memorial Prize has impacted them can be found here.

Enter for the Craig Macdonald Memorial Prize using this link, or enter for one of the 11 other Digital Leaders categories.

Funding Bulletin Updated

We were made aware of the above opportunity after we published our latest Funding Bulletin on Tuesday. We have updated the bulletin to reflect this and you can download the updated document below:

Funding Bulletin Edition No. 21 – April 2022Download

Update on Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) and the Together Fund Physical Activity Grants

An update on the transformation of Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund into the new Together Fund and details how local Age UKs can access these new grants.

We wanted to provide an update on the grant funding available over the coming year to support local Age UKs to run physical activity projects in your communities. This update covers the transformation of Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund into the new Together Fund and details how local Age UKs can access this new grant.

Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF)

Over the past 12-18 months, funding from Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) has been available to encourage older people to get active as they recover from the worst of the pandemic. 

During 2021, as one of Sport England’s National Partners, the Age UK TIF programme made 41 grant awards of up to £6,000 to 38 local Age UKs for physical activity projects ranging from Tai Chi sessions to walking groups, with around 3,500 older people benefitting overall. Many other local Age UKs have also delivered physical activity projects funded through other Sport England National Partners such as their local Active Partnership and Versus Arthritis since the launch of TIF in summer 2020. It has been a tremendous effort and achievement by all those delivering these projects. 

The Together Fund

The TIF programme has since transformed into the Together Fund grants programme with a further investment from Sport England. The Together Fund’s purpose, however, remains unchanged in aiming to provide a range of physical activity opportunities for local communities, based on local need, and specifically targeting people with long-term health conditions, those living with disabilities, culturally diverse communities, and lower socio-economic groups.  

Age UK will not be awarding grants through the Together Fund, but all local Age UKs will instead be able to access Together Fund grants of up to £10,000 for new physical activity projects through other TIF National Partners, in particular Active Partnerships and Versus Arthritis. Find out all about these opportunities below:

Local Active Partnership

All local Age UKs can approach their local Active Partnership about Together Fund grant support, and those with an existing relationship with their local Active Partnership are especially encouraged to do so. 

To discuss your project idea with your local Active Partnership, please contact them here.

Versus Arthritis

The Versus Arthritis Together Fund grants programme is now open for applications for new activities in England that specifically support people living with long-term health conditions to get active. An application for the fund will need to be submitted using their Grant Tracker System which can be found here. The fund will be open for applications for a limited period until the end of May 2022.

Versus Arthritis also has a new grants fund – Let’s Move Together Fund – open to local organisations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland – supporting people with arthritis and other long-term health conditions to get active. 

Further details of the Versus Arthritis Together Fund and Let’s Move Together Fund can be found here or by contacting physicalactivityVA@versusarthritis.org  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at TIF@ageuk.org.uk.

Dementia MCST Programme – Final round of funding opens May 9th

The third and final round of funding for the Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme will be opening on Monday 9th May. Find out full details below.

We are excited to announce that our third and final round of funding for Dementia Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) Programme will be opening on Monday 9th May! This is the final grant period for our MCST programme, the grants are for £20,000 and we welcome all Local Age UK Partners that have not yet been part of this programme to apply. Please do get in touch if you have any questions prior to this funding opportunity on – dementiamcst@ageuk.org.uk and keep an eye on the loop page here, which will be updated as soon as applications open.

If you are having any trouble accessing the loop, please email theloop@ageuk.org.uk.

Update on Funding for the 2022/23 Warm Homes Programme

An update on the future of the Warm Homes Discount Scheme, which currently comes to an end on 31st March 2022 and is under consultation with Ofgem.

As many local partners have benefitted from the Warm Homes Programme funding, we would like to update the Network on what we know about the future of this programme. Please read on for full details.

As you may know, we have been fortunate enough to receive a significant amount of funding from various energy suppliers ever since the Government initiative began in 2011. The Warm Homes Discount Scheme, which our Warm Homes Programme is a part of, comes to an end on 31st March 2022 and is currently under consultation with Ofgem. Age UK has contributed its response to this consultation and it is thought that the scheme will be extended for another four years. However, we have no guarantee whether this funding will continue for Age UK in its current shape and size. We are confident though, that the two energy suppliers that we’re currently working with (e.on and Shell Energy) are committed to working with us beyond Scheme Year 11, however everything really does depend on Ofgem’s response to the consultation. We believe this is likely to be announced some time in late spring (around May 2022). 

The Services & Partnership Affairs and Fundraising teams here at Age UK are conscious that this funding is of enormous importance to the services you provide on the ground and we are equally conscious that there is a need for us to diversify where funding comes from towards the two services that the programme has funded, i.e., benefit entitlement checks and home energy checks. As the energy crisis continues to deepen and is likely to affect thousands, if not millions, of older people, the demand for this programme is undoubtedly expected to rise. We are really grateful for all the wonderful work you do for older people and we know how much this funding means to keep your services running.

While we await confirmation from Ofgem/energy suppliers about what the future Warm Homes Discount Scheme (and our own programme) will look like and when it’s likely to commence, please bear with us and the teams currently project managing the delivery. We will keep you informed as soon as we know more. 

Please note that, as is the case this year, if we are able to deliver the programme, partners delivering benefit entitlement checks will need to have completed I&A Quality Programme in order to participate.

We will keep you up-to-date with developments when we have any news on this.  

Programme Funding Survey – Thank You!

A huge thank you to the 84 Partners who responded to the survey on programme funding from Age UK’s Wellbeing Department. Find out details of the survey findings below.

A big thank you to all of you who responded to our survey on new programme funding from earlier this year. 84 local Age UK partners responded and the findings have been hugely helpful in enabling us to think ahead about what our programmes could look like in future. Find out full details below.

Insights from the survey included:

  • The majority of partners are still keen to see further funding for I&A, Exercise/Physical Activity and Digital Inclusion, as well as Socialising & Activities
  • Many partners would like to see larger grants over a longer period of time, for example £25k or more over 2 years or more
  • The challenge of monitoring and reporting requirements was a common barrier which discouraged partners from applying for programme funding

Although we can’t control the decisions of the funders we work with, having the evidence provided by this survey helps us to influence their decision-making to make our programmes more beneficial for older people and for the Age UK network. Many thanks for the time you have taken to respond, it really is appreciated.

If you have any queries please contact Alison Ingram – alison.ingram@ageuk.org.uk.