Members Roundtable Exchange 10th January 2023
1. National Lottery Heritage Fund
Emma Birks, Senior Engagement Manager:
Currently undertaking a refresh of the strategy. Undertaken various stakeholder consultations and hope to communicate the outcome of this on the strategy in March 2023. Predict there will not be any major changes to the current strategy, but likely to tweak certain priorities. The strategy is a 10-year plan with 3-year programmes of delivery. WMFN will provide an update in a future news update.
Heritage Innovation Fund – a pilot funding programme to enable applicants to explore VCS workforce challenges.
‘The Heritage Innovation Fund is a pilot initiative for experimenters, collaborators and learners from across all parts of heritage, across the UK. We're looking for people who want to play a leading role in pioneering solutions for making the heritage workforce fit for the future.’
6 months funding provided of up to £25k that will also be supported by a peer support network based on particular themes provided through the Young Foundation, that will also provide coaching and organisational support. 70 applications received and 30 funded projects. Hope to announce successful projects in February and pilot programme will finish in July. The programme will be evaluated and will be sharing any interim findings later on in 2023 and full evaluation findings in 2024.
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/heritage-innovation-fund
Internal Inclusion Working Group – Internal staff group that is focused on progressing work on EDI within the Fund and their work with applicants and grantees. A recent ED two-year programme of research, is helping the Fund to better understand how it can become a more inclusive and equitable funder. Useful report on how this will be influencing the refresh of the strategy as well.
2. Cost of Living Updates
Emma Birks, NLHF - relating to costs and resilience funding for organisations: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/heritage-resilience-recovery-funding
Peter Hardisty/Steven Simpson, Harborne Parish Lands Charity and Karen Grice, Yardley Great Trust
Seeing an increase in applications from individuals in need and the level of funding from organisations is higher. Difficulty in making decisions on competing priorities for reduced funding. Trustees are also seeking additional information to help to make those decisions.
Generally provide white goods, furniture, households items or support organisations with running costs. Finding that prices of goods have gone up, stocks are low so taking longer to provide. Upturn in debt issues. Yardley Great Trust has seen an increase in applications from families for school uniforms in their patch.
Through HPLC sheltered accommodation provision – seeing that food price inflation is impacting on what residents are able to spend income on. HPLC providing payment of £10 per week from Nov 2022 to Mar to residents to help with food price inflation.
Generally feeling it’s quite a depressing climate for those most in need.
Solihull MBC – seeing that through media coverage of cost of living – pensioners are particularly coming forward to access advice and support services to address impact of cost of living. In addition those receiving UC and means tested benefits are being supported for short term through government programmes delivered at LA level. However, those working on low to middle incomes are not being reached and also on the threshold of poverty but don’t meet the criteria to access certain government supported programmes.
Surinder Singh, National Lottery Community Fund
Undertaking strategy refresh and currently continuing with consultations with wide range of stakeholders. Hope to provide the updated strategy and priorities in March/April 2023. WMFN will provide an update in a forthcoming news update.
In response to the cost of living issues for organisations – providing a 25% uplift on grants to existing grantees for their 2nd and 3rd year of funding covering wages and utilities. This is being assessed on a case by case basis including encouraging organisations to apply the real living wage in their calculations. From March 2023 this will fall back to a 10% uplift year on year.
Tina Costello, HoE Community Foundation
HoE Community Foundation is a high volume funder that provides small grants of around £2k per application towards project and running costs. Currently the Foundation is looking at the grant sizes which may led to increasing the size of grant resulting in fewer grant awards.
Though the Foundation has been mindful of the impact of climate change, has not developed a strong policy position. However, currently developing an environmental action plan with a view to joining the climate change funders pledge – promoted by the Funders Commitment to Climate Change.
Also the Foundation is applying to be a real living wage funder.
Promoted a cost of living focussed programme supported by Coventry Building Society budget of £100k. Hoping to support organisations providing warm spaces with up to £5k grants but only received 3 applications and unable to run the programme. Tina is keen to understand what else is being provided to organisations and where the gaps are that need to be addressed.
HoECF has been commissioned by DCMS to run the Wolverhampton Volunteer & Inclusion Fund is a three-year funding programme that will run until the end of March 2025. The programme is committed to giving people the opportunity to flourish and improve their wellbeing and their pride in place. In the first round of funding, grants awarded will need to be spent by 31st March 2023. This is a really quick turnaround. HoECF is making the process as easy as possible to enable this. Grants up to £15,000 £20,000 will be awarded.
Organisations who are successful in the first round will have the opportunity to build on their project. https://www.heartofenglandcf.co.uk/know-your-neighbourhood-fund-wolverhampton/
Ian Henshaw, BVSC
Reported on what BVSC seeing through its work and members and follow up to the Cost of Living Emergency Summit in November 2022:
Workforce recruitment and retention in the VCS has been difficult with either staff leaving due to level of pay in comparison to other sectors, plus vacancies not being filled due to the lack of applicants.
Downward turn in VCS making applications – lack of capacity to spend time making applications and in particular making several applications for small amounts of funding – not cost effective.
Real living wage – Birmingham City Council in-conjunction with BVSC are encouraging organisations to sign up to the real living wage. Work with Real Living Wage Foundation also to promote to funders to become a funder committed to the real living wage.
https://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-funders
BVSC was one of the contractors managing the first 2 rounds of the Government’s Household Support Fund (HSF), delivered through LAs. The third round commissioning of contractors for the HSF is just completed and should be announced shortly. A slight shift in priorities in how this third round will be applied in Birmingham City Council is as follows: Delivery of two local hardship grant schemes (1) Referral based Hardship Scheme for households with a “Child/ren in Need” (known to Birmingham Children’s Trust) and (2) Application based Hardship scheme for All Age Household groups.