A new £76 million fund has launched to support community organisations in England impacted by the cost of living crisis.
The Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund will provide grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 to organisations that have seen increased demand and costs for providing food supplies, emergency shelter, safe spaces, provision of warm rooms and spaces, and financial and housing support. Grants can cover core costs for such provisions including office rent and staffing.
The deadline for applying for funding is 16 October 2023.
Grants will be distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF). Funding criteria, applications and more details are available on The National Lottery Community Fund website.
The funding will cover expenses for the delivery and expansion of current services and will run until 31 March 2024. Retrospective costs incurred between the date organisations apply and the date they receive funding can also be covered by the grants.
The £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund is part of a £101.5 million pot announced earlier this year as part of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring Budget, and it aims to support small charities and local organisations whose resources have been stretched by increased demand due to the sharp rise in the cost of living.
The remaining £25 million will be distributed in December to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations with energy efficiency measures. Applications for the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme are open until August 23.
Applications are still being accepted for NLCF grants for small charities in Scotland of between £10,000 and £75,000, which launched in October 2022 to support people experiencing hardships as a result of the cost of living crisis. The Welsh Government also partly funded cost of living grants for local organisations from May 2023 for which applications are now closed.
