London Plus August Newsletter 2023
Hello, welcome to our August Newsletter.
Incredible as it may seem, summer is soon drawing to a close! This can be a good time to take stock and reflect on all your great work and achievements so far this year. While autumn may be a time for preparing for the challenges that winter brings, we feel it’s also really important to celebrate the tireless work of the sector in London.
We have lots of funding opportunities again this month, along with some exciting new content from the London’s Lifelines campaign, loads of interesting reports, and much more.
Hopefully you find this newsletter useful. As always, if you have any suggestions for the next one, feel free to contact Henry at info@londonplus.org.
London Plus News
Cost of Living Documents
Check out our cost of living resource page for all our cost of living documents, all of which serve different purposes:
1. Resource document – contains information on how people can get support.
2. Good practice document – has examples of good organisational practice and innovation aimed at mitigating the impacts of the crisis.
3. Data document – an ever-growing list of the available data relating to the crisis.
4. Evidence and insights toolkit – aims to help small organisations and community groups to build an evidence base for funding applications, with some key external data sources and tips around gathering data from the communities they work with.
Ukraine Crisis Support Document
Another ongoing document is our Ukraine crisis support document, which contains information on organisations and groups that can help Ukrainian refugees in London. The contents are separated by theme and by borough.
London’s Lifelines
London’s Lifelines celebrates volunteers throughout London, and raises awareness for the incredible work they do. They recently released three videos that were filmed during the Mayor’s Community Weekend. The videos discuss why people volunteer, what they love about it, and what London would be like without them. They have also released loads of inspiring interviews and stories from London’s volunteers, all of which can be viewed on the ‘stories’ page of their website.
News
King’s Award for Voluntary Service
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service is now open for nominations. If you know a volunteer-led and delivered project or group that deserves recognition for the amazing work they do, nominate them today.
Deadline: Friday 15th September
Public Trust in Charities
After doctors, charities are the most well regarded-institution according to research from the Charity Commission. This is especially true of small, local organisations. The research finds that public trust has remained stable since 2020.
Disability Action Plan
The government has proposed a disability action plan for 2023-2024. This is an open consultation to which both organisations and individuals can respond.
Deadline: Friday 6th October
Youth Centres
As part of the next phase of the Youth Investment Fund, the government are aiming to build and refurbish youth centres that will benefit around 12,000 young people.
Inheritance Tax
Potential plans from the government to abolish inheritance tax could cause charities to lose out on legacy funding. Note that you may need to create an account to read this article from Third Sector.
Events & Training
Data Management
Monday 4th September, 12pm
The Data Collective are hosting this webinar, with contribution from the Wildlife Trust, on getting to the root of data in your organisation.
Stronger Voices
Media Trust’s Stronger Voices programme is a six-month communications training programme aimed at organisations working on systemic change and/or tackling structural inequality. The programme runs between October 2023 – March 2024.
Deadline: Sunday 10th September, 11:59pm
Resources
Heatwave Impacts
While London has been cooler (and wetter) than usual so far, it may still get warmer and it’s important to be prepared for whatever our weather brings. This resource from the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership discusses secondary impacts of heatwaves, drawing on lessons from last summer.
Climate Blog
London Councils has a regularly-updated blog that is dedicated to climate issues in the capital.
Infrastructure Support
Front-line work is important, but can’t happen without functioning infrastructure. The Directory of Social Change recently wrote this piece on the importance of funding charity sector infrastructure.
Small Charity Data
Check out the latest data on small charities, including statistics and insights from across the sector.
Ethnicity & Deprivation
Data from Census 2021 has been used by Trust for London to develop an interactive map which shows London’s ethnic diversity and its links to deprivation.
Funding
Government Funding
The government is offering £76 million in funding to charities and community organisations that help vulnerable people. Grants of between £10,000-£75,000 are available for both projects and core costs. The fund is administered by the National Lottery Community Fund, and you can find further information on their website.
Deadline: Monday 16th October
Energy Fund
The Energy Saving Trust has released the fifth round of the Energy Redress Scheme, which funds projects from charities and community groups that focus on energy-saving initiatives.
Deadline: Tuesday 22nd August, 5pm
People & Place
Footwork’s People & Place programme offers funding and support to local social innovators that are looking to make positive changes in their community in innovative ways.
Deadline: Monday 11th September
A B Charitable Trust
The A B Charitable Trust’s Open Programme offers grants of between £10,000-£25,000 to organisations that work in the areas of migrants, the justice system, and human rights.
Deadline: Friday 27th October
DWF Foundation
DWF Foundation supports charities that work in areas including homelessness, health, employability, education, and the environment. Wider grants are also available to other community initiatives.
Deadline: Tuesday 31st October (rolling)
Recovery Loan Fund
Released by the Social Investment Business, Access, and The Ubele Initiative, the Recovery Loan Fund supports organisations that seek to improve peoples lives or the environments in which they live. This fund also aims to make the loan more accessible to communities from ethnic minority backgrounds by offering additional support.
Deadline: Sunday 31st December
Defibrillator Fund
The government is inviting community organisations to bid for funding to get a defibrillator in their area. £1 million has been allocated for this initiative.
Deadline: None given
UK Fund
The UK Fund from the National Lottery Community Fund offer grants to organisations looking to help communities come together and strengthen social connections between community groups.
Deadline: Ongoing
Reports
Charities & Climate Change
New research from Charity Digital shows that, while charities are concerned about climate change and sustainability, many are yet to take action and are unclear about the importance of environmental sustainability in their organisation.
Homelessness in England
See the official government statistics on homelessness in England for January-March 2023. Relatedly, London Councils has found that 1 in 50 Londoners are homeless, including 83,500 children.
Income Standard
Over 3.5 million Londoners do not have the income needed to meet a basic standard of living, indicating that wages and social security are falling short in London. Read this report from Trust for London for more information.
Unequal Impact of COVID-19
The Race Equality Foundation has released a report on the unequal impact of COVID-19, particularly on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and migrant communities.
Cost of Living Impact
The annual Society Watch report offers insight into life in Britain. This year, the cost of living crisis is a main focus.
Digital Skills Report
The annual Charity Digital Skills Report assesses charities’ digital skills, attitudes, and behaviours. Topics this year include the cost of living crisis, artificial intelligence, and more.
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