Community projects and funding
As a council we are committed to working together with communities to improve the lives of people living or working in Worcestershire.
As a council we have listed local and national websites which support individuals and groups wanting to set up community projects. The information available provides a useful reference if you are thinking about a community project.
We have also listed information about local and national funding to help your community group get up and running or information and help for well-known groups already supporting the community.
Local resources and links to support community groups
We Can (Worcestershire Community Action Network)
We Can - Worcestershire Community Action Network support small charities, local groups, and projects across Worcestershire. Their services are varied but may include – help with volunteer recruitment, applying for funding, policy writing, fundraising, networking and provide vital links into the local communities.
Who we are – We CAN – Worcestershire Community Action Network (we-can.today)
Worcestershire Community Builders
Worcestershire Community Builders work across Worcestershire. The community builders support local people, groups, and projects by helping support with ideas and tools to make projects come to life. To find out if there is a community builder working in your area, please view the document below.
Download: Community Builder Directory (PDF)
Worcestershire VCSE Alliance (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise)
VCSE organisations play a critical role within local health and care systems both as service providers, in engaging communities and giving people a voice.
Their aim is to promote a strong and visible VCSE sector working collaboratively to deliver excellent services that are aligned to need.
The Alliance supports Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations to become partners within the Integrated Care System (ICS). To find out more information visit their website below:
Worcestershire VCSE Alliance - Better done together (worcsalliance.org)
My Parish Pages
Visit our local Parish webpages to find out more information about what is happening in your local Parish, including events, Parish meetings and links to the Parish clerks.
Worcestershire Insights
Worcestershire Insights is a free and open website designed so that users can easily access local data relevant to Worcestershire. This site brings together data from local and national sources, across several themes to provide a full overview of Worcestershire and how it compares locally and nationally.
The data available could support both planning and research prior to any funding application. The data will form a base line of research which could be used to support your bid for funding or grants. An essential tool to support local charities or groups secure funding
Cranfield Trust
The Cranfield Trust provide useful guides and tools for charity fundraising including top tips for writing a successful tender bid.
Young Solutions
Young Solutions Worcestershire are a charity keen to keen young people who live in Worcestershire safe and involved with their communities. Their work focuses on providing help and training, supporting the work of their members, youth clubs, community groups, and other organisations with the well-being of children and young people.
National resources and links to support community groups
Pilotlight
Pilotlight is a service that connects business experts with charities to help them achieve their goals. They offer various programmes that suit different needs and challenges, such as:
- Pilotlight 360: A 10-month coaching programme for charity leaders and boards
- Pilotlight Direction: An 8-week programme to explore a strategic opportunity
- Pilotlight Insight: A 10-week programme to provide insight on a business challenge
- Pilotlight Impact Day: A one-day event to generate innovative and practical solutions for an operational challenge
- Bespoke Programmes: Customised programmes for specific needs of charities or businesses
Their staff and advisors, called Pilotlighters, are highly experienced and skilled professionals who volunteer their time and expertise for free.
They support charities throughout the process and grow their own skills as part of a team. Pilotlight is a win-win service for both charities and businesses.
Locality
Locality is the national membership network supporting local community organisations to be strong and successful. Locality provides specialist advice, peer-learning, resources and campaigns to help every community thrive by supporting communities to come together to transform lives and build a fairer society.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO):
NCVO offer membership community for charities, voluntary organisations, and community groups in England to champion voluntary action. NCVO has over 17,000 members, made up of all causes, shapes and sizes. From big charities to local sports clubs.
NCVO offer a range of training courses designed to help support charities, organisations, and community groups. NCVO offer support, events, consultancy, and corporate relations.
NPC: Making social impact happen
NPC is a leading organisation that helps the social sector to achieve greater impact for the people and causes they serve. We work with charities, foundations, philanthropists, impact investors, social enterprises, corporates, and the public sector to help them improve their impact practice, data collection, and learning.
They offer free resources that you can use to assess and improve your impact practice. By answering a few questions, you will get a personalised report with practical recommendations on how to take your impact to the next level.
Impact practice is the process of planning, measuring, assessing, and learning from your impact. It helps you to understand what difference you are making and how to improve your services for the people you support. For more information visit their website Inspiring Impact
The Confidence Framework: A tool to improve your service impact
The Confidence Framework is a tool that helps you to evaluate and improve your service delivery. It helps you to check if your service is well-designed, well-delivered, well-monitored, well-evaluated, and well-sustained. These are the five key elements that Realising Ambition identified as crucial for replicating effective services.
The website offers a review tool that you can use to assess your service against these elements. The review will give you a visual summary of your strengths and areas for development. This will help you to plan your next steps and improve your impact.
Setting up a charity
Government advice and guidance on the steps you need to take to setting up and running a charity. The guidance offers advice and information regarding the initial stages of set up and how to register.
Setting up and running a charity GOV.UK
Starting a group resource centre
The Resource Centre is a charity supporting voluntary and community groups. Their resource centre is used by around 800 different local groups every year, from playgroups to environmental campaigns, resident’s associations to arts organisations. Although not a local charity there are useful resources available.
Starting a group Resource Centre
NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action)
NAVCA is the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action. Members are local organisations, who support local charities and community groups with volunteering, capacity building, partnerships and more. NAVCA support local social action, brings members together and shares insight, knowledge, and information.
Office of National Statistics: Create a custom dataset
The online tool helps users to look for connections between topics which are important to them as well as to build their own Census 2021 datasets.
To use the tool, simply select a population field to get started. From there, you can change the location of your dataset and filter the data by sex and age and add as many variables as you want. You can also access pre-built datasets, which you can change.
Local funding
Funding finder (Grant Finder database)
Worcestershire County Council provide a searchable database of funding opportunities from government, lottery, EU, non-government, and charitable trusts locally and nationally. This service is free through the council’s Grant Finder Funding Database.
Action Funder and Crowdfunding
Action Funder are unlocking the power of businesses to be a force for good in local communities. Opportunities for Non-Profit Orgs who can apply to thousands of companies who are backing millions of community projects with funding ActionFunder
Crowdfunding is a way of raising money to fund projects. It helps fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people by creating an online webpage which can be shared on social media. SpaceHive and CrowdFunder UK are currently supporting community projects in Worcestershire.
Worcestershire Community Foundation:
Worcestershire Community Foundation is an independent charitable hub for the whole of Worcestershire. The foundation is helping to make Worcestershire a place to thrive by helping and providing a voice for the voluntary and community sector.
Worcestershire Community Foundation
Councillors' Divisional Fund (WCDF)
A Worcestershire Councillors' Divisional Fund (WCDF) has been created to help local members back local projects and support 'good works' which play an important role in promoting the economic, social and environmental well-being of communities within Worcestershire. Each of the 57 members of the Council have an allocation of £10,000 (per financial year).
Councillors' Divisional Fund Scheme
The Eveson Trust
The Eveson Trust provides local charities grants to support the community.
The Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust (Turner Trust)
The Turner Trust is dedicated to making a positive impact on communities by funding programs in education, healthcare, social services, and cultural enrichment. The Trust supports non-profit organisations through grants and donations, focusing on projects that offer sustainable, long-term benefits. Key areas of support include scholarships, healthcare initiatives, social services for marginalised communities, and cultural programs.
Clive Richards Foundation
The Clive Richards Foundation, formerly the Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity. The Foundation is funded by Sylvia Richards and investments, with no external fundraising. The Foundation supports education, healthcare, heritage, arts, and overseas education.
John Martin’s Charity (Evesham)
John Martin's Charity supports individuals and communities in need, focusing on education, healthcare, social services, and cultural enrichment. The charity provides grants to non-profit organisations, aiming to create sustainable, long-term benefits and enhance the well-being of those it serves.
John Martins Charity Supporting the people of Evesham
Worcester Municipal Charities
Worcester Municipal Charities focuses on aiding residents of Worcester City who face financial hardship, homelessness, or distress. They provide direct grants to individuals and organisations offering essential services, as well as fund items and facilities to alleviate these challenges. Additionally, the charity manages social housing initiatives such as almshouses and affordable housing, ensuring secure accommodation and necessary amenities for those in need within the community. Worcester Municipal Charities promotes education by supporting initiatives across Worcester City and surrounding areas, enhancing learning opportunities for residents.
Baron Davenport's Charity
Baron Davenport's Charity offers grants to charitable organisations located within 60 miles of Birmingham Town Hall. These grants support special projects, equipment purchases, and operational costs for almshouses, hospices, residential homes for older individuals, children's charities, and individuals facing hardship.
The Anthony and Gwendoline Wylde Memorial Charity
The Anthony and Gwendoline Wylde Memorial Charity, established in 1988 and serving Dudley and Staffordshire, focuses on supporting local causes in Kinver and Stourbridge. The charity provides grants to charitable organizations within specified postcode areas (WV4, WV5, DY3, DY6, DY7, DY8, DY9, DY10, DY11) for a variety of charitable purposes as determined by the trustees. They offer two grant programs: one for small, impactful grants that can be swiftly disbursed, and another for larger applications which are considered at biannual trustee meetings. This structured approach ensures that funds are efficiently and effectively allocated to meet local community needs, as detailed on their Grants Policy webpage.
Anthony & Gwendoline Wylde Memorial charity
The Elmley Foundation
The Elmley Foundation, endowed by the late Countess Beauchamp of Madresfield Court, passionately supports the arts across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. With a legacy steeped in fostering artistic expression, the Foundation continues Madresfield Court's rich tradition of nurturing arts, crafts, and design. Through an annual expenditure of approximately £300,000, the Foundation funds a variety of initiatives, including the Main programme and Elmley Small Grants scheme.
National funding opportunities
Funding Finder (Grant Finder database)
Worcestershire County Council provide a searchable database of funding opportunities from government, lottery, EU, non-government, and charitable trusts locally and nationally. This service is free through the council’s Grant Finder Funding Database.
The National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund helps and supports people and groups with funding. There are lots of different funds you can apply to.
Sport England
Sport England offers different funding programmes which are open to a wide range of organisations. Funding is available for sports clubs, voluntary and community organisations, local authorities, schools, colleges and universities.
Arts Council
The Arts Council England is a government-funded body dedicated to promoting the performing, visual and literary arts in England.
The Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund supports museums, parks, historic places, archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions with funding. There are a range of different grant programmes, with grants from £3,000 to over £5million.
‘Find a Grant’ digital service
The Government has launched a Find a Grant digital service, a single place for individuals and organisations to find and apply for government grants and gain access to financial support.
Become a volunteer
Worcestershire Community Action Network (We CAN)
We Can is a group of locally based organisations with strong links to the grassroots voluntary sector. The six voluntary organisations that have come together as We CAN cover all the areas of Worcestershire. Among us there are Volunteer Centres, Councils for Voluntary Service, community transport providers and community action charities.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, there are lots of fantastic opportunities around Worcestershire.
Volunteering with Worcestershire County Council
In Worcestershire County Council many of our County Council Teams are supported by volunteers working with us as a vital part of how we engage with our communities.
We the council would like to encourage you to join us and explore the volunteering opportunities within Worcestershire County Council.
Related
Strengthening Worcestershire Fund
A new funding programme to support local communities through small grants.
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