The Prince Update - January 8th 2021
Our writer Richard Prince shares his regular horizon scan of the sector news, flagging up developments, new funding and opportunities in the social sector for portfolio careerists and others to be aware of.
Happy new year to you all - 2020 was a difficult year for charities and not-for-profits and 2021 clearly still holds great challenges, but I will continue to bring you round-ups of news that may be helpful to you in your work in the sector.
Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund Application Deadline 31 January
The Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF) is being run by Social Investment Business (SIB). The fund was established in 2020 to make an existing government scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), more easily accessible to charities and social enterprises. To date, RRLF has approved funding to 40 charities and social enterprises, with a total value of around £15 million.
The fund aims to support social-sector organisations working to improve people's lives in the UK that are facing a problem because expected income and activity has been delayed or disrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Loans of between £100,000 and £1.5 million are available for a term of one to five years. The loans will have no fees or interest for the first 12 months.
Recovery grants of up to £3m offered to heritage organisations
Heritage organisations are being invited to apply for grants of up to £3m in the latest round of funding from the government’s £1.6bn Culture Recovery Fund. It is open to heritage organisations managing a heritage site or visitor attraction, private owners of a heritage site, venue or attraction, and organisations managing, maintaining or caring for culturally significant assets or collections.
The aim of this phase of funding is to help organisations transition from the current lockdown into spring and early summer, when the government expects heritage organisations will be able to operate with fewer restrictions. Organisations can use the funding to support their operations and begin a programme of heritage activity in April.The funding aims to ensure that by the end of June, organisations will be operating on a viable and sustainable basis.
This round will offer grants of between £10,000 and £3m to support organisations as they make the transition towards full reopening. Applications will open on 7 January and close on 26 January.
£500K Windrush Community Fund Opens For Bids
Voice4Change England (V4CE) are pleased to announce the Windrush Community Fund. This fund is open to community and grassroots groups and organisations to bid for financial assistance from a £500,000 fund to help ensure that community groups can give support to those of the Windrush generation who may have faced difficulties in demonstrating their status or who may have suffered losses because of this. The closing date for Phase 1 applications is 12 February 2021. Phase 2 will open for applications on 1 April 2021 and will close on 30 June 2021.
NPC - Interactive Covid-19 data for charities and funders
NPC have built a regularly updating and interactive dashboard, to help charities and funders see the places most affected by Covid-19, and those that have underlying factors—such as age, health, ethnicity, economic indicators, and multiple deprivation—which may put them at risk. The dashboard also includes demand data, allowing us to better understand what charities are experiencing on the ground and to set that against the official Covid-19 cases and death figures.
New lockdown: COVID-19 guidance for the charity sector
The whole of the UK is now under the tightest restrictions, much like those that came into force last March but with the key difference that support and childcare bubbles can continue. For charities this means further pressures on the ability to fundraise, obstacles in delivering services and increased demands.
New support: a £4.6bn package of support aimed at retail, hospital and leisure sectors may help some charities and social enterprises. There are one-off grants of between £4,000 and £9,000 are available to businesses forced to close. A discretionary fund worth £594m in total has also been made available to devolved administrations and local authorities.
Alongside official government guidance, Civil Society has also analysed the announcement.
Civil Society: ‘How we talk about volunteering may need a re-think to be more inclusive,’ NCVO says
People from minority groups are less likely to volunteer, and when they do they have a worse experience, according NCVO research about diversity and volunteering. In a report published at the end of last year, Time Well Spent: Diversity and Volunteering, NCVO urges charities to take a more proactive and flexible approach to diversity and inclusion when it comes to attracting and retaining volunteers.
Brexit – the UK and EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement
For anyone wanting to dig into the detail of the UK and EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement agreed over Christmas, see here for the government’s 34 page summary or here for the full text of the Agreement:. Specific areas covered in the Agreement include data protection, trade marks, public procurement, state aid and subsidies, and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.