Financially struggling charities offered new lifeline as Saffron Community Fund grants open
14th November 2022
As the cost-of-living crisis impacts everyone, donations to charities are on the decline as people count their pennies to get through what is likely to be a difficult winter. The Saffron Community Fund is offering a lifeline to smaller local charities as it announces that applications open today to apply for a grant from the Saffron Building Society initiative.
The Fund is operated in partnership with Essex Community Foundation, who receive and manage all grant applications on behalf of Saffron Building Society.
Grants are open to charities, not-for-profits, community, and volunteer groups. Each application for a grant is assessed individually to ensure all funding is fairly distributed to charities during this difficult period.
Claire Hunnable, Saffron’s Community Business Partner, explains: “Our Fund is an essential source of funding for some of the smaller charities and community groups around our branches. We have developed a unique and important working relationship with Essex Community Foundation that ensure all grant decisions made by our panel are undertaken with expert guidance from them.
“Every year we are amazed by the diversity of the applications and are always delighted to be introduced to groups we may never normally have been aware of. I also have the pleasure of meeting the people behind the projects and to see the amazing work that is happening all around our communities.”
In 2021, Saffron Community Fund announced it had reached the milestone of £100,000 in grant funds in the ten years since the launch, spread out over yearly grant funds totaling up to £20,000 per year.
However, this is now going to be significantly increased by Saffron joining the Reclaim Fund Scheme. The government backed scheme allows monies that are unclaimed and currently held in dormant accounts to be used for social and environmental schemes. In 2022, Saffron was able to claim over £436,000 from the Reclaim Fund initiative which has been added to the endowment fund which will now be used to bolster the value of grants from 2023 onwards. 2023 will also be the first year that grants will be issued twice yearly, to ensure if a deadline is missed, the recipient doesn’t have to wait another year to apply.
Claire added, “We are pleased to say that applications for the Fund are officially open, and we are always keen to hear from new groups who may need our support. If you run a charity or group and are unsure if you qualify for a grant, all the information and links you need are all available on our community fund webpage, with a step-by-step guide on how to apply. But you must be quick!”
How to apply
The deadline to apply to this Fund has passed. If you are still in need of funding for your voluntary or community organisation, please contact the ECF grants team on 01245 355947 or e-mail grants@essexcf.org.uk.