Resources and grant funding for faith projects
 In their latest newsletter, Community Mission explain how to access funding for faith projects and outline resources available to help community social action.
Funding
 The Beatrice Laing Trust is a Christian trust offering small grants for the relief of poverty in its broadest sense. Grants are generally between £1,000- £5,000 and could be used for core costs to national organisations or small capital grants to local organisations working to relieve poverty in their local communities. The priority groups are children, young people and the elderly, the homeless and those with physical, mental or learning difficulties. Applications can be made monthly in writing to Elizabeth Harley, c/o Laing Family Trusts, 33 Bunns Lane, Mill Hill, London, NW7 2DX. For more information, visit the Charity Commission website or phone 020 8238 8890.
Grassroots grants are available through the Community Development Foundation. Grants between £250 - £5,000 are available for volunteer-led groups that are working for the benefit of the local community and have an average income over three years of less than £30,000 a year. The fund is open until March 2011. For an application form and more information, find out who is distributing the grants in your area, email CDF or phone 01223 400 331.
The Volunteering Fund is offering a new fund from January 2010 to local charities running volunteering projects in the fields of health or social care. Grants are available for schemes such as providing friendship and support to vulnerable adults or community services for disabled children. A second round later this year will support national schemes. For more information, read more about the fund, check out the FAQs, email ECOTEC or phone 0845 172 8058.
Ten questions to ask before applying for funding is a paper written by experts and available on the Funding Central website designed to ensure all grant or contract applications are a good use of your time and resources and more likely to result in success. It includes questions like: ‘Have we included the full costs of the project in our application?’ and ‘If we get this grant, what happens when the grant ends?’
Stories and Resources
Many churches are developing their buildings for community use and due to requests for help, Hereford Diocese has developed a helpful website with practical toolkits. Part of a programme to help churches use their buildings well, the toolkit is designed for Anglican churches. However, much of the information about local planning and consultation, working with architects and accessing appropriate funding would apply to any church building project. For more information, read the presentations at the launch event, email Joanne Gibbon or phone 01584 871089.
The role of faith-based organisations in the provision of services to homeless people is a report by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York. It found that most basic services such as night shelters and soup runs are provided by faith-based organisations, and Christian agencies dominate the provision of specialist projects such as hostels. They also found that the visibility and practice of religion in most projects has diminished significantly over time. For more information, email the author Sarah Johnsen or phone 01904 321485.
The Rough Sleepers Rights guide is a joint publication of Housing Justice, Liberty, and Zacchaeus 2K. It looks in detail at police powers such as stop and search and criminal offences such as sleeping rough, no-drinking zones and urinating in the street. It would be useful for anyone involved in this area. It is planned that these organistaions will continue to carry out joint actions on homelessness. For more information, email Sally Leigh or phone 020 7920 6600.
Catalyst Trust inspires Christians to put their faith in action in tough places. They recently launched a Love is a Verb DVD training resource and are offering free copies of the first two modules (incarnational living and hospitality) in return for completing a short survey with your feedback by the end of February. Love is a Verb combines theory and theology with the experience and reality of gritty urban mission. For more information, visit the Love is a Verb website or contact Jill Clark to get your free modules
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