Capacity Building

Funding is available for organisations in Scotland, England and Wales to deliver the project they have always dreamed of, but never had the opportunity to bring to life.

Organisations are encouraged to collaborate to provide a more efficient service. All applications must, therefore, come from at least two organisations that have joined forces. One of these organisations must be a registered charity, who will be considered the lead organisation for the project. The other organisations can be another charity, a voluntary group, a community interest company or a social enterprise

Starter grants of up to £3000 are available for tenant groups who are interested in 'Community Cashback' agreements with their landlords.

A Community Cashback agreement is a voluntary deal for tenants and residents to take control of small-scale local services such as cleaning, gardening etc. Any cost savings are kept by the resident group to use for community benefit.

Gift Aid specialists Kvisio have launched GiftAid Online, a web-based tool for small charities (those with under 1,000 supporters), who want to make Gift Aid claims online through the HMRC Gateway.

The tool has been developed following the changes in HMRC's rules for online tax claims.

Voluntary Youth Manchester, Macc and Manchester City Council are jointly conducting an evaluation of the recent Youth and Play Fund Commissioning process.

One part of the data collection for the evaluation is an on-line survey and we would very much welcome your participation. To complete the survey, please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/youth_and_play_commissioning_evaluation, by Sunday 18 August.

Together Works is the social enterprise network for Greater Manchester and they are supporting Manchester-based organisations to create or improve their business plans to enable them to secure income by trading for profit.

The Social Enterprise sector is the fastest growing sector in the UK and can help Greater Manchester’s economy grow and create sustainable jobs. Many organisations and people have great ideas or are already successfully trading on a small scale but don’t feel ready or able to scale up. Together Works can help.

The Google for Nonprofits programme, which offers charities free and discounted access to online collaboration tools, advice, and free Google advertising, has now been extended to charities registered in England and Wales. Previously it was available only to eligible nonprofits in the USA since it was established in 2011.

Benefits
Charities approved for the Google for Nonprofits programme in the UK will receive at no charge access to:

The Woodland Trust have 4000 free tree packs to give away to school, community and youth groups this autumn.

Bring your community together to do something good for your neighbourhood by applying for the chance to receive a free tree pack to plant in November 2013.

Each pack is worth £30, £105 or £420. All you need to do is find a suitable site and supply the volunteer planters and tree protection.

Are you thinking of running a local service or taking over the management of a local building or land of community value? There are a range of grants available to help you with the process of taking over a service or an asset.

Strong and healthy organisations need well-trained staff and members to operate effectively.

Please can you spare 5-10 minutes to complete the latest questionnaire by clicking here

The questionnaire offers an ideal opportunity for voluntary community organisations and volunteers to identify specific training needs.