Cost of Living Resilience Fund

The Cost of Living Resilience Fund supports social sector organisations in areas of deprivation providing services to support people struggling with the rising cost of living. The fund aims to a blue bag with a yellow ribbon around the top and white pound sign on the frontincrease sustainability in these organisations by supporting them to deliver projects which build organisational stability and resilience to deliver.

To be eligible to apply for match funding your organisation must:

  • Be one of the following types of organisations: Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Community Benefit Society, Community Interest Company Limited by Guarantee, Community Interest Company, Co-operative Society
  • Bring in over 33% of its income through trading activities
  • Be based in and support communities in areas of deprivation in England, as measured using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
  • Provide services supporting people with the cost of living

The types of services being delivered may include (but are not limited to):

  • Provision of advice, in particular debt and financial advice
  • Provision of warm spaces over winter, linked to the provision of wider advice and support services
  • Provision of no or low cost food, through food banks or food delivery boxes
  • Support with housing needs whether that be through advice to those made homeless, provision of low/no cost home furnishings or provision of housing itself
  • Access to transport to enable people to access shops or facilities and employment

The project being delivered through the funding will need to demonstrate how it will build organisational stability and resilience to deliver services. Examples may include:

  • Refurbishment of premises to better serve the community and increase delivery capacity
  • Development of a new service or product to bring in additional revenue
  • Investment in current activity to allow growth or expansion of services
  • Applications which are seeking funding simply to deliver business as usual will not be eligible

Match funding criteria
To receive match funding (once approved), the following conditions must all be met:

  • All pledges made by supporters, up to a maximum £150 pledge, will be matched by the Cost of Living Resilience Fund at a rate of 2:1 or 3:1 match funding depending on IMD.
  • Only one donation per supporter will be matched.
  • Projects must reach their target by the end of their initial fundraising period to receive match funding.
  • Projects must receive pledges from a minimum of 25 unique supporters to receive the match funding.
  • The maximum match funding a Project can receive from The Cost of Living Resilience Fund is determined by IMD:
    • i. IMD 1-3: Projects with an IMD score of 1-3 will receive match funding up to a maximum of 75% of the initial project target
    • ii. IMD 4-5: Projects with an IMD score of 4-5 will receive match funding up to a maximum of 66% of the initial project target
  • The maximum match funding for all Projects is £50,000.
  • The match fund will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Matching will stop automatically when the funds are fully allocated.

To apply to this fund start by setting up a crowdfunder project here, if eligible you will be able to apply.