Volunteers Expenses Fund 2025

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Fifteen grants of £920 are available to voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in the city of Manchester that have an annual income under £100,000, which support communities most affected by the cost of living crisis. These grants are specifically to help cover the out-of-pocket expenses of those organisations’ volunteers. 

You can find more detail about this programme in the grants guidance here. 
The application form is now online here.

THE GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 12 midday on Thursday 6 February 2025. We will notify all applicants of the selection panel’s decisions by week commencing Monday 24 February.

For successful applicants we will need to carry out standard due diligence checks and we will then pay the grants within a few days of completing them. Grant holders must spend all funding and have submitted a completed monitoring form within six months, no later than 31 August 2025 – please make sure you plan for this.

IMPORTANT: KEY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
These grants are available only to VCSE organisations that meet the following criteria:

• Located within the city of Manchester (city-based organisations will be prioritised; due to funding limitations groups based in other parts of Greater Manchester or elsewhere that are applying for work they do within the city will be a lower priority for consideration)
   
• With an annual income less than £100,000 (as part of our standard due diligence checks, if your application is successful we will need to confirm that you have an eligible turnover)
   
• Is looking for funding to support volunteering costs such as: 
  • Volunteers’ out-of-pocket expenses for travel, transport, refreshments and meals
  • Care of volunteers’ dependents
  • Individual volunteers’ accessibility needs
  • Provision of volunteers’ refreshments / free meals at your premises
     
• For volunteers who are delivering activities only within the city of Manchester (and not other areas of Greater Manchester or elsewhere), which mainly support communities of people most affected by social inequalities and who struggle the most financially, e.g. people who
  • Use food banks
  • Are older or are very young
  • Have chronic long-term health issues
  • Are Black, Asian or of other minoritised ethnicities
  • Are long-term unemployed or have experienced worklessness
  • Are disabled
  • Are homeless
  • Are refugees

Note: the following types of cost are of lower priority for this funding. Organisational coordination costs such as staffing, recruitment (e.g. DBS checks, advertising, induction materials, etc.), training, protective clothing or equipment, celebration/motivational activities, etc.