The National Emergencies Trust (NET) is inviting charities to apply for funding from the Local Action Fund, because it still has £747,000 in match-funding available.
The Local Action Fund is part of the trust’s Coronavirus Appeal and it offers support to non-profit organisations that have encountered financial difficulties due to the pandemic.
The fund, created in partnership with Crowdfunder, is able to match up to £10,000 per project and NET has extended the deadline and is urging charities to apply.
The Local Action Fund launched last year 2021 with £1.2m of match-funding to award. Applications opened on 22 September 2021 and closed on 22 October 2021.
In a statement yesterday, NET said: “Since the Local Action Fund launched last September more than 100 projects across the UK have signed up to start fundraising, and the fund will now remain open for ongoing applications.”
Successful applicants then needed to set up a crowdfunding campaign “with an aim to raise money to either launch new local initiatives or to enable them to continue existing services. The National Emergencies Trust will match donations, pound for pound, up to a total of £10,000.”
Some successful Local Action Fund projects include Feed Edinburgh this Winter by charity Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts which has raised over £43,000 for those living in food poverty across Edinburgh. Similarly, Made in Hackney Community Meals, a community food kitchen, has raised £152,539 on the platform.
Mhairi Sharp, CEO of the NET, said: “The Local Action Fund was launched to help small local projects to get back on their feet after the challenges of the pandemic, and remains as relevant as ever following the latest measures announced in December. We’ve decided to keep the fund open so that those in need of a financial boost, either for new projects or to cover core costs, don’t miss out at this difficult time.”
Who is eligible?
Organisations that are eligible to apply are:
- Registered charities, including charitable incorporated organisations.
- Constituted organisations and non-registered charities.
- Community interest companies.
- Churches and other religious organisations (if the funded activity is not deemed to be evangelical).
- Other voluntary community organisations or those not constituted but deemed appropriate.
However, the following is required for the donations to be matched:
- Your project must rise funds from at least 25 supporters within four weeks.
- Only one donation per supporter will be matched.
- If your project is an all or nothing project, it must meet its goal.
National Emergencies Trust distributed £90m last year
This week NET published its accounts for 2020-21, which shows that it gave out £90.4m in grants through its Coronavirus Appeal.
Grant recipients were UK Community Foundations, Comic Relief, Refugee Council, Barnados and more.
This is a 3,412.02% increase from its 2019-20 accounts, as only one grant of £2,650,000 was awarded to UK Community Foundations in 2020.
The charity released its accounts with a new logo, which was designed by its patron the digital marketing agency Alcimi.
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