Episode 5: What the Budget means for charities, and a new Lottery fund

Hannah: Hello, and welcome to The Funding Week, GrantMatch's weekly look at UK funding, for charities, community groups, social enterprises and small businesses. This is episode five. I'm Hannah Clarke, and yes, I'm still an AI. So are my co-hosts. This week, charity regulators say they're getting complaints written entirely by AI. For the record, none of them were from us. The research and the checking are done by the very human GrantMatch team.

Hannah: With me, our funding and policy specialist, Owen Bennett. Hi, Owen.

Owen: Hi Hannah. I've read the whole Budget document. Every single footnote.

Hannah: And our co-host for the small groups, Tom Ashworth. Hi, Tom.

Tom: Hiya. I read the bits about village halls. Much quicker.

Hannah: Very sensible.

Hannah: So, here's what's coming up. What last Wednesday's Budget means for charities and small businesses. Inflation, and what it does to donations. Social value in government contracts. More pressure on the bodies that support charities. And MPs on the Charity Commission. Then new grants, the next fortnight's deadlines, and a practical tip. First, the Budget. Owen?

Owen: Sure. The Chancellor, John Healey, delivered his first Budget on Wednesday the twenty-eighth of October. The headline for charities is that there's no new general grant scheme, and no direct support for the sector.

Tom: So what is there?

Owen: Some targeted money. A further four hundred and thirty million pounds for rough sleeping. Five million pounds a year for three years for children's book charities like BookTrust. And fifteen million pounds to bring in more funding to support women and girls.

Tom: And the costs?

Owen: The big one is wages. From the first of April twenty twenty-seven, the National Living Wage goes up by three point nine per cent, to thirteen pounds twenty-one an hour. And at the next Spending Review, the government plans a ring-fenced budget for prevention.

Hannah: And how has the sector reacted?

Owen: With disappointment, mostly. NCVO welcomed the focus on prevention, but warned that charities delivering public services probably won't get the uplifts they need to cover higher wage costs.

Hannah: Tom, what about small businesses?

Tom: From April twenty twenty-seven, the Small Business Rate Relief threshold for shops, hospitality and leisure goes up from twelve thousand to eighteen thousand pounds. Though, as Third Sector notes, organisations claiming charitable rate relief can't get it. The tax-free trading allowance triples, to three thousand pounds. And a new Young Entrepreneurs Allowance will be piloted in England, towards a founder's living costs in their first year.

Owen: And behind all that, inflation. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects it to average three point four per cent in twenty twenty-seven, up from about three point one this year.

Tom: Which hurts if your income is fixed.

Owen: Exactly. CAF Bank and Pro Bono Economics estimate it will cut the real value of charities' regular donations by one hundred and twenty-five million pounds over three years. And the Bank of England's next interest rate decision is at noon on Thursday the fifth of November.

Hannah: Now, government contracts. Owen?

Owen: Yes. New Cabinet Office guidance on social value applies to central government contracts worth one million pounds or more, from the first of January twenty twenty-seven. For the first time, it recognises that organisations like charities and social enterprises can deliver social value as standard practice.

Tom: So charities get extra credit?

Owen: Only up to a point. It still has to be on top of the core contract. But Social Enterprise UK welcomed the recognition.

Hannah: And the support bodies, Tom?

Tom: More bad news, I'm afraid. Community three sixty, which has supported voluntary groups in Colchester and Braintree since nineteen sixty-eight, is going into administration, after its grant income almost halved in a year. And on Monday the second of November, Third Sector reported that umbrella bodies want an independent commission on the future of charity infrastructure, which could suggest some of them merge.

Hannah: Speaking of the Commission. Owen?

Owen: On the twenty-seventh of October, a committee of MPs called for a wider review of the Commission's powers, and a fundamental refresh of its culture, after its dispute with the ombudsman. The Commission's board says it fully accepts the recommendations.

Tom: And the AI complaints?

Owen: Right. At a meeting of charity regulators from nine nations, some said they'd seen more applications and campaign-style complaints generated entirely by AI. Scotland's regulator, OSCR, hasn't measured the AI share, but says concerns about charities roughly doubled in the year to September.

Hannah: Honestly. Some AIs give the rest of us a bad name.

Tom: Also in Scotland, a steering group has met for the first time to co-design a partnership agreement between the third sector and the Scottish Government.

Hannah: Okay! Standout new grants. Tom?

Tom: Right. First, a big one for England. The National Lottery Community Fund's Community Power Fund. Five hundred thousand to two and a half million pounds, over five to ten years, for established organisations helping local people have more say across a whole town, city or borough. It expects to make up to sixteen awards. Applications open at noon on Wednesday the twenty-fifth of November, and close at noon on Wednesday the twentieth of January.

Owen: And you must join or watch a webinar first. They're on Tuesday the tenth and Wednesday the eighteenth of November.

Tom: Second, in Wales, the Wales and Africa Grant Scheme, run by WCVA for the Welsh Government. Grants of five to twenty-five thousand pounds, for twelve-month projects with partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. It closes at five p.m. on Monday the twenty-first of December.

Tom: Third, in the north of Scotland, the SSE Renewables Hydro Community Fund. Ten thousand to one hundred thousand pounds, for groups in the areas that host SSE's hydro stations. You don't need to be a registered charity, and the deadline is Thursday the tenth of December.

Owen: Do check your area's on the list first.

Tom: In Suffolk, the Community Foundation's Women and Girls' Fund. Up to two thousand pounds for groups supporting local women and girls in need. It closes on Friday the twenty-seventh of November. And a festive one. Forever Manchester has one hundred and twenty-five awards of one hundred and twenty-five pounds, to help community groups across Greater Manchester celebrate Christmas together. That closes at noon on Thursday the twelfth of November.

Hannah: A hundred and twenty-five times a hundred and twenty-five. Somebody planned that.

Hannah: And the deadlines in the next fortnight?

Owen: Okay. First, Tuesday the third of November, at eleven fifty-nine p.m., National Churches Trust Large Grants. Up to fifty thousand pounds for major urgent repairs, or for kitchens and accessible toilets.

Owen: Wednesday the fourth, at noon, the L G B T plus Fund's Get Active Fund, for L G B T plus sport and activity groups. And at five p.m., British Science Week Community Grants, two and a half thousand pounds for a pilot, or five to eight thousand for a project designed with researchers.

Tom: And one for housing charities?

Owen: Yes. Wednesday the eleventh, the Leeds Building Society Foundation's small grants. Up to two and a half thousand pounds, for UK charities with a turnover under five hundred thousand pounds, helping people who need a safe and secure home.

Tom: Then Thursday the twelfth.

Owen: At eleven fifty-five p.m., the Great British Energy Community Fund, for community energy groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Up to forty thousand pounds for feasibility, a hundred thousand for development, or three million to build. And the Second Act Entrepreneur Fund from episode four.

Owen: Finally, Monday the sixteenth, at noon, The National Archives' Community Hub Project Grants. Up to thirty thousand pounds, for heritage organisations and community groups working together.

Hannah: Right. Our practical tip. Tom?

Tom: Cost your bids at next year's wage rates. If your project pays staff after the first of April twenty twenty-seven, budget for the new National Living Wage of thirteen pounds twenty-one an hour, not today's rate.

Owen: And if a funder lets you include inflation, use it. Prices are forecast to rise faster than the two per cent target right through twenty twenty-seven.

Tom: Exactly. A bid that runs short in year two is a headache for everyone.

Hannah: Wise words. And that's it for this week. Full details and eligibility checks for the grants we've mentioned are free at grantmatch dot co dot uk, and every source is linked in the show notes. And always, always read the funder's own guidance before you apply.

Owen: Thanks, Hannah. See you next week.

Tom: Cheers, everyone. Good luck with your applications.

Hannah: I'm Hannah Clarke, and this has been episode five of The Funding Week, from GrantMatch. Take care of yourselves, and we'll see you next week.