News

Funding Opportunity – Isle of Wight Foundation – Grant Call 2021

Local projects that look to tackle Social Exclusion and that support people into employment may be able to benefit from the latest round of funding that has just been announced by the Isle of Wight Foundation: The Isle of Wight Foundation, is pleased to announce that the application process for the next round of grant funding from the Isle of Wight Foundation is now open for voluntary, community and not-for-profit groups in our local area.

The IW Foundation is a charitable trust, funded jointly by the partners in Island Roads, to provide grant funding and volunteering support each year to help projects on the Island to tackle social exclusion and support people into employment.

You may have seen in their recent announcements that they were delighted to award grant funding this year of between £3,000 and £16,000 to a further ten projects put forward by community and charity groups on the Island.

These projects included:-

Ability Dogs 4 Young People

Awarded £14,000 for a new van for an ability dog trainer to assist in transporting Ability Dogs for training.

Bembridge Friendship Circle

Awarded £10,000 towards the cost of a new community bus with disabled access to assist socially isolated members of the community.

Care in the Garden

Awarded £7,500 for a new ride-on mower, trailer and mulcher to create more opportunities for the organisation’s supported workers out in the community.

Chillerton and Gatcombe Community Association

Awarded £3,505 to upgrade Chillerton village hall as a community facility and hub.

The Way Forward Programme

Awarded £4,125.25 for a new fully accessible kitchen at its Newport headquarters for its clients with mobility challenges or visual impairments. The new facilities will help the organisation in its work to encourage the independence and self-worth of its customers.

 

Whippingham Community Association

Awarded £5,000 to upgrade the community hall’s entrance and toilet facilities, making it more accessible to all.

Mountbatten IOW (Earl Mountbatten Hospice)

Awarded £6,700 for 30 laptops to support its Neighbours Remote Support initiative, which provides support to people within their own homes who are isolated or lonely and have a chronic, life-limiting or end of life illness.

WightSAR (Isle of Wight Search & Rescue)

Awarded £8,000 for new search and rescue equipment and training to support its lowland search and rescue services.

Aspire Ryde

Awarded £6,730 for new computer equipment and furniture for a new skills hub, assisting people to earn qualifications that can help them into employment.

Vectis Radio’s 4Ps Training School

Awarded £8,000 to support work helping young people to improve life chances by building their confidence and improve their communication through radio work.

This means that more than £550,000 has now been donated to Island-based good causes since the launch of the IW Foundation.

Now, as it enters its eighth year, the Foundation is once again making up to £80,000 available to support local community projects with, on average, grants of between £3,000 and £16,000.  Grants will be awarded at the end of 2021, with funding commencing at the beginning of 2022.  Successful organisations also receive support from an Island Roads employee, who volunteers their time to help their organisation in the planning and delivery of their project.

Unfortunately, the Foundation is unable to provide funding to statutory bodies so  Town and Parish Councils cannot apply for, or be granted the funds directly; however, we can be involved in nominating or supporting an application from a local group.

They are particularly looking for projects that help people to access employment (e.g. through providing training, qualifications and support or tackling mobility issues which can limit access to employment), or projects which help bring communities together through improving citizenships (e.g. giving people – young or old who are disadvantaged, the encouragement and confidence to play an active role in society).

Whilst they prefer to support capital projects that tend to be larger and make more of a longer-term impact, they are happy to consider other applications e.g. for revenue funding provided the projects meet the grant criteria.  They are also happy to accept applications from groups with existing projects, as long as they can demonstrate that the funding will enable them to extend their services to benefit more people in the community.

The closing date for applications is 12 noon on 7 May 2021.

If you would like more information on the Isle of Wight Foundation and details of how groups in our community can apply, please visit www.islandroads.com/iw-foundation. The FAQ section may be particularly useful.