Opens MONDAY: NatWest Social and Community Capital to launch £1m Coronavirus Response Fund

Opening for applications at 9am on Monday 22nd June, our friends at NatWest Social and Community Capital are launching a new £1million fund offering grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 to organisations across the UK that employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.

These grants are unrestricted and can be used for any purpose, including core costs. Organisations must have an annual turnover between £50,000 and £1 million, must have been generating at least 30% of revenue from trading income before the crisis and must have suffered a loss in trading income due to lockdown restrictions. Full eligibility criteria are outlined below.

Applications will stay open for at least one week. It is hoped that applications will remain open for longer but may need to close after a week depending on how many applications they receive and if they reach their capacity, so applicants are encouraged to submit the application as soon as possible.

Full information on the grants, including the application form and how to apply, will be available here from Monday 22nd June.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Organisations must employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups
  • Organisations must generate at least 30% of revenue from trading income
  • Organisations must have had a pre-coronavirus annual turnover of between £50,000 to £1 million
  • The organisation must have suffered a loss of trading income since March 2020, caused by lockdown restrictions
  • The organisation must have been founded and trading prior to 1st January 2019
  • The organisation must have been financially sustainable (or on a path to financial stability) up to March 2020
  • The organisation must be constituted, operating and delivering impact in England, Scotland, Wales, and/or Northern Ireland
  • The organisation must have one of the following legal structures: Community Interest Company (CIC), Company Limited by Guarantee, Community Benefit Society, Co-operative Society, Unincorporated association, Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), Charitable Trusts, Registered Charity

The following will need to be provided in the application form:

  • Basic information about the organisation, contact details, staff and volunteer numbers, year and date founded, financial information for the last 3 years and forecasts for the next 2 years
  • A description of the organisations mission, key activities and impact over the last year
  • Details about the grant request including what it will be used for, why it’s needed and what impact would be achieved