On 8 April 2020 the Chancellor announced a £750m funding package for the VCSE sector. £310m of this funding has been set aside for VCSEs working with vulnerable people in England. £200m of this funding, the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, is being distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund.
A further £90m of this has now been allocated:
- £85m to the new Community Match Challenge, and
- £4.8m to support the VCSE sector through the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership
Community Match Challenge
The government is launching the Community Match Challenge, inviting philanthropists, foundations and grant making organisations to put forward new funding with a generous offer to match funds raised on a pound for pound basis. This will stimulate and enhance further generous donations from those who wish to support their communities during these challenging times.
This funding is intended for those who are most vulnerable and have been hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak. We expect awards to be made principally to charitable grant makers providing aid to small and medium sized charities.
We anticipate matching applications in the £5m-£20m range. This innovative approach will build on the expertise of philanthropists and foundations by supporting the charities that they believe will have the highest impact in the areas that we want to focus on, while giving charities longer term recovery support by allowing the non-HMG portion of the match funding to be spent beyond March 2021.
Detailed guidance and notes on eligibility of organisations, partnerships, and spend, can be found in the application form below.
Applications must be submitted by Sunday 2 August to: community-match-challenge@dcms.gov.uk Enquiries about the programme should also be directed to this address.
Key documents:
- Community Match Challenge: Application form and guidance
- Draft DCMS standard terms and conditions of grant agreements
Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership
The voluntary and community sector will receive additional support in its response to the coronavirus crisis and future emergencies, through a £4.8 million grant to the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership.
The Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership is a collection of voluntary and community sector organisations, and is co-chaired by the British Red Cross and NAVCA.
The Partnership aims to help people prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. They do this through coordinating and directly providing support to those in need.
As part of the coronavirus response, the Partnership is establishing a legacy for future emergencies that will help to identify needs, match the country’s strong base of volunteers with demands, and coordinate voluntary sector activity nationally and locally.
This funding will be used to improve coordination across the voluntary and community sector through:
- a network of regional hubs to provide additional capacity to the VCS when demand outstrips supply at a local level
- a national cell to match and coordinate demand for volunteers across the country, and
- a new data platform that pools sector-wider understanding of unmet need across the UK and informs a more effective response to emergencies
So far, the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership has:
- Delivered almost 800kg of food to a foodbank in Leominster, after they saw a 487% increase in demand
- Carried out COVID-19 tests at 35 care homes across Lancashire
- Helped establish eight food distribution hubs across the South West
You can find out more about the work of the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership and request support at vcsep.org.uk.
