We Fund

Our ambition is to support small and medium-sized charities to recover and renew beyond the immediate health crisis. Beyond unrestricted funding, we know that charities need the space and support to adapt their organisational, income generation and service delivery models which have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. To meet these needs, our COVID Recovery Fund will offer around 140 charities a two-year unrestricted grant of up to £50,000 alongside a Development Partner to help charities navigate a tumultuous future.

This fund gives charities we partner with greater flexibility over how they use their resources, allows them to build an in-depth relationship with us and the Development Partner, and opens up more opportunities take advantage of the wide range of the development support we offer and connect and learn from their peers.

We recognise that there are many charities out there who would like and would benefit from our support but, like any funder, we have a limit to the money we have available. During this funding round, we will only be able to make around 140 new grants to small charities in England and Wales.

We also want to be open and transparent with charities and make the best use of their time spent applying for a grant, by being clear in advance which charities we are more likely to fund at any time.

Our funding process considers local need, the prevalence of eligible small and medium-sized charities, the nature of the region and the balance of our portfolio.

To see if we are currently funding the main issue your charity focuses on and area you’re based, please start below by selecting a complex social issue then select your local authority.

In-depth

We fund charities which work with people over a prolonged period (a minimum of 12-weeks). As a result, we do not fund work that is primarily one-off advice or `signposting`.

Holistic and person-centred

We expect the charity to use a 'person centred approach'. The individual will have been assessed and their needs identified with a plan of support put in place. Where your charity cannot meet all of an individual’s identified needs, you will need to tell us how you are working in partnership with others to address them.

Targeted

We do not support work that is purely reactive, or for the benefit of an entire geographic community. The charity will have identified a specific group of beneficiaries, will understand their needs and pro-actively seek to support them.

Supporting a journey of change

We expect the charity to be able to monitor and measure positive, outcome-based changes. These may not always be ‘hard’ outcomes, but we need to see evidence that the charity is supporting its service users to develop new skills, confidence, independence, security and/or agency.

Core cost funding

We apply few restrictions to the grants we make, instead we trust charities to spend their money how they see fit. Therefore, we do not ask for a budget, or how the money will be spent.

We will not, however, fund capital costs and we do expect our grant to be spent within its term.

Developmental Support

We are able to offer charities a range of tailored developmental support to help build organisational capacity, improve resilience and sustainability. Whether it’s support to embed a new database, one of our expert consultants to help with your governance or fundraising, or even guidance on a particular finance or HR issue. We know the impact this support can have, so we are particularly keen to work with charities that can demonstrate an understanding of their own organisational development issues, and an appetite to address these.

Development Partner

Each charity will work closely with a Development Partner over 12 months who will provide bespoke 1:1 support to build organisational resilience, adapt service and business models and create stronger links with their local ecosystem. The Development Partner will work with each charity, on average, half a day per month to provide coaching and practical support as required, in addition to facilitating cohort and peer to peer learning.  

What are your eligibility criteria?

You can download our full eligibility criteria here. If you have read our criteria and are still unsure if you’re eligible, please contact us.

You say you only fund work of ‘registered charities’ – what does this mean?

We only fund Charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission, and who also have at least one year of published accounts.

What do you mean by published accounts?

By published accounts, we mean the accounts published on your charity’s Charity Commission web page.

We are a Community Interest Company (CIC), are we eligible to apply?

No, we only accept applications from charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission.

Are there things you don't fund?

Yes, our grants programmes are designed to support small and local charities helping people aged 17+ overcome complex social issues. You can check which issues we fund below or read our strategy to find out why we’ve chosen these.

You support charities helping people facing complex social issues. What do you mean by complex social issues?

We work with hundreds of small and local charities helping people dealing with complex social issues that don’t have simple solutions. Problems such as poor mental health, homelessness and substance abuse. We fund charities helping people whose lives are significantly affected by these complex social issues:

• Addiction or dependency on alcohol, drugs, and/or gambling
• Asylum seekers and refugees
• Care leavers
• Domestic and sexual abuse
• Homelessness/vulnerably housed
• Learning disabilities
• Mental health
• Offending, prison or community service
• Racial Equity
• Sexual exploitation
• Trafficking and modern slavery
• Young parents

We support people living with one or more of your complex social issues. Are we automatically eligible to apply?

Not necessarily. You will still need to meet our eligibility criteria and be able to show that the complex social issues you are working on have a significant impact on the lives of the people you work with. For example, some young parents will be well supported by their family and partner, and are not therefore seen as dealing with a complex social issue. We will also be looking for your work to be in-depth, holistic and targeted, as described above.

We’re working on a complex social issue not listed on your eligibility criteria. Are we eligible to apply?

No, unfortunately, due to limited funds, we only make grants to charities working with people experiencing at least one of our targeted complex social issues.

You ask about our free reserves – what are free reserves?

Free reserves are the amount of unrestricted cash reserves your charity held at year-end. This includes reserves which you have decided to allocate but are free to reallocate as needed and does not include the value of fixed assets such as buildings.

We are a new charity, and we don’t have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?

No, you will need to wait until your first year of accounts is published on the Charity Commission website. At that point, if you meet our eligibility criteria we’d love to hear from you.

We are a recently merged charity that does not have one year of published accounts. Are we eligible to apply?

As a recently merged charity, you can apply for a grant if you can show:

• Your income in your last set of published accounts was between £25,000 and £1 million. If your newly-registered charity does not have a year of accounts published yet, you can use the most recent accounts of the pre-merger charities. The combined income from both sets of accounts must be less than £1 million.
• You have less than 12 months of free reserves. If your newly registered charity does not have a year of accounts published yet, you can use the most recent accounts of the pre-merger charities. The combined free reserves of both charities must be less than the combined spending of both charities.
• At least one of the merged charities has being delivering face-to-face services for at least a year.

We don’t have our own charity number. Can we apply using the charity number of an umbrella organisation?

No, we can only fund you if your charity is independently registered with the Charity Commission, and your charity has a bank account in its own name.

Our income in our last set of published accounts was less than £25,000 OR more than £1 million. Can we apply?

No, your charity’s income must be between £25,000 and £1 million. These limits still apply even if your income is more than £1 million because of an unusual or one-off payment like a legacy or capital grant.

If you are a recently merged charity and are using the published accounts of the merged charities, the combined income must be less than £1 million.

Does our charity need to have its own bank account to be eligible to apply?

Yes, your charity must have a bank account in its own name. If your application is successful, we will pay your grant into this bank account.

Do you fund children's charities?

Our grants are focused on adults. You need to be working with people aged 17 and over – see guidelines on our Notes for Applicants page for exceptions.

We are an advice agency, can we apply?

We do fund charities whose core work is providing advice but only if they support people experiencing our targeted complex social issues AND additional support is provided – e.g. representation, formal referral process, help with deposits. You will need to be able to report on the longer-term impact of the support you provide.

We do not fund one-off advice or helplines.

We are a counselling service, can we apply?

We do not fund charities if your core work is counselling, unless this part of the wider support you provide to address our targeted complex social issues.

For example, we would consider funding counselling as part of a programme for people who are recovering from substance abuse.

We still have an active grant with you, can we apply for another one?

If your grant with us comes to an end this year (2020), you can apply for a new grant. Applications are made in the same way, starting with our eligibility checker (look for the green box available on our complex social issues pages).

If your grant comes to an end in 2021 or beyond, you will not be able to apply for the COVID Recovery Fund.

When do applications open and close?

Applications are open between 10am 3^rd August 2020 and 5pm 11^th September 2020.

We’ve forgotten our password. What should we do?

On the account log in page, click 'Forgot Password?' in the bottom left corner. An email with further instructions will be sent to your email address. Open the email and follow the instructions. If you still have problems accessing your account, please phone our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk

Our charity has had an account on your site in the past, but we no longer have the login details. What should we do?

If you are having trouble logging into your account, or have forgotten your login details, please contact our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk.

We would like to update our online account to have new contact details, how do we do this?

If you have your existing login details, you can update the contact details yourself by logging in and clicking on the person icon on the right-hand side of the screen, choosing settings on the drop-down list and selecting ‘Personal Details’ from the menu on the left. Enter your new details then hit the save button.

If you no longer have access to the email address linked to your account, or want to update your organisation’s contact details, please phone our team on 0370 411 1223 or email enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk.