A targeted funding programme for collaborations led by small charities to influence and achieve change locally.

The Lloyds Bank Foundation Local Collaborations Programme offers grants of £100,000 over two years, alongside development support. There is some opportunity for both the funding and grant period to be extended.

It is designed for collaborations led by small charities around three themes:

• making the social security system work better for those facing the greatest challenges
• making sure people facing complex issues have access to suitable accommodation
• improving support and services for asylum seekers and refugees.

Collaborations must either be new, where partners have recently come together around a local issue, or existing collaborations which have partnership arrangements in place.

The funding can be for all costs relating to the proposed influencing work and to support collaborative working, such as staff costs, activity and materials costs and core costs where they are overheads clearly related to the proposed project (eg CEO/senior management time, premises, management, finance and administration costs etc).

This could include:

• Co-ordination, convening and facilitation of your collaboration and working with stakeholders
• Backfill of roles to support smaller organisations to be involved
• Support for people with lived experience to be involved
• Engaging with your local community and those you seeking to influence to make a case for change
• Capacity or expertise to support your influencing activity, eg. to conduct research or analyse data.

It cannot be used to pay for the direct delivery of support or services.

The Foundation is also happy to consider adding funding to support that which you have secured from others, or to build on or extend existing work. It cannot retrospectively fund work that has already started.

Charities currently receiving funding from the Foundation can apply to this programme, subject to meeting the programme’s criteria, on behalf of a collaboration.

Organisations wishing to discuss the programme can email collaborations@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk or book a call.

The closing date for Expressions of Interest is 5pm on Friday 22 September 2023.

Grant decisions will be made in late February 2024.

For more details and to apply, visit the Lloyds Bank Foundation Local Collaborations Funding webpage.