This new £3.2 million fund has opened to respond to the cost of living crisis faced by women in the UK.

The National Lottery Community Fund has provided this new major funding pot, which will be administered by the Smallwood Trust. The Trust is a specialist funder for UK women’s organisations with 136 years of experience tackling gendered poverty.

Grants will be awarded to 60 local community organisations serving women, allowing 20,000 women to access vital support services over five years.

Round 1 of the fund will offer emergency funding for organisations delivering frontline services that are led by, for and/or serving women with an income of £1,000,000 or less. The funding will help them address the increase in demand for priority basic needs of women who are most vulnerable to poverty due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Funds can pay for core and frontline staff salaries, running costs/overheads, provision of services and goods to women, and other organisational costs that will help meet the aims of the fund. You can find a list of the full eligible and ineligible items on page X of the guidance notes. (hyperlink)

Application can be made for a minimum of £15,000 and maximum of £60,000 to be split over three years.

Funds can pay for core and frontline staff salaries, running costs/overheads, provision of services and goods to women, and other organisational costs that will help meet the aims of the fund.

Round 2 of the fund will be launched in Autumn 2023. It will be co-designed to provide funding to help shore up the capacity of vital women’s and specialist services to enable them to continue to respond to economic shocks and enable financially vulnerable women to access support to increase their own financial security.

A series of free Q&A webinars are being held, the next available dates being 4 May and 12 May.

The closing date for Round 1 applications is 5pm on 19 May 2023.

For full application guidance and information, visit Smallwood Trust Grants to Organisations webpage.