The Woodsmith Foundation is keen to support a wide range of organisations across our area of benefit (the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland, the Borough of Scarborough and the North York Moors National Park) to deliver projects that will do good things in their communities.

We will support projects that:

• Increase opportunities for better life chances.

• Encourage positive changes by improving lives and places, or tackling issues that negatively impact on local people.

• Bring people together and enrich lives by ensuring there are local spaces, resources and activities that provide pleasure, learning, or community action.

Our Community Grants are popular so we have separated the funding available into 2 upper limits, with clear and specific categories based upon what we know is needed from past grant rounds (please see table in the grant guidance document). We will also prioritise funding projects that support people most at disadvantage due to unfavourable circumstances or facing barriers that lead to inequality.
Capital and revenue grants up to £5,000 are available. The guidance has more detailed information on the types of organisations who can apply and the types of projects we will fund so please download and read this before applying.

How to apply

• Please read the Community Grants Guidance before applying. - Please note this is the 2024 guidance. We will update this in January.

• If you have any questions, please email grants@woodsmithfoundation.org.uk or call Rebecca on 07756 395535 or Leah on 07724 832982.

There are three funding rounds in 2024 and the deadlines for accepting applications are 10am on 17th April, 17th July and 31st October. You may only apply once in 12 months

We understand that in many cases, the financial pressures placed upon their families can become increasingly prohibitive the more the young person advances. These costs can be difficult to keep up with and this may be particularly challenging for some of the talented children and young people in our area, who live in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England.

Examples of the types of things we may be able to fund include:

• Competition fees

• Transport or accommodation costs

• Specialist coaching/tuition

• Exam or qualification fees

• Essential equipment or clothing

Although this funding will not be means tested, we will ask all applicants about other funding options as part of the application process. This funding is aimed at supporting young people where their family or carer is unable to afford to do so.

The activity funded must only be for young people normally living in the Foundation’s area of benefit. Our area of benefit is the Borough of Scarborough, the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland, and the North York Moors National Park. Grants of up to £1,500 are available.

We will accept applications to support children and young people up to the age of 18 who have already demonstrated exceptional talent in their chosen subject. Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, would be eligible up to the age of 25. You can also apply for funding for care leavers up to the age of 25.

The Young and Talented Fund is aimed at essential funding needed for a young person to progress in any chosen subject. We like to think of talents in the widest possible way. Examples could include: an academic subject, chess, dance, art, writing, music, drama and sports of all kinds – from skateboarding and surfing to horse riding and athletics. We would stress that this is by no means an exhaustive list. The focus is on the fact that the young person is already operating at a high level and excelling in their subject.

Applications to the fund can be made by either trusted adults or by parents/guardians of the young person themselves.

All applications require an independent reference provided by a professional expert who can comment on the young person’s level of ability and potential to progress.

How to apply

• Please read the Young and Talented Grant Guidance.

• If you would like to apply please call Leah on 07724 832982 to discuss your application and request an application form. If you are unable to call please email grants@woodsmithfoundation.org.uk with details of your funding request and a contact telephone number and a member of our team will call you back.

• As well as the application form we also require completion of the Independent Reference Form by a professional expert who can comment on the young person’s level of ability and potential to progress.

We are open to grant applications at any time between February 2024 and the end of October 2024.

Expressions of Interest for 2024 are now closed. We have had a high number of Expressions of Interest in the first half of the year and have allocated (and exceeded) our budget of £350,000 for large grants. We will reopen this round in January 2025.

In 2024 we will be accepting expressions of interest from community organisations across our area of benefit (the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland, the Borough of Scarborough and the North York Moors National Park) that will increase opportunity and tackle disadvantage. If you are seeking funding under £5,000 please first check the Community Grants guidance as this may be a more appropriate route for you to apply for a grant.

The projects we are keen to fund bring people together around a common purpose to create new opportunities and provide the momentum for positive, sustainable social change and will:

• Increase opportunities for local people to have better life chances, prioritising; support to people most at disadvantage due to unfavorable circumstances or facing barriers to equality; and tackling structural inequalities through system change or addressing root causes of inequality and disadvantage.

• Encourage positive changes by improving lives and places, or tackling issues that negatively impact on local people.

• Build better community connections between and amongst local people, creating a greater sense of ownership and responsibility for the places where they live and the people they live with.

• Bring people together and enrich lives by ensuring there are local spaces, resources and activities that provide pleasure, learning, or community action.

We know that ideas coming from within communities (whether that is a community of place, interest, action or circumstance) can be a powerful catalyst for change. We are interested in working with people and partnerships who deeply understand a community or an issue and have ideas about how lasting change for good can be made. We want to support work that “does with”, not “does to” people.

We are open to supporting ideas at all stages of development. Please ensure you download and read the guidance document for more detailed information about who and what we are seeking to fund.

We have total Expressions of Interest funding pot of up to £350,000 and we are open to discussion about projects timescales. We do not know whether the Expressions of Interest we receive will mean we fund one great idea or a range of projects. We are staying open minded and plan to learn and evolve how we respond to approaches for support over the coming year.

How to apply

• Please read the Expression of Interest Guidance before applying. This explains how to submit your request.

• If you have any questions, please email grants@woodsmithfoundation.org.uk or call Leah on 07724 832982.

We will accept Expressions of Interest from February 2024 to the end of October 2024. We strongly recommend you do not wait until the end of October to send us your Expressions of Interest as that is when we usually receive the highest volume of applications.

We are currently accepting applications from organisations or individuals with a strong connection to Dormanstown who would like to deliver activities that increase opportunities and tackle disadvantage.

The Woodsmith Foundation is keen to support a wide range of organisations across our area of benefit (the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland, the Borough of Scarborough, and the North Yorks National Park) to deliver projects that will do good things in their communities.

Part of our work involves working on the ground to listen and understand how we can work more closely with communities. Helen Kennedy was employed in March 2023 to focus on one of the communities in our area of benefit to trial a Community Connector post in Dormanstown, a ward in Redcar and Cleveland. She found there are amazing things happening but very few groups and individuals knew who we were or how to access our grant schemes.

The Woodsmith Foundation is keen to help people grow ideas that bring people together and build upon the strong sense of community spirit and pride in Dormanstown. We have therefore set up a new Seed Fund Grant offer for this community. We will support a wide range of organisations and individuals to deliver projects that increase activities for residents, tackle local issues, or help people come together to develop new ideas for Dormanstown. We want to hear what you think needs to change and how that might happen.

Helen is looking forward to discussing your ideas for Dormanstown. She can support you to access this new grant scheme and can be contacted on the following :-

Email: helen.kennedy@woodsmithfoundation.org.uk

Tel: 07756395282