Great Places is committed to investing in our communities and helping our customers to live well.
With more of our customers affected by the rising cost of living, we’re delighted to launch our Greater Together Foundation which will focus on direct support for customers, as well as community-based initiatives to help people to take control of their household finances.
One strand of the foundation is The Resilience Fund where Community Groups can bid for between £1000 and £25,000 for projects targeted at helping our customers and their community achieve financial security.
Please note, the deadline for applications has now passed. If you have any questions contact us by emailing greatertogetherfoundation@greatplaces.org.uk.
Guidance notes:
Greater Together Foundation Community Resilience Programme
Guidance Notes – 2022
The Community Resilience programme will have a budget of £200k and will distribute funding on a commissioning basis with Community Partnership Managers identifying local needs based on data and local knowledge. Grants of up to £25,000 will be made available for organisations that can deliver support services to Great Places customers in our key places around core themes of:
>Increasing and stabilising household incomes
>Helping local people to overcome fuel, furniture and food insecurity
> Financial literacy
>Employment and development opportunities for people out of work and for those already in work
>Innovative approaches to poverty-reduction
The thematic focus will be reviewed annually- for example, themes linked to the white paper such as green space and loneliness and isolation may be included in future.
To provide financial support to community groups, charities and social enterprises to implement or enhance their provision in response to the cost of living crisis and to build on their Covid 19 recovery strategies.
Support those organisations that are best placed to react quickly to the needs of the local community and have the greatest impact.
Support customers and community partners with a focus on affordability and anti-poverty interventions that enable customers to sustain their tenancies and prioritise their rent payments.
Our guiding principles are to support our priority neighbourhoods and customers to access help in alignment with key Local Authority action plans and strategies whilst helping meet our key Service Delivery Framework principles.
Great Places wishes to fund a range of services and activities and has set out our criteria in these guidance notes which should be viewed in conjunction with the application form.
The overarching theme is the “˜cost of living crisis’, the fund will be used to address the following sub-themes:
Applicants must demonstrate which of these themes their proposal, project or overall services supports and how Great Places customers and the wider community will benefit.
More than one theme can be chosen.
Please refer to the application form for specific details.
Great Places is a traditional social landlord with homes ostensibly across the North West, South Yorkshire and Cheshire East. We target our resources towards the neighbourhoods where we have significant stock levels and where we can have a greater impact for our customers and the local community.
Organisations applying to this fund do not have to be based within these boundaries but must be realistically able to deliver locally or have a physical presence.
Greater Manchester South (to include Cheshire East)
Greater Manchester North
South Yorkshire
Lancashire
We wish to support a wide range of groups and charitable organisations. The following is a specific list of who can or can’t apply and amounts available.
| Size of Grants | £1000 up to £25,000 |
| Types of organisations eligible | Constituted Voluntary and Community groups with their own bank account |
| Registered and Exempt Charities | |
| Community Interest Companies | |
| Not for profit companies and or Social Enterprise with a different recognised legal entity | |
| Project Timescale | starting and ending within 12 months of award dates |
All organisations must have
Excluded – who can’t apply?
The fund is intended to focus on core costs and some future additional costs that will directly or indirectly support customers with the cost of living crisis.
Ineligible spend – The following categories are excluded;
Funding may not be applied for;
Outcomes
Applicants will be expected to demonstrate outcomes which will be achievable during the project and to outline how these will be measured. These will be agreed as part of the assessment process. Specific guidance is contained within the application form.
Evidence of Need
Applicants will be expected to demonstrate how they know there is a need for the project/service/activity and who has been consulted with if applicable. Specific guidance is contained within the application form.
How to apply
Interested applicants need to complete the online application form at on this page or contact their regional Community and Partnerships Manager to find out more about the grant opportunity and the application process before considering if they wish to apply.
