We were delighted to be joined by North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness who kicked off VONNE’s conference by announcing the first round of the Mayors Opportunity Fund, which is now open to applications!
Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and Point North Community Foundation are partnering with the North East Combined Authority (NECA) to run the first round of the Mayor’s Opportunity Fund.
The Mayor’s Opportunity Fund is offering grants between £1,000 - £10,000 and the average grant size is expected to be around £7,500.
Who can apply?
Your organisation does not have to be a registered charity to apply but must have charitable aims and annual income under £500,000. Examples include:
• Registered charities and CIOs
• Community/voluntary groups that have a constitution
• Social enterprises (CICs, companies limited by guarantee) that are registered with the appropriate body
What does the fund cover?
Here are some examples of the type of funding you can apply for, but this list doesn’t include everything.
• Core running costs
• Specific project costs
• Equipment and capital costs for buildings (must clearly support fund aims)
What does the fund not cover?
• Activities that have already taken place
• Projects that solely support animal welfare
• Fundraising activities
What is the application process?
To apply for a grant, you must use Point North’s online application form here.
Before starting your application, make sure you read the guidelines in full here.
The Mayor’s Opportunity Fund is unable to accept applications from groups that:
• Have not returned monitoring forms for previous grants
• Are subject to an investigation by the Charity Commission, the police or any other organisation in a legal capacity
• Are connected to the donor unless a full and independent assessment has taken place to ensure that there is no conflict of interest, and the proposed grant offers value for money
• Have restricted membership other than that associated with the objects of the group itself i.e. necessary for the safety/wellbeing of disadvantaged people
• Fail due diligence or do not comply with Charity Commission guidelines
Point North will be holding a webinar on 12th December 1pm – 2pm to go through the guidelines and answer any questions you may have. This will cover applying to the Mayor’s Opportunity Fund, helping your organisation to understand its eligibility and fit with the Fund criteria.
The webinar will be recorded for those unable to attend and will be posted on Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland’s website.
To attend, please complete a registration form by clicking here.
Organisations applying to work within Tyne & Wear and Northumberland can apply using this link - https://cftwn.my.site.com/s/login/?ec=302&startURL=%2Fs%2F
Organisations applying to work in County Durham should apply through Point North using this link - https://pointnorth.org.uk/grants/
Please do not make more than one application.
Deadline to apply – Friday 17th January 2025.
They aim to have a decision and inform those successful by the end of February 2025.
The Fund Panel will aim to ensure that funding equitably reaches all seven local authority areas within NECA’s region, and will consider population size, measures of disadvantage and other factors when reaching its decisions.
If after reading the guidelines, you have any questions or need some help completing your application, please get in touch with the Point North team:
E-mail: info@pointnorth.org.uk
Advice line: 0191 378 6340
Advice surgery: https://calendly.com/info-61057/fundingadvice?month=2024-06