Bridging the Gap Community Grant

The Bridging the Gap community grant is a new fund to assist our communities with projects addressing the Energy and Cost of Living crises.

our funding aims to help groups by providing £500 per project towards:

  • Organisations supporting people to keep warm in their homes- providing essential items to keep people warm, for example, blankets, duvets, hot water bottles, warm clothes, draught excluders.
  • Savings/ cost cutting and energy efficiency advice or workshops, this can also include providing small energy saving devices or low energy appliances such as slow cookers.
  • Food provision- supporting organisations who operate food banks or community pantries, lunch clubs or a one-off event such as a Christmas meal. Delivery of hot or cold meals can also be supported.
  • Community appliances to help reduce energy costs at home for example a community-based washing machine or dryer or a freezer.
  • Supporting clothing banks or foodbanks.
  • To help a group continue with activities or set up new activities through winter.
  • Improving digital access- groups can receive support for opportunities to access the internet for free in the community. Funding can be used to deliver workshops offering support to people to use the internet.
  • Supporting warm spaces – we will provide support towards the costs of opening a warm space such as providing activities or food and refreshments. room hire costs can also be supported up to a value of £125 of the grant request.

If you have a project in mind and you’re not sure if it fits the criteria, please give us a call on 0300 1311 999.

To apply for this grant, your project must benefit the local community in one or more of the areas that believe housing operates in.

Please note: Organisations can only apply once. Projects must also start within four months of application being submitted

To apply for this grant your project must be delivered in one of our patch areas, these are central Durham, east Durham and south-west Durham, we ask when completing the application form that you select which patch area your project will cover.  Please see the list below for a breakdown of locations within each patch area.  Projects can benefit people in more than one location within a patch area.

It may be acceptable for projects to deliver outcomes in more than one neighbouring patch area but please discuss this with the Community Investment Team prior to submitting your application.

locations

Bearpark Belmont Bowburn Brandon
Brasside Cassop Carrville Claypath
Coxhoe Browney Crossgate Croxdale
Elvet Esh Winning Framwellgate Moor Gilesgate
Gilesgate Moor High Pittington Kelloe Langley Moor
Littletown Ludworth Meadowfield Merryoaks
Neville’s Cross New Brancepeth Newton Hall Pity Me
Quarrington Hill Shadforth Sherburn Village Sherburn Hill
Sherburn Road Sherburn Road Estate Ushaw Moor West Rainton
Witton Gilbert
Blackhall Colliery Blackhall Rocks Hesleden Acre Rigg
Chapel Hill Denehouse Eden Hill Howletch
Passfield Sunny Blunts Horden Easington Colliery
Easington Village Shotton Colliery South Hetton Haswell
Haswell Plough Hawthorn Wheatley Hill Thornley
Wingate Water Avens Village Station Town Deaf Hill
Trimdon Colliery Trimdon Village Byron Denehouse
Deneside Eastlea Harbour Milldale
Northlea Parkside Princess Road Seaton
Westlea Dawdon Murton Dalton-le-Dale
Hutton Henry Castle Eden Hetton-le-Hole Chilton Moor
Newbottle Ryhope
Auckland Park Billy Row Bishop Auckland Chilton
Coundon Coundon Grange Crook Eldon Lane
Escomb Fir Tree Frosterley Howden-le-Wear
Hunwick Leeholme Middlestone Moor Oakenshaw
Stanhope Sunnybrow Tindale Crescent Tow Law
Wearhead West Auckland Westgate Willington
Witton-Le-Wear Wolsingham

 

more about the grant

We welcome applications from:

  • Registered and exempt charities
  • Community groups
  • Schools
  • Social enterprises
  • Voluntary groups
  • Community Interest Companies
  • Town, Parish or Community Councils
  • Faith groups/venues

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from:

  • Individuals
  • Party political groups
  • Private companies or ‘for-profit’ organisation’s
  • Those whose objectives and ethos do not meet believe housing’s charitable objectives.

The bridging the gap grant can be used to help and support our communities, this can include:

Activities can include:

  • To set up classes, sessions, activities, or events for the community activities based indoors.
  • Buying equipment for community-based activities.
  • Funding short term coaching, training, sessional worker, or volunteer costs.
  • Providing refreshments, snacks, and meals as part of an activity.
  • Marketing and promotion to increase participation in activities.
  • Contributing towards venue hire up to a maximum of £125.
  • To extend delivery of clubs /activities in a facility in conjunction with warm space delivery.
  • Providing meals or food to the community. Food banks- meal delivery, lunch clubs.

We will consider groups that charge fees for people to attend activities but will give preference to groups that do not charge.

We are unable to accept applications for the £500 community grant to support:

  • Items that are purchased on behalf of another organisation
  • Applications to develop the financial reserves of the organisation
  • Ongoing running costs of an organisation e.g. insurance
  • Religious, party political or lobbying activities (non-religious and multi-faith activities may be funded)
  • Loans or debt repayments
  • Paying taxi fares to allow people to attend meetings/events, mileage costs.
  • Capital costs
  • Any ongoing staffing costs, including the salaries of permanent or fixed-term employees
  • Maintenance /repair costs
  • improvements to buildings

After an application is received, the Community Investment Co-ordinator will contact the applicant if further information is required. When all information is supplied, a grant panel meeting will be arranged. The panel will be made up of believe housing tenants, supported by the Community Investment Coordinator’s. If the tenant grant panel cannot meet the panel will then be made up of the Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager and Community Investment Performance Team Leader.

We aim to inform applicants of the decision within four weeks from the date the application is submitted. Where possible, we will provide feedback and support to help you develop an application that meets the criteria.

Please make sure you allow enough time for the panel to consider your application when setting out project timescales as we are unable to fund projects retrospectively.

If believe housing agree to award a grant to help fund your project or activity, then you will be required to agree to terms and conditions.

To read the full terms and conditions, please click here.

related content

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£1,000 Community Grant
£5,000 – £10,000 Revenue Community Grant
£10,000 – £30,000 Capital Community Grant
Employability and learning

apply now

In order to be successful with your bid, you must adhere to the following conditions. Please tick all of the boxes below to reveal the online application form.

Confirm your eligibility for this grant

Are you applying for up to £500? *(Required)
Does your project benefit a community/communities in one of the patch areas where believe housing operates?(Required)
Do you have a constitution or formation document which can be supplied upon request? (excluding schools)(Required)
Can you provide us with two named contacts for your project?(Required)
Do you have a bank account with two unrelated signatories?(Required)
Does your project meet all the funding criteria and requirements?(Required)
Have you read the terms and conditions and can you agree to these if your funding application is successful?(Required)

your organisation

project contacts

please provide two named contacts for your project

Main contact

Secondary contact

about your project

DD slash MM slash YYYY
DD slash MM slash YYYY
Which patch area will your project take place in?
Central Durham
East Durham
South-West Durham
please select which areas your project will address, if any:(Required)
please tell us a bit more about your project in no more than 500 words, including:
  • Details of what you would like to achieve.
  • How it will benefit believe housing's tenants, neighbourhoods, and communities, including targets and outcomes.
  • If your project involves partnership working, please state who you will be working with and their role.

funding request

Please complete the table below with details of the 'item' or 'activity' your project requires, its actual cost and the amount requested from believe housing. Please be specific about the items for example: ‘200 packed lunches including a sandwich, fruit and a drink’ rather than ‘Food’.

Item or activity

Total cost

Amount requested from believe housing (£)

Match funding(if applicable) (£)

volunteering

declaration

Does anyone involved with your group work for believe housing or are you or any member of your group related to any member of staff, Board or Committee member of believe housing?(Required)
By submitting this application you are confirming that:

  • I can confirm I have read and understood the criteria and guidelines
  • I can confirm that all necessary policies and procedures are in place, including a risk assessment for all activities
  • The information provided is to the best of my knowledge, true and accurate
  • If my application is successful, the grant awarded will only be used for the purposes stated in this form
  • I agree to keep a record of all financial transactions relating to the grant awarded and will forward receipts/invoices as required
  • I agree to complete the required reporting

Groups with successful grant applications will be required to consent to any publicity and marketing that believe housing may require. This may include, but is not limited to, press and online activities of both funds being awarded and the outcomes of approved projects. Should you carry out future promotion of the outcomes of your grant application, you must reference believe housing (using relevant brand guidelines and logo(s) where required), with approval from believe housing's Marketing and Communications team.

Consent(Required)
DD slash MM slash YYYY

data protection

believe housing is a data controller for the purposes of the current UK Data Protection Legislation and we seek to take care of the personal information you provide and deal with it in accordance with the Act. Your personal information will only be used by us so we can consider and process your application and any funding awarded. It will not be shared with other organisations unless we are required by law to do so. To find out how we process your personal information please read our privacy notice: https://www.believehousing.co.uk/company-information/privacy-notice/

We may wish to share your application details with internal believe housing services such as universal credit, tenancy sustainment and safer neighbourhoods etc. We would like to do this to support your application. Do you give us permission to share your details?(Required)

Please be advised that if you do give us permission, you can withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us.

DD slash MM slash YYYY

consent

I have read an understood the following:
Confirm eligibility for grant section *(Required)
Declaration *(Required)
Data protection *(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.