Project and Research Grants

Here at Longleigh, we’re dedicated to providing our funding to the individuals and communities served by the social housing sector. This means we focus our funding on the issues that are more prominent and prevalent for those living in social housing and their communities.

For example, we know that anyone, from any background, can experience struggles with drug, alcohol or gambling addictions. But, the exposure to being more adversely affected by such issues can be heightened for those living in poverty or in vulnerable and disadvantaged situations.

Equally, we know there is the same heightened exposure to the risk of issues such as suicide, domestic violence, poor mental health and living in temporary accommodation. The ability to access the support services required can be very difficult for people not used to having to navigate welfare systems and at a time where many support services have been cut back or even disappeared.

Our funding

We’re a funder that is committed to doing all we can to reduce the amount of time that organisations spend in preparing applications. Our aim is to support the highest level of successful applications as possible.

And, with a mission to support transformation in the lives of residents and communities, we’re always keen to provide longer-term, multiple-year funding so that organisations have the time to really test, improve and embed their work.

Calls for applications

With all this in mind, rather than allowing organisations to send us unsolicited applications about the work that they would like us to fund, we are using an approach where we will put out ‘calls for applications’ based on the learning we take from our grants to individual social housing residents and from the emerging social themes of importance across the social housing sector.

We’ll publish information about:

• The specific theme(s) we want to fund
• If there are any specific geographical areas we
  are focusing on
• The financial parameters and length of the
  available funding
• The key eligibility criteria that any applying
  organisation must be able to meet
• The timescales within which we would like to
  receive applications.

The application process

As an applicant, we will ask you to send us a short (10 minute maximum) video explaining your response to our ‘call for applications’ and how your approach will help us meet our mission of ‘enabling lives to be transformed’.

As a relatively small funder, we are deliberately wanting to place the modest resources we have into the space that goes beyond meeting needs. That way we can complement the offer that other funders provide. Your application to us will need to show how you will go into that transformative space. We do realise that this means we are not the funder for everyone. On the bright side 90% of funding applications made to us in 2019 were successful – which is something we are very proud about.

Please don’t worry, we’re not looking for Hollywood blockbuster productions! In your video we’ll want to hear your ‘story of transformation’ from three perspectives:

• The voice of the people that your work will
  engage with.
• The voice of a key partner organisation that
  supports your approach
• Your voice so you can let us know, in broad
  terms, about the work you would do with our funding.

We’re focusing on the video approach because we want to see, hear and feel the expression and authenticity from the outset. In turn, we know that this helps us engage and connect with those we go on to fund from the very beginning.

Once we have received the video responses, our trustees will then select the organisation(s) that they would like to invite to work up their full applications. Being invited to work up a full application is an ‘in- principle’ approval to fund you. In line with our value of being ‘collaborative’, our team will work right alongside you in the development of your full application.

By working together on your application, we believe the funding process can be an enjoyable and important learning and discovery process for both of us. Because we’ll get to know each other, we’ll be able to keep pushing beyond the meeting of need and towards that space where transformational change has the best chance of happening.

It’s fine if you are honest about what you don’t know yet. If transforming lives was easy it would have happened a long time ago! We understand this and want to ensure we both learn from the projects that we fund, and then go on to share the learning with others.

You don’t have to have all the answers! No one does – but by working together we might get close!

Providing that there are no ‘due diligence’ challenges in developing your full application, once completed we’ll be able to then get the funding over to you so you can start your transformative work!

Interested in Circles of Support?

Exclusively for Stonewater residents, Circles of Support places individuals –  their emotional, mental, physical and economic needs at the centre. Giving individuals the space they need, so they can step forward.