About the Fund
There is a commitment across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to increase opportunities for people to stay healthy and well with a particular focus adult mental health and wellbeing.
The ‘Getting help in Neighbourhoods’ mental health grant fund is one element of a wider mental health transformation programme. It has been set up because the NHS LLR want to enable and increase local charitable, voluntary, community organisations to provide local activities for people aged 18+ that;
- Build resilience and prevent adult mental health issues from developing or becoming worse
- Provide more opportunities and places for adults aged 18+ to seek help and support
- Support adults ages 18+ recovering or living with long-term mental health challenges to live as independently as they can
- Improve healthy life expectancy and reduces health inequalities
To get a grant you will need to demonstrate a commitment to supporting adults that values and promotes their skills, experiences and potential.
Your activities will need to be inclusive, promote and celebrate local diversity and use local venues that people can easily access to reduce isolation and feel part of the community.
The fund values what voluntary groups can bring in terms of an alternative, creative and innovative approach and will support your organisations to develop its knowledge and skills about mental health and how you can best support people who need help.
It is a condition of this fund that you plan for the training offered and evaluation required
How Much Can I Apply For?
- Grants of £3-5K
- For small groups (annual income up to 20k) to maintain or increase your current activities, or for one-off neighbourhood events/activities to support community mental wellbeing.
- Grants of £6-20k
- For established groups (annual income between 20K to £500k) to maintain or increase your current activities AND/OR to develop more mental health support within existing activities AND/OR reach new people.
- Grants of up £50K
- For established groups (minimum annual income of 100k) with proven mental health support experience, whose service users consistently struggle with mental health, to maintain or increase your current activities AND/OR to partner with another group to build on mental health provision in a particular area or neighbourhood.
What types of projects will the fund support?
Your application will need to clearly show how you will do one or more of the following:
- Provide activities for adults aged 18+ that help people to stay healthy and well. This means: preventing and tackling the issues that cause mental health challenges (e.g. reducing isolation and loneliness, debt support, housing security, physical activity, arts)
- Tackle health inequalities: – This means: Identify and deliver activities that support key groups of adults aged 18+ with specific mental health needs within different communities and localities.
- Reach adults aged 18 + in your community who tend not to engage with your service or with existing statutory services.
- Provide support for adults aged 18+ who are recovering or living with mental health challenges so they can reach their potential and live as independently as possible (e.g. recovery coaching, training, skills & education)
- Projects and initiatives that can support multiple needs. This means a partnership of organisations that seek to provide a range of support in one organised approach collectively.
Requirements of the Fund
Because this Mental Health Fund aims to improve local people’s mental health, it will be a condition of the grant that your project:
- Develops your staff and volunteers’ knowledge about mental health, growing your organisation’s confidence to support people with mental health needs.
Recommended training sessions will be provided (see Additional Information Page) and we expect you to add costings in your budget for staff and volunteers to attend a minimum of 2 of these courses
- Works to establish links with existing statutory provision or other experienced VCSE organisations, to signpost people to the right help earlier, and reduce escalation to emergency and acute services.
- Attend at least one sharing/general event, so that you can understand and link with other groups and agencies offering help. You can include the costs of attending events for your staff and volunteers in your application
- Provide quarterly and end of grant reporting.
This will be made a straightforward as possible (see Additional Information Page) and we expect you to add up to a maximum of 5% costings to your budget to ensure this is done.
What can the grant be used for?
- Costs of organising the project or activities, and people needed to manage and deliver these
- Specialist or qualified staff
- Volunteer expenses
- Materials or equipment needed
- Food and non-alcoholic drinks
- Marketing costs to promote your project or event
- Overheads relating specifically to the project (such as insurance / room hire / rent etc)
- Costs of making your event accessible to all, such as BSL interpreters, translation services, additional signage.
Opening and Closing Dates
Round 1 Opens 10th Dec 2021.
Closes 31st Jan 2022. (NB. This may be earlier if the Fund is over-subscribed)
Groups will be notified of panel decisions in April 2022*
Projects should start from May 2022 onwards, for a maximum 12-month period (project completing in May 2023).
Round 2 Opens 1st February 2022.
Closes 30th April 2022 (NB. This may be earlier if the Fund is over-subscribed).
Groups will be notified of panel decisions in July 2022*
Projects should start from August 2022 onwards, for a maximum 12-month period (project completing in August 2023).
*Grant payments will made directly by the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) not by the Community Foundation.
Before submitting an application, please read the following documents:
We will be running ‘Coffee and Chat’ events in relation to this fund on the following dates:
18th January – 10am https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/228899633967
Spaces are limited. Follow the links above to get your ticket now. There will be a short presentation from the grants team about the fund and then an opportunity to ask any questions.
Please contact a member of the grants team if you have any queries or need help at any stage of the application process. We are always happy to help in any way we can.
