The Armed Forces Covenant Fund has introduced a new local grants programme awarding one-year grants of up to £20,000 for projects seeking to promote social inclusion and support Forces communities to become less isolated.
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund: Force for Change programme will support local Armed Forces communities as they address the needs that have arisen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new programme will also support volunteer-run projects, benefiting Armed Forces communities that need some additional help.
In early 2020, the Trust ran an open consultation to explore how we should make small grants locally. The feedback from this told us that we should continue to fund grants of up to £20,000, as we had done under an earlier programme.
Mental health, veterans at higher risk of isolation and support for Armed Forces families were the top three issues that emerged from the responses we received.
Applicants to the Fund need to show:
- Why their project is needed and that it won’t duplicate other work
- How their project will help people from the Armed Forces community become less isolated and more active in their local communities
- How the idea for the project has been shaped by the people it will benefit.
We can consider projects that support serving personnel, veterans and Armed Forces families.
Carol Stone, Director of Grants at the Trust said: “We are particularly keen with this year’s programme to provide additional support to Armed Forces communities that have been affected by Covid-19. This might be veterans who are isolated, or Armed Forces families that may be having a challenging time.
“We are looking for projects that respond locally to challenges within communities, and will support small projects that we have helped through the Covid programmes that we ran earlier this year, if there is still a need for your work.”
Find out more on the Covenant Fund website.