Birdhouse Fund
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester Birdhouse Fund
The Community Foundation’s Birdhouse Fund supports women who find themselves facing obstacles in their lives which stop them from achieving their own potential. The fund aims to help women across Greater Manchester make a new start - be it through training, skill development or community projects – and improve their quality of life.
For maximum grants up to £500.
If you feel you need advice or support to complete your application form, please contact one of our Grants team who will be happy to discuss your project or idea.
Telephone: 0161 214 0940
Fax: 0161 214 0941
Email: enquiries@communityfoundation.co.uk
www.communityfoundation.co.uk
Please send your completed application form to:
The Community Foundation for Greater Manchester
Beswick House
Beswick Row
Manchester
M4 4LA
Charity Registration Number: 1017504
Application Guidelines and Notes Please read this information carefully before completing the application form.
Background
The Birdhouse Fund is set up within the portfolio of funds delivered by the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester. The Community Foundation is a charitable organisation that raises money from donors and then invests those funds thoughtfully and effectively to local communities and individuals that are working to improve the quality of life for themselves and others. The main focus of all activity is centred on ‘our community of interest’ and that is the richly diverse communities within the 10 Local Authority Boroughs making up the sub region of Greater Manchester. (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport,, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan)
In simple terms, this means connecting the needs and wants of the donor to the needs and wants in our communities. CFGM ensure that our donors are well represented and that they are made aware of the difference that their funding has made. Voluntary and Community groups and individuals apply to the Community Foundation for funding through a single ‘gateway’ to funding – one application for a grant will be considered by CFGM staff to match with the appropriate donor’s criteria.
We are a customer focused organisation and both donors and grant seekers have equal importance in the development of all associated processes, policies and procedures. Our flexible, ‘can do’ approach enables us to respond to a very wide range of donor and community needs and wants, so that when we are approached by a donor, or a group of donors, we can seamlessly structure the process in order to meet those fund requirements very quickly.
What fund are you applying to?
The Birdhouse Fund has been developed following a request from a group of women who are members of a social network called Thirty Thursdays. They simply wanted to use their successful network to begin raising funding to award as small grants to help other women who may be facing difficulties in their lives.
At the moment, this is a modest fund, but the donors and CFGM alike believe that the Birdhouse Fund will grow, develop and evolve beyond a simple grant fund. The database of contacts is already growing rapidly and it is hoped that in 3 years, the Birdhouse Fund will be very well established and have raised a significant amount of funding to invest in women who are keen to make positive changes in their lives.
If you think that would like to apply for a small grant from the Birdhouse Fund, please turn overleaf to read the full application guidance notes. Don’t be daunted, it is a very simple process, just tell us your story and be as open as you can about your difficulties and how the funding you are applying for will make a positive difference to your life. All applications will be treated in the strictest of confidence and will only be seen by dedicated CFGM staff and the female members of the Birdhouse Grant Panel who make decisions on bids submitted. Good luck.
Our Priorities The Birdhouse Fund prioritises women who are facing obstacles, which prevent them from making a positive change to their quality of life; we recognise that there are a variety of reasons for this: economic disadvantage, social or geographical exclusion or through a lack of education/qualifications. The fund particularly aims at providing women with the chance to set themselves up to become safer, more confident and/or more successful at achieving their own potential.
There are other funding opportunities available for groups and organisations from local Councils for Voluntary Services who can provide advice. Further details on your local CVS can be found on our website: www.communityfoundation.co.uk.
Who can apply?
This application pack can be completed by individual women from the following boroughs BOLTON, BURY, MANCHESTER, OLDHAM, ROCHDALE SALFORD, STOCKPORT, TAMESIDE, TRAFFORD and WIGAN.
How much can you apply for?
The maximum grant request that will be considered is £500.
What we CAN and CANNOT fund
Prority is given to applicants who:
- Are facing real obstacles in their lives which prevent them from improving their quality of life or realise their own potential
- Would benefit from a small amount of money to enable them to improve their situation, skills and/or level of qualification
- Can express, in their application, how a grant from this fund would help them do so
- Wish to run a project which will benefit other women in similar situations
Who and what cannot be funded?
- Organisations
- Women who live outside of Greater Manchester
- Business set up costs unless the application can demonstrate that this would help the applicant overcome disadvantage
How to complete the Application Form
Please complete all sections of the application form, even if you are enclosing supporting or corresponding information, as this will speed up the assessment process. If your application is incomplete this will delay the processing of your application and may be returned to you.
Contact Details
Please give all your contact details accurately as we aim to keep our records as complete as possible. We often try and communicate via the telephone to ensure the swift progress of your request. If there are certain times in the day when it would be best to contact you, please indicate these.
About your request
Please describe how a grant from the Birdhouse Fund will help you Please be realistic about the speed at which we can provide you with a decision. We try to turn around all requests as quickly as possible. However, we have to adhere to agreed procedures with our donors and, therefore, you need to take this period into account when submitting an application.
Cost of the project
In this section you are asked to provide a clear idea of how much money you need. Please give as thorough a breakdown of costs as possible using the table provided on page 9 of the application form. Should your project/activity cost more than the maximum you can apply for, please tell us how you plan to raise the remainder of the funding you require.
Referee Details
We can only process your request once the required information has been received. This includes your referee completing and signing your application to confirm that they have read the application. Please read the notes on page 5 of the application form relating to Referee Details: Should you need further advice on who can act as your referee, please contact our Grants team on 0161 214 0940.
Feedback
If your application is successful, we would like to gather feedback from you to see how the grant has helped you. We will do this by sending you a very brief feedback form for you to complete. This feedback will help us raise more funding to help other women in future. Please rest assured that we will not use any details without checking with you first.
What Happens Next?
1. Return your completed application form to the Community Foundation.
2. Your application will be checked to make sure your request fits the funding criteria.
3. We will contact you to confirm receipt of your application & advise if further information is required, or we will confirm the date that your application will be submitted to a panel.
4. Following receipt of all information requested and subsequent assessment by CFGM Staff, your application will be passed on to an independent panel for consideration. The panel will decide if your request can be funded.
5. The Community Foundation Trustees must then approve any decisions taken at panel before we can contact you.
6. We will then advise you on the panel’s decision in writing and issue a grant-cheque.
The following items are included in this application pack:
- Grant Application Guidelines (see above)
- A Grant Funding Application Form
Please send your completed application pack to:
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester
Beswick House
Beswick Row
Manchester
M4 4LA
Guidelines Version 05/08