The National Emergency Trust has announced £1.5 million of funding to support grassroots Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) across the UK to respond to the Covid-19 needs of disabled people.
The DPO Covid-19 Emergency Fund aims to support DPOs to meet the needs of disabled people, and are looking to fund the following broad three areas:
• Independent living
• Isolation
• Income
Some examples of work that could be funded:
• A DPO wanting funding to produce local Covid-19 related information in
Easy Read, British Sign Language and community languages
• A DPO wanting to expand its information and advice service to deal with
Covid-19 related issues by increasing casework capacity or opening hours
• A DPO wanting to set up a local group of Disabled residents to try and make sure the needs of local Disabled people are understood and addressed in local Covid-19 recovery planning
• A DPO wanting funding to cover the staffing, venue and running costs of setting up a peer support network or befriending service
Who can apply for funding?
Any DPO in the UK can apply if at least 51% of your governing body or management committee are made up of disabled people and you have a constitution/governing document (you do not need to be a registered charity) that shows your organisation is set up to support disabled people and/or advance disabled people’s equality and inclusion.
Organisations must be fit for funding. This means having good governance, appropriate financial management policies and processes in place and appropriate standards of safeguarding for staff, volunteers and those using their support or services.
How much can I apply for?
The funds have been broken down per country, and then per region based on the population of disabled people in each area. The North West has therefore been allocated a total of £118,000.
The minimum you can apply for is £1,000 and the maximum is £25,000.
We anticipate the majority of grants, approximately 50% will be between £1,000 - £5,000.
Grants of between £5,000 - £15,000 will make up around 25% and £15,000 - £25,000 will make up the remaining 25% of awards.
When is the deadline and how can I apply?
• The fund close on 5th October 2020
• Grant applications will be assessed, and all grants awarded by 30 October 2020
Organisations wishing to apply for funding can click on the link below, set up an account and get ready to go:-
https://disabilityaction.flexigrant.com/areadetail.aspx
Further information and support
I have attached guidance which provides further information and details on this funding opportunity. Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) is the regional partner for the North West, and we are here to offer further support and advice.
If you would like to find our more, or have any questions not covered in the guidance, you can email us on:
Or call/text us on: 07782 540 531
Information Webinars
Two webinars will also be held covering all you need to know about applying to the fund. These will take place on:
• Tues 22 Sept – 11am – 1pm - Filling out the online application form
• Monday 28 Sept 2pm – 4pm - Surgery/interactive FAQs
There will be BSL interpreters and sessions will be captioned and recorded. I will send a link for these sessions to you closer to the time