Medway charities and community groups can bid for up to £15,000 from a new £500,000 council fund. Applications close at 5pm on Sunday 22 November.

Charities and community groups in Medway can now bid for grants of up to £15,000 each from a new £500,000 fund. Applications close at 5pm on Sunday 22 November.

The money is for projects that help residents avoid, manage or recover from a financial crisis. It comes from the council’s share of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which the UK Government pays for. Medway Council launched the scheme on Monday.

The council wants projects that make people more financially independent, rather than ones that hand out ongoing emergency help. Its scheme page gives reducing reliance on emergency food as an example of what it wants to fund.

What the money is for

The council’s scheme page names five areas:

  • support for carers
  • food support
  • tackling health inequalities
  • supporting people over state pension age
  • general financial resilience and debt resolution

Projects must deliver targeted help of these kinds:

Type of help The council’s examples
Crisis prevention Stepping in before hardship gets worse; relying less on emergency food
Income maximisation Getting people the benefits they are entitled to; routes into work
Debt reduction Debt advice and management; budgeting and money skills
Resilience building Savings habits; digital and financial skills
System navigation Helping people reach housing, energy and welfare services

Grants are paid in two instalments.

Who can apply

The scheme is open to:

  • registered charities
  • constituted community and voluntary groups
  • Community Interest Companies limited by guarantee
  • not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee with charitable or social aims
  • Community Benefit Societies

A group also needs at least three unrelated people running it, a written constitution, and a bank account in its own name with two unrelated signatories. It must have safeguarding and equality policies. Groups more than a year old need examined annual accounts. The council says it will look favourably on partnership working with health services, councils and other community networks.

How to apply

Medway Voluntary Action (MVA) is handling applications for the council. Every group that applies must first be an affiliate of MVA’s Social Impact Gateway, which is free to join. Groups that need help with it can email info@mva.org.uk.

Council leader Vince Maple said the fund “will put money into the hands of the brilliant community and voluntary sector in Medway”. MVA chief executive Jack Packman said building financial resilience “is about more than responding to immediate hardship”.

What it means for you

If you run or volunteer for a Medway group doing money advice, carers’ support, food or help for older people, this is a sizeable pot with a short window. There are four weeks to the deadline, and joining the Gateway comes first, so start there.

If you are struggling yourself, the same fund already pays for two things you can use now:

  • the Chatham Community Supermarket in the Pentagon Centre. The council says more than 1,200 customers shopped there in its first week and almost 2.8 tonnes of food was saved from waste. Our story on the community food shop opening has how it works.
  • the council’s Crisis Payment Scheme, for residents facing an emergency.