ORGANISATIONS working to address poverty in Leicester – such as schools, charities, community groups and businesses – have less than a week left to apply to the city council for a grant of up to £50,000 to support their work.
Applications for Leicester’s Anti-Poverty Community Grants close on Wednesday (18 October), with the council keen to hear from groups with new ideas that will help people through the cost of living crisis, as well as from those wanting to expand an existing scheme or develop a more transformative project.
The council is particularly encouraging applications from anti-poverty projects that will benefit families and children, support mental health and target debt, help those who are digitally excluded, address the poverty experienced by those in work, and that have a sustainable theme.
Grants of between £20,000 and £50,000 will be considered during this round of the programme.
Deputy city mayor Cllr Sarah Russell, who leads on the city council’s anti-poverty programme, said: “Leicester is fortunate to have a very active community and voluntary sector that does incredible work to support people.
“By providing these grants, we want to help an even wider network of organisations to provide support to even more individuals and families.
“In this round of funding, we’re welcoming bids of between £20,000 and £50,000, so we’re looking for transformative projects that will have real impact on our communities.
“We’re determined to support local people through the cost of living crisis, and this scheme shows our commitment to working with our partners to tackle poverty and mitigate its impact on Leicester.”
Applicants are reminded that the deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 18 October.
Full details about the scheme, eligibility criteria and the application form are available at leicester.gov.uk/anti-povertygrants
Any queries about the scheme can be emailed to anti-poverty@leicester.gov.uk
Leicester’s anti-poverty community grants programme was launched in November 2022, with a total of £107,000 awarded to projects run by local organisations in the first round. A further round – for smaller grants – will open for applications this winter.
In total, the city council’s anti-poverty scheme will make £250,000 available for community grants each year until 2025.
More information about the city council’s commitment to tackling poverty in Leicester is available at leicester.gov.uk/anti-poverty