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Regional Funding

Approach
If you would prefer a word document of this page you can download it here.

We provide unrestricted grants where we can, investing in the whole of an organisation. We fund for three years, and, where partnerships thrive, can renew this three times to a maximum of nine years. The minimum funding we provide is £10k per year. We do not have a maximum figure but we will not fund more than 20% of your expected turnover this year.

Blagrave’s partners are aligned with our vision and mission of bringing lasting change to the lives of the young people we seek to serve. We aim to create a world where all young people have hope, access to the support they need, a stake in society and influence over their futures. We are committed to ensuring we do this safely, so we have a robust due diligence process for all organisations that apply for funding. Read here our commitment to safeguarding and our minimum requirements of partners.

We seek a balanced mix of work across the counties we fund and the themes of work we support. In order to achieve this balance, in areas with a thriving civil society we may seek a greater alignment with our funding in order to support than in other areas.

For some examples of work we fund, please visit our partners’ page.

Alongside many other funders we are seeing an increase in requests for basic services. In recognition of our responsibility to ensure young people’s needs are met, we are prepared to allocate some of our funding to this area. Our aim with the remainder is to empower young people to challenge and change injustice in their lives and in society as a whole – where we believe philanthropy can make a real difference.

Who this fund is for
The organisations we fund are..

As a minimum you must:

  • Registered charities or CIC’s and CIOs (community interest companies)
  • Youth organisations, or organisations that have significant expertise in work with young people
  • Based in, or with a long standing presence in, Berkshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex and /or Wiltshire only
  • Under £5m turnover
  • Able to evidence the impact of their work for young people
  • Able to satisfy our due diligence requirements
  • Are working with the young people we seek to serve

What we look for:

The young people our funding supports are..

  • Aged 16-25 years old
  • Challenging and experiencing injustice in their individual lives and within society. This means they are often disadvantaged as a result of discrimination, poverty, family circumstances, class or other reason
  • In positions of decision making power within the organisation
Who this fund is NOT for
  • Exclusions: (not eligible)
    • Unconstituted groups or individuals.
    • Education costs or living costs for students
    • Work with under 16s
    • Organisations based outside Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex and Wiltshire
    • National organisations who want to expand their work locally
    • Organisations with a turnover of more than £5m per annum
    • The promotion of religion
    • Major capital appeals (though small capital costs can be eligible)
    • Work that is party political

     

Q and A

What do you mean by exceptional youth organisations?

Our partners are exceptional organisations that deliver high quality, high impact services for young people. There is no one marker we look for but seek to understand how you learn about the impact of your work and act on the basis of your learning. We particularly seek evidence of acting on what you’ve heard and learned from young people directly.

What if work with young people is just one aspect of our work?

We prioritise youth organisations, or organisations with significant expertise working with young adults. In order to determine expertise, we look for professional skills within the staff team and whether work with young people is specifically referenced as a business priority in your annual plan or annual report.

Which are the areas of greatest need?

We use the IMD 2019 to understand the relative deprivation of different areas in Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex and Wiltshire. We complement these statistics with our own understanding of local context and what we hear directly from community leaders and members. In 2019 we commissioned the data research analysts OCSI to research into ‘left behind’ areas in the South East.

How do you assess if our work has deep, long lasting impact?

We don’t have a particular metric or scale we ask you to use, and we don’t issue bespoke forms for you to complete. Instead we want to know what measures you use internally to assess your impact, and what action you’ve taken to act on what you learn.

What are your due diligence requirements?

Our due diligence standards help us assess the level of risk each organisation we fund is facing. NB we can still fund organisations that don’t meet every aspect of our due diligence expectations, but we ensure there is sufficient risk mitigation in place in these cases.

Our requirements are that:

Financial
  • There are published end of year accounts available approved by the Trustees that are no more than 18 months old.
  • There are internal accounts available for the most recent financial full year which show a breakeven or surplus position
  • The current year’s budget is showing at least a breakeven position, or, if a deficit is forecast, there is a rationale for this, or a fundraising plan in place and sufficient capacity to carry this through
  • At least one board member has some financial expertise such as a qualified accountant, or holds a paid finance role at another organisation, and if turnover is greater than £100k pa, a staff member has financial training or qualifications
  • For charities, the Trustees have set out a level of unrestricted reserves in the organisation’s accounts and this is being met or exceeded. For non charities, the organisation has sufficient unrestricted reserves relative to its commitments
  • Organisations are not overly reliant on just one income source
  • Organisations have a financial history which demonstrates their track record of good management
Governance
  • There are at least three unrelated trustees
  • The Trustee board holds a range of professional skills and experience
  • The organisation is properly registered with the appropriate body (Charity Commission or Companies House)
  • Accounts have been filed on time
Safeguarding
  • There is a safeguarding policy personalised and relevant to the organisation, which names the safeguarding lead (one at trustee and one at staff level), is signed by the board and has been reviewed in the last 12 months. We require a copy of the policy.
  • Alongside the policy (or within it) there is a safeguarding procedure which sets out clear steps to take in the event of an incident or disclosure, including who to inform and how to contact them. We require a copy of the procedure.
  • The policy makes provision for safeguarding training for all staff, volunteers, who have face-to-face contact with young people.
  • The organisation operates safer recruitment policies including all people working with children are subject to appropriate DBS checks
  • There is a clear way for people within the organisation to raise alarm over concerns ie a whistleblowing procedure and the intent to provide support to whistleblowers. We require a copy of the whistleblowing policy.
  • The procedure includes reference to safeguarding in an online context if the organisation is doing this sort of work
  • Where relevant, the organisation appears to be aware of the differences involved in safeguarding children (under 18) and adults (over 18) and their policies and procedures reflect this awareness
Reputational
  • The organisation has not been subject to financial fraud or other illegal practice in the last 3 years
Charity law compliance
  • There is a clear charitable purpose.
  • There is a clear public benefit to the work.

 

How do you assess youth leadership and engagement?

We are interested in evidence and feedback from young people themselves about the extent to which they feel they are engaged or able to take a leadership role, including by understanding:

  • Young people’s belief in the genuine commitment of the organisation to youth engagement and leadership
  • Young people’s roles in formal governance structures where they exist
  • Young people’s roles in developing, reviewing and evaluating strategy
  • How well processes support and enable young people’s meaningful participation in decision making, including around how resources are allocated
  • How well young people’s diverse needs and interests are centred in the values that the organisation seeks to uphold, and how well these values are enacted in practice
  • How well the organisation seeks to learn from young people and adapt according to young people’s feedback
  • The extent to which commitments to young people extend to all young people, with a particular emphasis of amplifying the voices of otherwise marginalised groups

(Taken from Blagrave – Youth Engagement and Leadership 2021)

What is unrestricted funding?

We prefer to provide unrestricted funding wherever possible. This means that you can use our funding for whatever you feel is important and you do not need to keep it allocated to a particular project or piece of work. This means you can cover the running costs of your organisation or contribute to reserves. However please note, as a charitable organisation ourselves we must ensure all our funding contributes towards a charitable purpose.

How do you make decisions?

We make decisions on grants of up to £20,000 per year on a monthly basis. These decisions are delegated to the Chief Executive and informed by our team and regional advisers. Decisions on grants larger than £20,000 per year are made by our Trustees, who meet four times a year, in April, June, September and November.

How to apply

Our regional funding is paused until November 2024. You are welcome to apply here.
Please note we are not assessing applications until November 2024.