West Berkshire & North Hampshire

Three months in and the online grant application has already distributed almost £240,000 to nearly 150 local organisations, including voluntary and community groups, in West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

The web portal findmeagrant has got off to great start since its launch in September this year. Set up by Greenham Common Trust in partnership with Conifer Consulting Ltd, it allows grant makers such as the Trust, West Berkshire Council Small Grants and Vibrant Villages to allocate grants to local groups in need.

The simple application and allows access to multiple streams of grant funding and with the new Trust Top-Up grant scheme for public donations, every donation made is matched up to £5,000 per project by the Trust. In just 10 weeks this has raised over £17,000 for local organisations including Bucklebury Wolves Football Club who needed funding for equipment and coaching and have had two project applications fully funded by public donations, Trust Top-Up and Gift Aid.

Club Secretary and Coach Jonathan Poole said “Within a few days we received our first donation from a complete stranger and since then we publicised the site to our parents on the basis of no pressure donations to assist the growth of our Club. The response was frankly overwhelming.”

He adds “This has given the Club the financial stability to see through the next year, if not longer, without requiring any significant financial aid from any sources. The simplicity and transparency offered by this system is superb and is a great leap forward in online grant and donation management.”

Successful grant applications stay on findmeagrant for up to 18 months and the next Trust grant round opens early in the New Year; however, you can apply any time for funding through findmeagrant. Go to www.findmeagrant.org for more information.