Women’s Sector Resilience Fund Phase 2

What is the fund?

The Women’s Sector Resilience Fund Phase 2, is a £2.1m fund to support local networks of organi­sations working with and for women to make change to systems that cause women’s poverty in their area. It is a place-based approach to systems change that is open to networks in and around the following areas:

Birmingham

Manchester including Greater Manchester

Bristol

Middlesbrough / Teesside

Kingston upon Hull

Newcastle

Liverpool / Merseyside

West Yorkshire including Bradford and Leeds

We particularly welcome proposals from networks that address the critical needs of women who have been most affected by the pandemic including Black, Asian and other minoritised women, young women, lone parents and disabled women.

In this round we have £1.5million available and with that, we want to fund approximately three networks over three years to achieve the programme goals of:

– Working with networks of organisations united by geography to reduce gendered poverty in their area

– Building capacity within local communities to help the local women’s sector to create sustaina­ble change

How much can you apply for?

We aim to fund approximately three geographical place-based networks. Each network can apply for up to £500k to be spent over three years. This funding will be awarded to a lead organisation who be responsible for distributing the money to the rest of the network. This funding will pay for:

Core costs for each of the organisations involved (70%) e.g. 350k

Support to coordinate the network (20%) e.g. 100k

Any advisory support / organisational development / capacity building that you might need (10%) e.g. 50k

All budget lines that are applied for should ultimately support the network to achieve the goals and aims of the fund. These percentages are a rough guide and final sums will be decided with you if your application is successful.

Who can apply: what is the eligibility criteria?

All organisations to be funded organisation must:

• Be a not-for-profit organisation (including registered charities and CICs) that is women only or has a track record in delivering services for women (aged 18+) facing multiple and complex disadvantage
• Have a written governing document e.g. a constitution or set of rules
• Have a governing body with at least three unrelated members
• Have a UK-based bank or building society account in the name of the organisation with at least two unrelated signatories
• Have an appropriate safeguarding policy in place

In addition, the lead organisation within the network must:

• Have some previous experience of either: subcontracting, coordinating a network, joint working or a combination of the three
• Have at least 12 months of draft or signed accounts

Please see the full guidance notes to ensure you meet the full eligibility criteria.

For more details on this fund please visit https://www.smallwoodtrust.org.uk/organisations