New applications to this fund are currently on hold until April 2022 when we will bring you news of the next Phase
Aims/priorities: Community engagement and community conversations around living with Covid-19
The Community Champions funding has supported engagement and communication with those communities most at risk from Coronavirus this year in Oldham. Phase 1 of the programme focussed on investing in VCFSE organisations that work alongside and support people from our South East Asian, Roma and African communities, as well as people with learning disabilities, people with sensory disabilities. During this year and phase 1 Oldham has invested £300,000 funding in grants to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) groups and organisations who are at the heart of the communities who are most at risk from coronavirus to:
- Support the Council and NHS to deliver it's Covid-19 response strategy by having community conversations; including communications around changes to national and local guidance, health protection and infection control messages, promotion and education around the importance of vaccination and the booster programme and testing and awareness of the local humanitarian support offer.
- Expanding and developing our Community Engagement Network through small and medium-sized investments to the Voluntary, Community, Faith & Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector
- Identifying gaps in our current engagement strategy and routes
- Co-designing and developing training and targeted communications tools for VCFSE and community leaders, and using more culturally appropriate and accessible communications channels
- Capturing community insight in order to inform our engagement strategy and behaviour change.
Due to the success of the Community Champions work and the impact that it has made in Oldham Communities, Oldham Council is investing a further £200,000 in a phase 2 of the Community Champions Programme.
For phase 2 of the programme, Oldham Community Champions are extending this Covid-19 engagement focus into supporting communities to recover from Covid and 'living with covid' focus, and especially on mitigating the impact of inequalities in communities. This is based on feedback from existing Community Champions as to the pressing concerns for the communities they are supporting in this later phase of the pandemic and as the method through which we can best reach those for whom public health messages are less accessible.
Phase 2 funding is available to exsisting Community Champions to extend the scope of their work and to extend their projects until the end of March 2022 focussing on community engagment with the following communities:
- South Asian communities,
- Roma community,
- African communities,
- People with learning disabilities and autism,
Phase 2 funding is also available for VCFSE goups to deliver community engagement as described above to the following groups:
- Young people.
- People facing multiple disadvantages.
Additionally, for the second phase, grants will be available for VCFSE groups and organisations who have trusted realtionships and reach to geographical communities to extend the impact of the work to all parts of the borough, and especially those communties that have lower vaccination uptake and ongoing virus transmission including:
- North (Royton, Shaw and Crompton)
- East (Saddleworth, Lees, Greenacres, Clarksfield, Waterhead and St James)
- Central (St Mary’s, Alexandra and Coldhurst)
- South (Failsworth, Hollinwood and Medlock Vale)
- West (Chadderton and Werneth)
Three types of grants will be available to members of Action Together who are locally rooted and active in Oldham. If you are not yet a member of Action Together you can apply here
If you wish to find out more you can join us for an online Meet the Funder session by booking here
Grants types:
Community Champions Anchor Fund - Grants of up to £10,000 for Anchor Organisations or partners to lead each Community of Focus and Community of Place. It is expected around 10 awards will be made.
Community Champions Fund - grants of up to £5,000 for supporting community organisations’ capacity in achieving the health and recovery focused objectives. It is expected that around 20 awards will be made.
Idea Fund – grants of up to £1,000 for costs of additional activities, projects and ideas emerging from Communities Champions engagement work
Application process: Application and guidance notes available below
- Anchor Fund and Champion Fund application available here
- Idea Fund application available here
- Guidance Notes
- Flowchart to help you to decide which Fund to apply to
Deadline: Ongoing but please be aware that grant activity is expected to be completed by 31 March 2022.
Contact Information: funding@actiontogether.org.uk
If you didn't manage to get to our Meet the Funder Session this week on Oldham Community Champions Phase 2 Funding, don't sweat it! You can watch it back here!