Funding: Church Urban Fund Mustard Seed Grants
The Mustard Seed Grant Programme aims to: "Provide grants to enable churches and faith-based organisations to engage in social action through supporting them to initiate or develop community work. These works will the enable groups to either undertake larger pieces of work or significantly improve the existing provision"
Changes to Mustard Seed Grants programme
CUF writes: "We remain committed to supporting a wide range of approaches to tackling poverty. While we actively seek unrestricted income for our grants programme, it is currently backed by a range of restricted funding. Due to the nature of this restricted income, at times we need to restrict our Mustard Seed Grant Programme criteria to projects addressing the underlying issues and long term prospects of the following priority groups:
Improving Lives
- Offenders: Churches and projects working both in and outside prison helping break the cycle of re-offending e.g. by enabling offenders to develop better life and job skills, helping them resettle in the community, allowing them to maintain positive relationships with their family and friends.
- Refugees and asylum seekers: Churches and projects assisting refugees and asylum-seekers helping gain skills and participate more fully in their new community, as well as providing them with the specialist assistance needed to access basic welfare services.
- Young people aged 14 to 19 years: Churches and projects that allow young people to develop their skills, self-confidence and aspirations e.g. through volunteering, work experience or a variety of creative activities, particularly where there is little other youth provision, which may enhance employment prospects.
Repairing Lives
- Homelessness: Churches and projects improving the long-term futures of adults and young people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, that work directly with vulnerable people to prevent them becoming homeless or provide them with the advice and skills they need to resettle more permanently.
- Substance misuse: Evidence-led interventions by churches and projects that support people affected by drug and alcohol misuse, enabling them to take positive steps towards a more stable lifestyle.
At the present time, we are unlikely to fund work outside of these priority target groups.
Am I in a UPA parish
If you want to check if you are an UPA parish please email Victoria Day who will be able to help answer your query
What next
- Contact Janice Mason to discuss your proposal. Janice will email you an applicaiton form
- Send a signed application form in the post to Victoria Day, Church House, Lower Lane, Aldford, CH3 6HP
GRANTnet:
To assist prishes in their search for funding, the Dioceses of Chester and Manchester have taken out a subscription to GRANTfinder. As part of the package we can offer GRANTnet, a basic search facility free to all parishes across the diocese. It's a user friendly, fast track route with information about sources of funding for all types of projects.