In December 2022 BVSC launched the first tranche of a new community grants fund to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector organisations that are supporting those experiencing homelessness and poor housing in specific geographic areas and defined communities in Birmingham. This activity is aimed addressing homelessness in our communities through building capacity and resilience within existing services across Birmingham.

BVSC undertook an application and assessment process for this first tranche in early 2023, and thanks to The Oak Foundation, Shelter has invested £60,000 in grant awards of up to £20,000 to the following three organisations:

• Future Health & Social Care, focusing on supporting people in the Erdington and Handsworth areas
• Narthex, focusing on supporting people in the Sparkhill area
• The Project, focusing on supporting people in the Erdington and Handsworth areas

A second tranche of funding for this scheme is now available. Shelter are seeking to award up to three grants of around £20,000 to support organisations working with citizens who are poorly housed or at risk of homelessness, through capacity building funding for organisations already engaging with these cohorts in the community. This opportunity is aimed at organisations who are supporting communities based in and around Erdington, Handsworth and Sparkhill areas. For more details about this opportunity, please download the Application pack documents using the links further down this page.

BVSC will host an online information session at 2.00pm on 3rd October 2023. If you would like to attend this session, please e-mail [email protected] to request an invitation link.

Please note applications to this opportunity should be e-mailed to [email protected] no later than 12.00 noon on 31st October 2023.

A separate round of funding for up to eight small grant awards of up to £5,000 was launched in the summer of 2023. Find out more about this scheme here