Ask a Regional Manager – September 2019

Neil Shashoua is our Regional Manager for the North East and Cumbria. He joined the Foundation in January 2019, having worked in the voluntary and community sector in the North East and Cumbria for over 20 years and for local authorities in the region for 11 years. Neil brought with him experience of providing operational and strategic support to local, regional and national charities, mainly in the health & social care fields.

Before starting with the Foundation he ran a voluntary sector consortium, was an independent evaluator, and managed a number of projects.

“I really like helping people in organisations that do good, to problem solve, get the resources they need, and offer my support to make their charities even better.”

When not at work Neil is an active peer counsellor, volunteers as a Scout Leader in Northumberland and runs with his local club.

 

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What are the main indicators you look for when accepting a grant application?

Great question, especially as a we have recently reviewed our grantmaking process ahead of our grants reopening for applications later this year (sign up here to be notified when they reopen).

Firstly, applicants need to be eligible for our funding – we fund only registered charities and Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) that have an income between £25,000 and £1m.

Secondly, we fund charities that are working with people who are experiencing at least one of the 11 complex social issues (CSIs) areas we have prioritised, and which are:

• specialist – they have a strong track record of delivery, with evidence of reporting positive results. They may work more widely than our CSI areas but they need to a lot of experience and expertise in their chosen CSI area.
• working with those in acute need: we are more likely to fund those who work with individuals at the more the serious/severe end of the spectrum of need and that have a clear way of identifying the needs of their beneficiaries.
• working with people facing significant impact/disruption as a result of their complex social issue.

The work/interventions undertaken have the following features:

• It is in depth, that is, working over a prolonged period with the individual.
• It is holistic in nature and based upon a person-centred approach. The individual will have been assessed and their needs identified, with a plan of support put in place.
• It is targeted. That is, it is not reactive. Charities know who the beneficiaries are, and they proactively seek to support them.

Finally, charities we fund support individuals via a clear pathway through their journey of change and are able to monitor and measure positive, outcome-based progression.

For more information visit our website.

 

Are there any restrictions on what your core funding will pay for?

Our core costs grants provide long-term funding for the day-to-day running of your charity, and/or the direct delivery of your charity’s work. We have listed what we will fund as core costs below but this list is not exhaustive. We do not fund capital projects, such as funding for a new building.

Core Costs	Direct Delivery Costs
Building running costs	Salaries
Rent	Recruitment
Utilities	Sessional workers
Heating and lighting	Volunteer expenses
Insurance	Travel
Office costs	Training
Stationery	Monitoring and evaluation
IT running costs	Promotion
Management costs	Activity costs
Part-funding or funding of salaries
Finance/admin/back office

 

Do you accept applications from charitable community benefit societies?

No. We only fund charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission, and who also have at least one year of published accounts. Charitable community benefit societies are not, as yet, regulated; for example, they are not registered with the Charity Commission.

If you’d like more information on why we only fund registered charities and CIOs, you can take a look at our previous Q&A here. 

 

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