Merseyside Community Investment Fund

Please read the Essential Information before applying. 

Background Information: The Merseyside Community Investment Fund aims to bring together businesses, organisations and individuals to address urgent social issues whilst making a modest financial commitment, to collectively achieve a greater impact towards the improvement of our communities

What is the focus of the fund: The fund aims to support projects that may struggle to access funding from other sources.  This fund can be used to respond to local issues of concern to the community or pro-actively tackle an urgent social need. 

How much is available: Grants up to £1,500 are available.

Which areas are covered: Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral and Halton.

NB: Priority will be given to the following:

• Projects that target disadvantage and or deprivation, including projects which support young people, older people and people with disabilities.
• Projects that encourage the community to take a pro-active approach to make a difference in their communities
• Ongoing activities rather than one off events
• Groups with small reserves as long as they are viable
• Innovative projects that would not be normally considered for funding by corporate driven criteria
• Specific projects rather than a small general contribution to ongoing running costs or to a much larger project

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Tuesday the 6^th August 2024, however, as there are limited funds available and we do not want to disappoint too many applicants, the fund may close earlier if the fund is heavily oversubscribed.

You should expect to receive the outcome of your application by early October.

How to apply?

Please visit the Community Foundation for Merseyside’s website - www.cfmerseyside.org.uk and complete an online application form. Once you have submitted the online application you will need to send the documents listed below. If you do not submit all the relevant documents within 7 days your application will be withdrawn.  You can now attach the documents to your online application, email them to applications@cflm.org.uk or post them to the address below.

Documents which need to be included with your application:

• A copy of your groups governing document, constitution of rules.
• A copy of the group’s latest annual accounts or income/expenditure document
• A copy of a recent bank statement for your group
• A list of your Trustees/Directors/Management Committee members
• A copy of the group’s current Safeguarding Policy. All applicants must ensure that they hold relevant policies and procedures in place to undertake activities, such as Disclosure Barring System (DBS) checks and/or a health and safety policy, depending on proposed activity. If unsure about what you need please contact the Community Foundation for help (details below)
• NB: If you have received a grant from us in the last 12 months and have already submitted copies of the above documents, you do not need to send them in again. However, a new bank statement is required with every application.

The following items cannot be supported via the fund:

• Statutory organisations or work that is their responsibility
• National organisations that cannot demonstrate local governance and control of local finances
• Groups with less than 3 unrelated Directors or Trustee’s, or constituted groups with less than 3 unrelated Committee Members.
• Commercial ventures
• Private Companies or Companies Limited by Shares
• Purchase/maintenance of vehicles
• Activities that will have already taken place before we offer you a grant
• Politically connected or exclusively religious activities
• Projects for personal profit
• Organisations that are set up for the benefit of animals or plants: environmental groups that work with animals or the environment (such as city farms) are acceptable
• Groups comprising just one family
• Debts and other liabilities
• Reclaimable VAT
• Travel outside UK
• Gifts or projects exclusively for the purpose of entertaining – social events can be funded where there is a clear community benefit

What happens next?

Completed applications are considered by Community Foundation staff to check eligibility. You may be contacted for more information after applying and a decision making panel will make recommendations based on the fund’s criteria and the budget available.

For further information, please contact applications@cflm.org.uk

Community Foundation for Merseyside

Third Floor, Stanley Building,

43 Hanover Street,

Liverpool, L1 3DN

T: 0330 440 4900