Our Staying Connected Fund aims to strengthen community connections across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. It provides grants to local, grassroots organisations working with older people and those at risk of loneliness or isolation, helping them to stay active, engaged, and connected within their communities. Through this fund, we’re investing in projects that bring people together, reduce isolation in rural areas, and celebrate the value of community belonging.
Priorities of the Fund
The fund will support organisations who are supporting:
- Older people
- Those at risk of isolation and loneliness
Activities could include:
- Drop in Centres
- Befriending Services
- Support Groups
- Respite activities for carers
- Community / transport links
- Lunch Clubs
Eligibilty
Who We Are Able to Support
- Constituted Voluntary groups
- Constituted Community groups
- Registered Charities
- Social Enterprises
This programme will support local, grassroots voluntary and community organisations. It will not support statutory agencies or national charities / organisations.
Organisations must have been established for longer than twelve months to apply.
Who We Are Not Able to Support
This programme is not able to offer funding to:
- Local Authorities
- Parish and Town Councils
- Schools
- Statutory organisations
- Groups that will benefit statutory organisations
- National organisations with no local arm
- Private businesses
- Groups that have not been established for at least 12 months
Geographical Reach
Organisations should be based in or working in:
- Shropshire
- Telford & Wrekin
We would particularly like to see applications from rural areas, supporting those most at risk of isolation
Eligible Activities
- Proportionate core project costs, including facility costs, equipment costs, supplies.
- Proportionate salary costs for organisations who employ fewer than 3FTE
- Volunteer expenses
- Activity Costs
Ineligible Costs
- Funding towards religious projects or projects that promote religion. Projects delivered by faith-based organisations will be considered, as long as the services they provide are available to people or all faiths or no faith
- Political campaigning activities specific to any one party, including participation in political demonstrations, support of a political party, or the issuing of material which supports or opposes a particular party or government
- Statutory bodies or provision, including towards the provision of core statutory services or services that carry out a statutory responsibility
- Retrospective funding, where the project has already occurred or for goods and services which have already been ordered or purchased prior to funding being approved
- Where the grant represents over 25% of a groups annual income
- Trips abroad
- Large scale capital, such as vehicles, property, build or adaption costs
Application Process
Grants Available
Grants of up to £5000
We would expect to see applications around £1500-£2500
Project Duration
Organisations have 12 months to fully deliver the project
Monitoring Expectations
Organisations must agree to complete an End of Grant report demonstrating impact and showcasing their work
There may be various touchpoints throughout the delivery of the project
Organisations must submit case studies to demonstrate their impact – consent will be required
What to expect on the application form
You may find the following information useful, so as you are prepared when completing the application form.
- The application form will request details about your organisation and the designated lead contact for the project. Please ensure that the lead contact has the authority to sign contracts, as they will be financially responsible for managing the award.
- Regarding the project, the application will then ask the following
- What will you do during your project / activity?
- What need or disadvantage are you trying to address?
- How will your project improve the lives of the people that engage with it?
- If you receive funding, what will happen to your project when funding runs out? Will you sustain it?
- Have your beneficiaries been engaged with, in the design of the project or activity?
- How does your proposed project meet the aims of the fund as set out in the criteria?
- How will you measure the impact of your project or activity?
- Have you managed similar projects before? What was the impact of your work?
- You will be asked beneficiary data, including target numbers (please be realistic with this as we will expect monitoring to reflect support)
- Finally, you will be asked to provide a full budget breakdown to show how you will spend the grant
Documents You Need to Send Us
The following documents must be provided with your application. If you fail to provide these documents, your application will not be considered. All documents should be submitted at the time of the application.
- Governance document (Constitution, Memorandum and Articles of Association)
- Accounts – either audited, independently examined or financial forecast
- Bank Statement – must be no older than 3 months and needs to clearly show the bank account name (which matches the application), number and sort code
- Safeguarding policy
- Equality Policy
- A copy of your insurance document
- Quotes for capital items
Submission Dates
November 2026 panel – Applications received before 19th October 2026 will be seen at our panel in November.
How to Apply
To apply, please first check that your organisation meets our core eligibility criteria, which can be found here
If you believe you are eligible, click on the “Apply Now” button below, which will take you to our funding portal
If you feel you’d benefit from some support with the online application, please give us a call. We can look at arranging a call or visit to guide you through it.
How to use our funding portal
- You will be asked to register with your name and email address, if this is your first time on our portal, or sign in if you have visited the portal before
- Once in the portal, click on “available Funding”
- This will display a table with all of our available grants
- Find this programme in the list and navigate to the far right hand column, where you will see the word “apply”
- Click on the word “apply” and this will take you to the application form
If you need any support with your application, please contact us using our email address or by calling our team on 01785 339540
If you would like to see the criteria in PDF form, please click this link