The Community Mental Health Framework for Young Adults and Older Adults (CMHF) model means that NHS community mental health services will be developed with community organisations working together in a seamless way, with people who use services at the centre of service provision and much more involved in their own care and support.
About the Fund
Every life lost to suicide is an enormous tragedy, which leaves devastating impacts on family, friends and communities.
The published Suicide Prevention Strategies for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin (which have been developed by the multi-agency STW suicide prevention network) have shared ambition to reduce the harms caused by suicide and doing all we can to prevent the preventable.
Links to the Strategies can be found below:
Both Strategies have 4 overarching shared objectives:
- Improving the quality of data and intelligence informing on suicide and risk to support learning and recommendations to mitigate future risk.
- Improve outcomes for people bereaved by suicide.
- Promote a suicide risk aware Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin with professionals, partners and volunteers having appropriate knowledge, skills and confidence on responding to concerns of suicide.
- Enhancing offers to mitigate suicide and self-harm risk and to ensure appropriate targeted offers are accessible to those from higher suicide risk groups.
Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is a demographically and geographically diverse county. There are common risks and unmet needs relating to suicide and suicide risk that sit across both of the Local Authorities that serve residents however, there are also priorities which are more specific to each Council area. Applications are welcomed for offers that either can be provided across the whole county of Shropshire or those which are more specific to vulnerable cohorts who reside within a Shropshire Council postcode or Telford & Wrekin postcode.
Where you should be working
Geographical Reach
- Telford & Wrekin – Telford & Wrekin area includes parish/town bodies such as Great Dawley Council, Newport Town Council, Madeley Town Council and smaller parishes like Donnington & Muxton Parish Council
- Shropshire – Shropshire includes over 150 local town and parish councils spanning towns like Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry.
- You can be delivering or based in the areas detailed above. However, you must have a local connection to the area in which the proposal will be delivered and clearly demonstrate this connection. Applications without clear demonstration of local connection will not be considered.
General criteria
Why this round focuses on Women in Menopause
Women aged 45-54 now have the highest suicide rate of any female age group in England and Wales. Research increasingly links this to the hormonal, psychological and social effects of the menopause transition. Despite this, women of menopausal age experiencing mental health difficulties remain a largely unrecognised and under-served group in both NHS and community provision.
This grant round focuses on suicide prevention for women experiencing perimenopause or menopause. Consideration will be given to organisations that aim to:
- Reach women who are at risk of suicide or self-harm linked to menopause, including those with little usual contact with services
- Promote prevention and respond to self-harm and suicidal ideation among menopausal women
- Include women with protected characteristics such as those from LGBTQ+ communities, different ethnic backgrounds, women with disabilities or learning disabilities, Eastern European communities including families seeking asylum, women with co-occurring needs, and women from travelling communities
- Support women facing wider social risks including financial insecurity, substance misuse, housing issues or homelessness, criminal justice contacts, domestic abuse, and relationship breakdown
- Have established functional working networks and relationships with current suicide prevention and bereavement providers across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
Key issues this round seeks to address
- Many women do not connect mental health symptoms – including depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation – to menopause.
- Women in this group are frequently misdiagnosed or do not seek help due to stigma or lack of awareness.
- There is very little specifically commissioned or funded community support for this cohort.
- Women from under-represented communities face additional barriers to identification and support.
Eligibility
Who We Are Able to Support
This programme is able to consider applications from:
- Constituted voluntary groups
- Constituted community groups.
- Registered Charities
- Social Enterprises
- Please note that Limited companies are not eligible to apply to this programme. Organisations who are Limited by guarantee and also a registered charity can be considered.
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- Any organisation/s awarded grant funding will be required to register their organisation and services on Find local support in Shropshire – Shropshire’s Local Directory and/or the Shropshire Together Community Directory and/or Home | Live Well Telford
Please note that an organisation must have been established for more than twelve months to apply.
Project Aims
Women experiencing perimenopause or menopause who are at risk of, or experiencing, suicidal ideation or significant mental health distress
What we expect:
Funded projects should contribute to the following:
- Build on existing community assets; Promote the service wider across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
- Support towards suicide prevention.
- Suicide bereavement or broader chronic bereavement support (which impacts on mental/physical/social outcomes and daily function).
- Provide mechanisms to help people to support themselves and others around them to reduce the incidence or need to engage with statutory services.
- Offer person-centred, trauma informed preventative engagement to individuals.
- Offer preventative engagements to groups.
- Promote warm introductions in, across and between services.
- Link in with the Shropshire or Telford Suicide Prevention Action Group (SPAG)
Outputs:
- Walk-in preventative engagements – Therapeutic conversations to individuals.
- Planned preventative engagements for groups.
- Peer support.
- Suicide prevention awareness/day event, planned in collaboration with people who use services.
- Evaluation reports at 6 months and final evaluation (which include lessons learnt and case studies) at 12months.
Outcomes:
- Improved access to support and information for women in menopause who are at risk of suicide
- Reduction in suicidal ideation and crisis episodes among menopausal women in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
- Women feel less isolated and more connected to others
- Women are better informed about the link between menopause and mental health
- Frontline VCSE workers are more confident identifying and supporting this group
- Clearer referral pathways between community services and NHS teams
Referral source:
The majority of referrals are expected to come from:
- Midland Partnership Foundation Trust (MPFT) and Primary Care Network Services (PCNs)
- Voluntary Community Social Enterprise (VCSE) and the wider suicide prevention partners
- Self-referral
- Other health and social care professionals
- Suicide prevention related projects required to link in with the Shropshire or Telford Suicide Prevention Action Group (SPAG).
Grants Available
£1,000 min – £20,000 max
- 12 months – inclusive of mobilisation, delivery and outcomes. Projects must be fully delivered within this period.
- Where groups are asking for part funding, applications need to be clear as to where groups are sourcing the remainder of the funding and provide assurance that the project is viable within timescales.
Eligible Costs
- Equipment Costs
- Capital costs
- Training costs
- Project costs
- Event costs
- Revenue/ staff costs
- Marketing costs
- Overhead costs – maximum of 10% of the total grant requested
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
- Overhead costs which are more than 10% of the total grant requested
- Applications for funding to cover existing services or costs
- Clinical or medical treatment – to be commissioned separately through NHS pathways
- Individuals applying in their own name
- Work without a clear, direct benefit to the specified cohort
- Organisations established for less than 12 months
Application Requirements
Examples
The following are examples only – this list is not exhaustive:
- Mental health and emotional support – Counselling, talking therapies, trauma-informed support groups, crisis befriending, one-to-one emotional support, mindfulness and wellbeing programmes
- Peer support – Women-only peer support groups, lived experience networks, trained peer mentors, online or drop-in communities, peer-led workshops
- Practical support – Help navigating health services, advocacy, benefits and housing advice, digital access and skills, transport to appointments, signposting
- Community connection – Social groups, creative and cultural activities, physical activity, community cafes, women’s circles, nature-based activities, volunteering
- Information and awareness – Community education on menopause and mental health, awareness campaigns, training for VCSE workers and volunteers to identify women at risk
- Workforce development – Training for frontline VCSE staff and volunteers to recognise and respond appropriately to menopausal women at risk of suicide
Conditions of Grant
All organisations awarded a grant must agree to the following:
- Groups will have 12 months to fully deliver their project
- Your organisation and services must be registered on the Shropshire Local Directory (Find Local Support in Shropshire) and/or the Shropshire Together Community Directory and/or Live Well Telford
- You must display the ‘funded by MPFT’ logo on all promotional materials for the project, in line with MPFT promotional guidelines provided at award stage
- You must complete a 2-stage monitoring report: Stage 1 interim report at 6 months; Stage 2 end of grant report at 12 months
- Monitoring must include outcome and output data on the access and experiences of individuals supported
- Subject to reasonable privacy, your project may be featured in impact reports produced by MPFT or the Community Foundation
- You must notify the Community Foundation promptly if your project changes significantly from what was described in your application
- Suicide prevention related projects are required to link in with the Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin Suicide Prevention Action Group (SPAG)
Submission Requirements
- Organisation overview: Provide a brief introduction of your organisation, its mission, and experience working with secondary care mental health service users.
- Project proposal: Clearly describe the proposed project, including outputs, goals, objectives, and specific activities to be undertaken.
- Target audience: Explain the demographics and needs of the intended service users, including any co-designed ideas and relevant socio-economic factors or specific challenges faced by this cohort of community members.
- Implementation strategy: Outline your plan for implementing the project, including a timeline, partnerships working and co-production detail, monitoring and evaluation methods, and a sustainability plan.
- Budget: The proposal must include a detailed budget that outlines proposed expenditures, potential funding sources, and any in-kind contributions. Any capital investment for IT equipment must be itemized.
Funding & Monitoring Requirements
If you are successful in receiving a grant you must agree to the following terms:
- Groups will have 12 months to fully deliver their project. Groups will be asked to complete a 3-stage monitoring report:(Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire to conduct monthly check in calls)
- Stage 1 – Monthly verbal updates on project progress/ issues
- Stage 2 – interim written progress report including case studies and participant feedback, due 6 months after funding is awarded
- Stage 3 – end of grant report, due at the end of the 12-month period including full expenditure evidence.
Every grant awarded seeks to improve the access and experiences of women who need support regarding their mental health. Monitoring will include the following outcome data:
- Improving access for women in menopause at risk of suicide
- Grant Outcome – what the grant is seeking to achieve
- Grant Output – actions or items that contribute to achieving the outcome
- Improving experience for women in menopause
- Grant Outcome – what the grant is seeking to achieve
- Grant Output – actions or items that contribute to achieving the outcome
- Improving quality of life for women in menopause
- Grant Outcome – what the grant is seeking to achieve
- Grant Output – actions or items that contribute to achieving the outcome
Monitoring data must also include as a minimum:
- Number of women supported
- Profile data (age range, area of residence, under-represented group membership where appropriate and with consent)
- Number and source of referrals
- Evidence of outcomes against those stated in the application
- At least one anonymised case study per reporting stage
Application Information
How to apply
- Application forms are online and can be found using the link below
- Applicants are invited to complete the application form with information about what they are hoping to achieve, how they are planning to deliver their project and what impact this will have.
- Applicants also have the option to send in a video or audio file to demonstrate their proposal (a basic application form will also be needed to accompany this to gather information on the group and their projected outcomes/outputs).
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 – Appropriate to be working with adults at risk – please see additional safeguarding section below
- Safeguarding Written Protocol – Please see Safeguarding section below
- Equality Policy
- A copy of your insurance document
- Quotes for capital items
Safeguarding Requirements
Important – safeguarding notice
All applicants must demonstrate robust safeguarding arrangements appropriate to working with adults at risk, including women experiencing suicidal ideation.
Organisations must have a designated safeguarding lead, a current safeguarding policy, and clear procedures for responding to disclosures or concerns before an award can be confirmed.
Where projects involve direct one-to-one work with women at risk, DBS checks for relevant staff and volunteers are required.
All funded projects must have a written protocol covering:
- How staff and volunteers will respond if a participant discloses suicidal thoughts or is in crisis
- How participants will be linked to NHS crisis services: Samaritans 116 123, or telephoning 111 option 2 or call our Freephone 24/7 urgent NHS Mental Health Helpline – 0808 196 4501, Text STW to 85258to receive support for your mental health at any time of the day or night or email shropshire@mpft.nhs.uk
- Use of safe messaging guidelines when discussing suicide in group or public-facing activities
- Agree that any safeguarding concerns will be recorded and reported to MPFT through the contact at Community Foundation for Staffordshire & Shropshire.
What to expect on the application form
You may find the following information useful, so as you are prepared when completing the application form.
1) 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.
2) 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?
- Grant Outcome 1 – How will your project improve access for women in menopause at risk of suicide?
- Grant Outcome 2 – How will your project improve experience for women in menopause?
- Grant Outcome 3 – How will your project improve quality of life in women in menopause?
- Have your potential beneficiaries been engaged 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?
- What training or experience do you have of delivering support in a trauma-informed or person centred way?
3) You will be asked beneficiary data, including target numbers (please be realistic with this as we will expect monitoring to reflect support)
4) Finally, you will be asked to provide a full budget breakdown to show how you will spend the grant
Pre-application support
- The Community Foundation is here to help. If you are unsure whether your project is eligible or would like support completing your application, please contact the Programmes Team before the deadline.
- Contact: Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire | Tel: 01743 295900 | shropshire.foundation
Submission Dates
Applications received before 29th October 2026 will be seen at the panel week commencing 11th November 2026.
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.
Applicants also have the option to send in a video or audio file to demonstrate their proposal (a basic application form will also be needed to accompany this to gather information on the group and their projected outcomes/outputs)
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 01743 295900
Criteria and Application Support document
Please click this link to see the funding criteria, and information on what to include in your application