Who We Are Able to Support 

We will support the following types of organisations:

• Constituted Voluntary groups
• Constituted Community groups.
• Registered Charities
• Social Enterprises

Limited companies are not eligible to apply to this programme.

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.

Organisations must not have an annual income of more than £1M

Normally we would only consider one application per group

Projects We Can Support 

Projects which build connections across communities. We are looking for projects that can bring people together from different backgrounds, including those of different faiths around a shared goal/objective.

Initiatives which help counter or strengthen resilience to mis/disinformation and prevent false and harmful narratives spreading. For example, social media focused ‘critical thinking’ sessions in youth and community settings.

Positive diversionary activities such as sport, arts or cultural activities for young people that will also develop relationships with others from different backgrounds.

All projects should be matched with wider funding, support in-kind or volunteer hours.

Projects should show how they encourage communities from different backgrounds to come together.

Geographical Reach 

Projects will need to be held in the city of Stoke on Trent

Eligible Costs

• Equipment costs
• Capital costs (potentially maximum of 10%)
• Training costs
• Project costs
• Event costs
• Revenue/ staff costs
• Overhead costs

Ineligible Costs

• Funding towards religious projects or projects that promote religion, (although religious organisations can be funded for non-religious projects)

• Party political activities, (where one particular political party is promoted above another)

• Funding for statutory expenditure

Grants Available 

Funding availability ranges from £500 to £3500 per organisation.

Key points for applications:
• The activity must be in Stoke-on-Trent
• The project must involve residents in Stoke-on-Trent

Monitoring

Projects must be completed by March 2027. End of grant reports must be completed by April 2027.

Successful applicants will be asked to complete an end of grant monitoring report, keep records of all expenditure and to provide case studies/good news stories. Groups are encouraged to provide photos / videos of events taking place

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 application

• Governance Document – Constitution, Memorandum and Articles of Association
• Accounts – either independently examined, audited or a record of income and expenditure.
• Bank Statement – this will need to be in the name of the organisation, no older than 3 months old and clearly showing the account name, number and sort code. The bank account must have at least two signatories, who are not related.
• Details of signatories
• Safeguarding Polices
• Equality and Diversity Policy / statement
• Quotes for capital equipment
• Copy of public liability insurance document

During the assessment stage, we carry out due diligence checks to ensure all submitted documents meet the legal requirements for grant giving. It is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their submitted documents meet these requirements

Application support available 

VAST – Cassie Weaver support@vast.org.uk

Submission Dates 

This programme has now closed