The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust has announced the launch of two new funding programmes tackling social isolation amongst the Armed Forces community.
A Force for Change in Armed Forces communities
In early 2020, the Trust ran an open consultation to explore how they could best make small grants locally. Based on feedback, they’ve designed the Armed Forces Covenant Fund: Force for Change programme which will support Forces communities in addressing local needs and promoting social inclusion.
Grants of up to £20,000 will be available for one-year projects and this year, there will be an additional focus on supporting volunteer-run projects that need some additional help.
Carol Stone, Director of Grants at the Trust said:
“We are particularly keen with this year’s programme to provide additional support to Armed Forces communities that have been affected by Covid-19. This might be veterans who are isolated, or Armed Forces families that may be having a challenging time. We are looking for projects that respond locally to challenges within communities and will support small projects that we have helped through the Covid programmes that we ran earlier this year, if there is still a need for your work.”
Overcoming social isolation
The Trust recognises that some people from Armed Forces communities may be particularly isolated and find it hard to engage with other projects or services. Projects working with people with these needs may need more time and more resources.
The Tackling Loneliness programme has been designed to meet this need. This Covenant Fund programme will award fixed grants of £70,000 for two-year projects that work proactively to enable people to become more engaged with their community. The Trust will look for projects that help those taking part to strengthen their support networks and build their confidence to access opportunities available to them.
Sonia Howe, Director of Policy at the Trust said:
“Loneliness and isolation can affect people of all ages, and it can be challenging if you have been isolated for a while to find the confidence to try new things. We hope this programme will be able to support great projects that can reach people from Armed Forces communities who find it difficult to get involved, to help people find their confidence for the future.”
Both the Force for Change and Tackling Loneliness programmes will consider projects that support serving personnel, veterans and Armed Forces families.
Find out more
You can find more information on both of these new programmes at the Trust’s website www.covenantfund.org.uk
