SHIRE Community Grants 2023/24

In the second round of funding for 2023-24, funding will be prioritised for projects/activities which are focussed on the following themes/priorities:

1. Supporting vulnerable people and communities to manage the impacts of the cost of living crisis
2. Support for community-based projects and activities which improve mental health and wellbeing, including projects which reduce loneliness and social isolation
3. Projects for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people (and their families)

Key Criteria

Following a recent review of the SHIRE Grants programme, please note the following information regarding SHIRE Grants eligibility criteria:

• Applying organisations must be Leicestershire based, i.e. have a base/location in Leicestershire and a Leicestershire postcode
• VCSE organisations with income of more than £500,000 (in their latest set of published/reported accounts) will not be able to apply for a SHIRE Grant
• Applications cannot be accepted from the following organisations: Parish and Town Councils; Schools, academies, colleges, universities or other academic institutions; Sport Clubs (unless the sports club is exclusively set up to provide sports activities to vulnerable/disadvantaged people); Community Radio Stations; Scouts Groups, Girlguides, Cadets or other similar organisations
• SHIRE Grants cannot be awarded for any projects/activities which provide therapeutic/non-clinical aftercare support for people experiencing medical/physical health conditions (e.g. stroke, cancer, or any other clinically diagnosed long term physical health conditions)
• SHIRE Grants cannot be awarded for animal based therapeutic activities/interventions, including equine assisted therapeutic activities
• General building repairs, creation of or upgrades to toilets/disabled toilet facilities and general (disability related) access improvements are not eligible for funding

The deadline for Round 3 is 5.00pm on Wednesday 29^th November 2023. Please also note that this is the final round of SHIRE Community Grants, as the programme is ending after this round of funding. Therefore competition for funding is likely to be high, as there is only a limited amount of budget remaining.