Grant Directories

The Somerset Community Foundation was established in 2002. The Foundation's aim is to provide funding that will address the needs of Somerset's most vulnerable people and communities by tackling disadvantage, transforming people's lives and strengthening local communities. Through the South West Enterprise Fund the foundation provides grants to young people between the ages of 16 and 30 under the following two schemes. Enterprise Grants - for those aged 18 to 35, who currently live in the counties of Somerset, North Somerset or BANES, are not in education, employment or training, want to start their own business and know what products or services they want to provide or have been trading for under 2 years. Training and Employment Support Grants - for those aged 16 to 30, who currently live in the counties of Somerset, North Somerset or BANES, are entering or are currently in training (for example a college course) or an apprenticeship, or starting work after a period of unemploym...

The Cornwall Community Foundation was established in 2003. It awards funding to local charities, community and voluntary groups and social enterprise for projects which strengthen and make a real difference to communities in Cornwall. Through the South West Enterprise Fund the foundation provides funding to young Cornish people aged between 18 - 30 years old who do not have the initial starter funds to get their business ideas off the ground. Grants range from £200 to £2,000, donations will vary depending on individual requirements

The Dorset Community Foundation exists to benefit disadvantaged communities by making grants to support relevant charitable or voluntary organisations, which make a difference to their local communities. Through the South West Enterprise Fund the foundation provides grants of up to £2,000 to young people in Dorset who need support with business start up costs that they would otherwise not be able to afford, and particularly those who are not in education, employment or training.

Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs (DBACE) supports visionary creative entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-30 who are driven by a mission to create and sustain social value through their enterprise. Through the programme Deutsche Bank aims to reach ambitious individuals from all backgrounds with ideas that will improve the lives of others and the communities we live in. An award from DBACE includes up to £20,000 investment to start or grow the enterprise; 12 months business support with MeWe360 and Deutsche Bank’s high calibre industry & business mentors; recognition and the opportunity to raise your profile within the industry; access to peer and influential industry contacts; leverage to bring in additional funding and access to further investment opportunities; specially tailored business and leadership training for the cohort of winners.

The Oli Bennett Charitable Trust provides small grants for young people starting their own business. Through their Young Entrepreneur Grants, the Trust provides funding of up to £2,000 to help young people aged between eighteen and thirty, from all backgrounds across the UK, get their business ideas off the ground and turned into sustainable, profitable organisations, whatever their scale. Support is for new or very young businesses and the Trust prefers to provide funds for buying a business asset rather than towards general expenses. All applicants need to supply a business plan which must include a profit and loss and cash forecast. Applications can be made at any time.

The Cornwall Community Foundation was established in 2003. It awards funding to local charities, community and voluntary groups and social enterprise for projects which strengthen and make a real difference to communities in Cornwall. Through the Cornwall Social Enterprise Fund, the Foundation provides two forms of investment to social enterprises: Start-up support will offer grants of around £5,000 to new start-ups in the early stages of their trading; and Step-up support will offer grants averaging £20,000 to help established social enterprises grow their businesses. Higher awards for both streams are available. Organisations are encouraged to submit expressions of interest.

The Geovation Accelerator Programme allows the Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry the opportunity to make it easier for businesses to use their data. The programme aims to help launch and grow innovative solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges that harness the power of data and technology. The programme will provide grant funding of up to £10,000 over 6 months with the opportunity for a further £10,000 of funding to build a product. The programme will also provide a wide range of support services. The programme has two streams: The Geotech stream is the call for any tech company creating location-based products and services; The Proptech stream is run in partnership with HM Land Registry. It supports innovative technology businesses to revolutionise the property industry using property and geospatial data.

Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV) is an accelerator programme, early-stage investor and support network for ambitious technology start-ups that are tackling problems in the areas of health, education, sustainability, civic engagement, tech to support young people, workertech. BGV's accelerator programme invests in and supports teams with new ideas through an intensive three-month programme. Supported teams may include software developers, designers or people with personal experience of something they want to change - from teachers and doctors, to patients and carers. BGV looks for early-stage ideas with the potential to help millions of people. Teams of between two and four people selected to be part of the BGV programme will benefit from a £60,000 investment in exchange for 7% equity. BGV also provides a three month programme of support and advice to help build, test and launch each start-up.

The Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme offers social entrepreneurs the best possible chance of success by providing access to support and funding. To date 1,000 social entrepreneurs in the UK have been supported via this programme. The Programme is a package of support that includes three different elements; an inspirational and practical 14-day course, a business mentor from Lloyds Banking Group and a grant. The content of the course and the size of the grant award will vary depending on whether the applicant joins Start Up or Scale Up. Eligibility for each depends on the stage of development of the applicant's organisation.

The Enterprise Programme supports young people to explore and test their business idea and launch their business or move into education, training or employment. They provide support and personal mentoring helping people to learn the skills and knowledge required to start up a business including business planning, marketing, sales, raising capital, budgeting and tax.

Bridges Ventures was founded in 2002 with the vision that hands-on investment and entrepreneurial talent can be used to address some of the challenges facing our society, as well as drive sustainable growth. Bridges Ventures investment strategy is to focus on opportunities where investments can generate investor returns through helping meet pressing social or environmental challenges - be it backing businesses that generate jobs in underserved markets, or building environmentally friendly care homes for the elderly to sustain an ageing population, or providing flexible financing for innovative community transport models.