Grants and funding for the voluntary sector

• Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS), (£131,564)
• South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SYFAB), (£40,117)

Grant award goes to support staffing, core and direct costs which support the delivery of the volunteer centre and organisational and impact development services.

This grant helps other VSOs to:

• recruit the volunteers they need and develop their skills and knowledge to best practice standards
• improve VSOs prospects of developing and maintaining a diverse income base in line with the existing and emerging opportunities available to the sector
• gain the skills and capacity to develop tools to demonstrate the impact of their services/activities
• manage and respond to internal or external change by means of adapting their ways of working and/or embarking on partnerships and mergers, or where appropriate ending the grant agreement, helping to source alternative funding

The grant also goes towards providing tailored support to the Lunch Clubs service, in particular providing advice, support and managing referrals into the Lunch Clubs.

• Citizens Advice Sheffield (CAS), previously known as Citizens Advice Bureau

Citizens Advice Sheffield (CAS) delivers a quality assured, citywide service that provides access to free, confidential, impartial triage and initial advice to those with complex problems who need support.

In 2021/22 CAS was able to help 27,265 people across Sheffield on over 74,000 issues with over £11 million gained through unclaimed benefits and £850,000 of debt written off.

This grant contributes to salaries and the core costs of running CAS.

• St. Vincent De Paul Sheffield (£53,283)

This grant goes towards supporting and contributing to the core running costs of the store. St. Vincent De Paul collects and distributes recycled furniture and household items to vulnerable families or individuals and those in crisis across Sheffield.

In 2021/22:

• 5898 pieces of furniture were delivered to 1050 families
• 100+ food parcels were delivered to vulnerable adults and families
• 77 tonnes of furniture were recycled and didn’t go into landfill
   
• Bens Centre (£52,284)

This grant contributes towards supporting the core running costs of the organisation. Ben's Centre provides a day centre and outreach programme which supports vulnerable adults, particularly those experiencing substance misuse and homelessness. They aim to help adults to make more positive choices and work toward a brighter future.

In 2021/22 they provided:

• 3480 hot meals
• support 115 vulnerable adults with 894 uses of the clothes bank

• City of Sanctuary (£37,453)

This grant contributes towards the core costs and delivery of the Victoria Hall drop-in for refugees and asylum seekers. It also supports the fortnightly Service Provider Meetings and the Refugee and Migrant Forum. In 2021/22, City of Sanctuary provided support and advice to 499 refugees and asylum seekers through their weekly multi-agency drop-in sessions. 

• VAS New Beginnings (£13,866)

New Beginnings Project supports refugees, migrants and asylum seekers to access volunteering opportunities. This project is also supported through funding from the Big Lottery. Through this jointly funded project 411 refugees and asylum seekers were supported and 26 gained in employment.

• Sheffield Adult Volunteering Teaching of English (SAVTE) (£35,298)

This grant provides a contribution towards the core running costs of the organisation. SAVTE adopts a community development approach that provides a range of opportunities for individuals to learn functional English. In 2021/22:

• 98 learners received six months of one-to-one support
• 107 learners learned English through small online groups
• 342 learners accessed conversation groups within the community

• Roshni (£34,744)

Roshni is a language and female specific resource centre. This grant contributes to a range of services and activities for vulnerable Asian women across Sheffield including two weekly outreach sessions in Darnall and Tinsley. In 2021/22 Roshni were able to support 299 women through their ‘Empowerment Project’ and 40 women received culturally specific counselling. 

• Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Elders (£30,000)

The ‘Building Better Lives’ project works with elders from Sheffield’s BME communities. It also aims to reduce loneliness, improve emotional wellbeing and increase participants to access mainstream services. This is delivered through a collaboration of organisations Roshni, Aspiring Communities Together (ACT), and Firvale Community Hub.

29 lunch clubs are currently supported and funded through grant awards from Sheffield City Council. 
 
Lunch clubs enable older people across the city to make long lasting friendships, share good food, and enjoy interesting activities. They are friendly and supportive groups, predominantly run by volunteers with a desire to give something back to their local community. The Council's Lunch Club Fund provides small grants for clubs across the city supporting them to provide essential social occasions which can help reduce loneliness and isolation of older people.

If you would like to find a lunch club to join, you can contact Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS). They run a city-wide service to help match people up with local lunch clubs.

This funding supports the cost-of-living crisis, including new approaches to community development and social eating that support different ages and cultures in the city of Sheffield.

Social eating and developing community activities are asset-based approaches to tackling loneliness and social isolation, both of which are as dangerous to physical health as smoking and cardiovascular disease.

You can find out more about joining Lunch and Friendship Clubs on the Sheffield Directory.