Council for Social Aid

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The Manchester Diocesan Council for Social Aid (CSA) is a charitable trust dating back to the 1800s.

The CSA was registered with the Charity Commission in 1964 (Registered Charity Number 233814). The CSA relieves poverty and the effects of poverty within the Diocese of Manchester, through making grants to local Anglican Church-owned or church-linked projects.

If your query is not addressed on this page, please email csa@manchester.anglican.org and the Trustees will endeavour to answer your questions as swiftly as possible.

CSA Trustees

The Trustee of the fund is the Manchester Diocesan Board of Finance. The Bishop of Manchester appoints seven managing trustees who oversee the distribution of the funds.

The Managing Trustees work closely with Diocesan Officers to promote the work of the CSA and to support projects that fulfil CSA aims and objectives. The managing trustees are:

Chair: Yvonne Mackereth
Archdeacon: position currently unoccupied
Revd Fayaz Adman
Revd Jenni Beaumont
Father Paul Hutchins
Hyacinth Lightbourne
Revd Paul Monk

Eligibility

Please study the eligibility flowchart before completing an application form. Download it here.

Apply for a Small Grant

The Council for Social Aid awards Small Grants of up to £8,000 for projects in line with the CSA Funding Criteria. Applications can be submitted at any time and will be considered by the Trustees at the next Trustee meeting, where time allows.

The Trustees are particularly interested in using small grants to support parishes, or projects with a strong parish link, to engage in new mission initiatives, or to develop current mission activities that tackle poverty. Applications to seed-fund new ideas and innovative work are welcomed; we are keen to support projects that can offer support to those most in need.

Small Grant application process

We receive applications made using the application form. You can download a Word version here and a PDF version here.

Please answer each question on the form. These questions appear in the shaded boxes. Type your answers in the white boxes next to or under the questions. The boxes will expand as you type.

Many questions have a word limit, and you will be assessed on the quality of information rather than the quantity. Short answers (less than half the word limit) are unlikely to contain sufficient information. You do not need to write in whole sentences provided your meaning is clear, and you can use bullet points and lists if you wish. The Trustees reserve the right to reject applications that do not adhere to the word limit.

Please submit your most recent examined accounts with your application. If you are a new organisation without accounts, please send a projected income and expenditure budget for your first year. Please do not submit any other documents unless requested.

Please note that the Trustees may request additional information, which may delay a final decision being made on your application.

Please email completed applications to csa@manchester.anglican.org along with a copy of the organisation’s most recent accounts.

Apply for a Large Grant

This round is now open, with Stage 1 Expressions of Interest to be submitted by 5pm on 31st January 2025.

We have allocated approximately £150,000 of funding for large grants and are inviting expressions of interest for projects that meet the CSA funding criteria. The maximum grant amount will be £30,000 spent over 3 years.

Trustees are open to funding new work and innovative ideas and are willing to consider applications to support ongoing work (previously funded by CSA or other funders) that evidences: ongoing need; robust evaluation of previous work; project growth and learning; positive outcomes achieved for participants; and assessment of wider impact on the church and local community.

Although we anticipate our Funding Criteria will probably be met by revenue projects, we may consider small amounts of capital work if a clear and direct link is shown between the need for the proposed building work, and how that work will support your church to tackle the causes and/or effects of poverty; the church’s Mission Action Plan; and clear plans for the people-work that will be enabled by the building work.

We accept one Large Grant application per organisation. Applications are particularly welcomed from churches and church-linked projects that have not previously received Large Grant funding from the CSA.

Current Large Grant holders are not eligible to apply for funding in the next round.

Large Grant Application Process

There are two stages to our large grant application process.

Stage 1: Written Expression of Interest

Applicants should complete a Large Grant ‘Expression of Interest’ using a downloadable form to outline their project proposal. The organisation’s most recent accounts must be submitted with this Expression of Interest. These applications will be short-listed by Trustees.

Stage 2: Visits to shortlisted projects

The shortlisted projects will be visited by a CSA Trustee in order to meet applicants and those involved in running the projects. This is to explore the proposal further with them, paying particular attention to project vision; how the project meets CSA’s funding criteria; the need for, viability, and sustainability of the project; and robustness of budget, policies and employment practices (if appropriate).

After this, final decisions will be made by Trustees with the intention that grants will be awarded ready for projects to start drawing down funding. Projects must be able to start using the grant within 6 months of award.

CSA will require funded projects to report on grant activities, differences made to participants, learning and expenditure. We also hope funded projects will be willing to share their learning with others in the Diocese.

Submitting an Expression of Interest

You can download a Word version here and a PDF version here. Please email completed Expression of Interest forms to csa@manchester.anglican.org.

Please complete each question which appears in the shaded boxes. Type answers in the white boxes next to or under each question. Boxes will expand as you type. Many questions have a word limit: you will be assessed on the quality of information rather than the quantity. Short answers (less than half the word limit) are unlikely to contain sufficient information: you do not need to write in whole sentences provided your meaning is clear; you can use bullet points and lists. The Trustees reserve the right to reject applications that do not respect these word limits.

Please submit your most recent examined accounts with an application. If you are a new organisation without accounts, please send a projected income and expenditure budget for your first year. Please do not submit any other documents.

Please note that the Trustees may request additional information and this may delay a final decision being made on your application.

Funding Criteria

Listed below are the current criteria for both the Small Grant and Large Grant schemes

The CSA will fund the following kinds of projects:

That focus on tackling the causes and/or effects of poverty;
Are community-based and address the needs facing people in their locality;
That enhance the mission of the local Anglican church. The following are central to our thinking on awarding grants or commissioning projects. Applications should be clear about how the project:

Is an expression of local Anglican church mission, or has a strong link to an Anglican Parish;
Encourages congregation member involvement and/or learning;
Relates to the Parish’s Mission Action Plan (MAP); and
Engages with the Five Marks of Mission:–
- The Proclamation of God
- The Nurturing of New believers
- Loving service to those in need
- Seeking justice
- Safeguarding the Integrity of Creation

That, wherever possible, seek to be transformative and to equip people with the skills and experience to make positive and long-lasting changes to their lives;
That provide learning that can be shared with others across the Diocese of Manchester;
That demonstrate appropriate partnership working with participants and other local and, where appropriate, national service providers, groups and organisations, particularly those with an expertise related to the project’s work.
Applications are particularly encouraged from Anglican churches and church-linked projects that have not previously received Small Grant funding from the CSA.
The CSA prefers to fund specific self-contained projects rather than the cost of continuing and long-term overheads.
Within those projects, the CSA will fund:

Salaries and associated costs such as pension.
Core costs such as food, energy and elementary office expenses (printing, phone and broadband, books).
Training costs if they lead directly to recognised qualifications.

The CSA will NOT fund the following elements:

1. Health-care costs.

2. Bonuses or performance-related pay.

3. Donations or grants to local people or organisations.

4. Payments of parish share.

5. Professional fees such memberships.

Completing and submitting your form

Completing the form

Applications are made by completing the relevant application form. Please complete each question. Type answers in the white boxes next to or under each question. Questions are written in shaded boxes. Boxes will expand as you type.

Many questions have a word limit: you will be assessed on the quality of information you give, not the quantity. However, short answers (less than half the word limit) are unlikely to contain sufficient information.

Accounts

If you are a new organisation without accounts, send a projected income and expenditure budget for your first year. Please do not submit any other documents.

Please note that the Trustees may request additional information and this may delay a final decision being made on your application.

Please email completed applications to csa@manchester.anglican.org along with a copy of the organisation’s most recent accounts.

Adhering to Health and Safety

Applicants must demonstrate the capacity and flexibility to deliver the proposed project work within current Health & Safety and Safeguarding guidelines.

CSA Case Studies

Below are some ideas of the types of projects that the CSA is interested in funding:

Bereavement support group - read more here: Never Forgotten support group backed by CSA grant
Places of Welcome - a network of small community organisations, including faith communities, that offer an unconditional welcome to local people for at least a few hours a week. The network is based on trust, respect and generosity. They have developed a set of guiding principles, the 5P’s – Place, People, Presence, Provision and Participation.
Community Money Advice centres provide free, face-to-face debt advice, helping people to develop an individual debt management plan and supporting them to free themselves of debt.
Men’s Sheds Association. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction. Whichever activities are pursued the essence of a Shed is not a building but the network of relationships between the members.
Digital Exclusion is a growing problem, with more services turning to online forms and communication becoming increasingly “digitised”. Without basic digital skills, vulnerable people are at risk of being socially isolated, unable to manage their health or finances and potentially trapped in a cycle of long-term unemployment.
Interested in supporting children and families? There are plenty of ways you can add value to the work done by schools and children’s centres. Get in touch to find out more about the funding and support available.
Interested in developing a project or service for young people? We have partners who would love to support you in creating a bespoke service that supports young people.