If you have a query, please check here first to see if your query is addressed. We aim to keep this regularly updated.
If your query is not addressed in the FAQs, please email to csa@manchester.anglican.org and the Trustees will endeavour to answer your questions as swiftly as we are able.
The Manchester Diocesan Council for Social Aid is a charitable trust dating back to the 1800s.
It was registered with the Charity Commission in 1964. 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.
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 the CSA aims and objects.
The CSA Trustees are:
- Revd Jenni Beaumont
- Revd Fayaz Adman
- The Ven. David Sharples
- Yvonne Mackereth
- Hyacinth Lightbourne
- Revd Paul Monk
- Father Paul Hutchins
Apply for a Small Grant
The Council for Social Aid continues to award 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.
Making a Small Grants Application
Applications are made by completing the application form, a Word document downloadable here.
Please answer 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. The Trustees are unlikely to read words in excess of the word count. You can use bullet points and lists and you do not need to write in whole sentences as long as the meaning is clear.
Please submit your most recent examined accounts with this 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.
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
APPLICATIONS FOR LARGE GRANTS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED
We have allocated approximately £100,000 of funding for large grants and are inviting expressions of interest for projects that meet the CSA funding criteria, with a cost of up to £30,000 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 evidence: 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 most likely be met by revenue projects, we may consider capital work where a clear and direct link is shown between the need for the proposed building work, and: how this work will support the 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 to this round.
Large Grant Application Process
When open, 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 the form downloadable here 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 Short-listed 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; 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, difference 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
Applications are made when the grants round is open by completing the Expression of Interest form, a Word document downloadable here.
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. The Trustees are unlikely to read words in excess of the word count. You can use bullet points and lists and you do not need to write in whole sentences as long as the meaning is clear.
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
Below are the current criteria for both the Small and Large Grant schemes
The CSA supports projects:
1. That focus on tackling the causes and/or effects of poverty.
2. That are community-based and address needs facing people in their locality.
3. Where beneficiaries reside primarily within the Diocese of Manchester.
4. That enhance the mission of the local Anglican church within the Diocese of Manchester. 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 is strongly linked to an Anglican Parish
- encourages congregation member involvement and/or learning
- relates to the Parish’s Mission Action Plan
- engages with the Five Marks of Mission:
5. 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.
6. That provide learning that can be shared with others across the Diocese of Manchester.
7. That demonstrate appropriate partnership working with participants and other local and, where relevant, national service providers, groups and organisations, particularly those with an expertise related to the project’s work.
Below are some ideas of the types of projects that the CSA is interested in funding:
Places of Welcome is a network of small community organisations, including faith communities, who 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.
FAQs
We will post answers to Frequently Asked Questions here.
If you have a query, please check here first to see if your query is addressed. We aim to keep this regularly updated.
If your query is not addressed in the FAQs, please email to csa@manchester.anglican.org and the Trustees will endeavour to answer your questions as swiftly as we are able.