Recent Grants 

The Magpie Project is a registered charity based in East London, which has been providing services since 2017 for women with pre-school-aged children who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) due to their immigration status (asylum seekers, educational migrants on student visas, or undocumented with no status). These women are often homeless or at risk of homelessness, living in temporary or insecure accommodation such as single rooms of shared houses, hotels, B&Bs, hostels, or are sofa-surfing. They are enabled to attend supported come and play sessions, build a support network, share healthy meals, access essentials from the baby bank, and access casework around immigration, housing and other related issues such as domestic violence and mental health.

The project we are part-funding is the delivery of the ‘graduation programme’, for women who have been granted leave to remain in the UK, to start accessing the public resources available to them, including housing and benefits. It will equip around 90 women over a year with the confidence and life skills to support their transition to being financially independent and emotionally secure. The programme will coach and support them through weekly workshops, interactive sessions, form-filling sessions and will provide one-to-one support. Areas covered in the programme include skills development (digital skills, interview skills), practical support (applying for a bank account, applying for housing, applying for Universal Credit and other benefits), and education around the benefits, housing, childcare and other systems, which they may be unfamiliar with.

Integration Station Community Interest Company (CIC) is a social enterprise that supports refugee communities in Tyne and Wear. It’s been empowering refugees, promoting their integration into society, and combatting poverty since 2017. It leads a coalition of 15 refugee community organisations (RCOs) and five new migrant groups (NMGs). These groups, often volunteer-led, provide essential support to new refugees and vulnerable individuals. Through an RCO steering committee, it facilitates ongoing consultation, shares best practices, identifies service gaps, and addresses cultural and marginalisation issues.

Our funding will enable Integration Station to train 12 leaders and staff from six RCOs: Integration Station, Roma Right Path Project CIC, Tyne and Wear Eritrean Community Association, Utopia, Tavga, and the East Africa Support Group. They will learn essential personal finance skills covering topics such as budgeting, banking, savings, credit, taxes, insurance, emergency planning, employment rights, and financial scam awareness. Following this training, each RCO supported by Integration Station will host financial literacy workshops targeting between 20 and 50 members each, building capacity among refugee communities across Tyne and Wear.

Coping with Cancer North East was set up in 1982 to support people after a cancer diagnosis, to live their best life with cancer. The charity now operates across eight different locations spread across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. It supports cancer patients, their carers and families by providing and delivering a number of services including advice, information, guidance, advocacy, counselling, complementary therapies, acupuncture, peer group support and drop-in clinics. 

Our funding will enable it to deliver 24 financial-capability workshops delivered in partnership with trainers Society Matters CIC, a subsidiary of Citizens Advice Gateshead, to anyone affected by bereavement and/or cancer. As all beneficiaries will have experienced bereavement and cancer directly or with their families, the requirement for many will be on their changing circumstances and how forced life changes can be managed to more positive ends. It is anticipated a minimum of 120 people will improve their financial wellbeing and financial life skills from attending the workshops. 

Life in Community CIC  was established in 2019 and is based in Tipton, a town just north of Birmingham. A grassroots community-development organisation, it empowers people to become actively involved in improving their health, wellbeing and life chances by supporting them to overcome the issues created by generational cycles of poverty.

We are funding Life in Community CIC to develop a CMA (Community Money Advice) Connect Hub, which will offer debt support and advocacy to residents. Two additional volunteers will be trained to become money mentors and help support families. The project will deliver a rolling 12-week workshop programme to parents which will cover budgeting, energy efficiency, price comparison websites, what is good vs bad debt and cooking on a budget.

West Smethwick Enterprise is a registered charity operating in Smethwick and Ladywood in the West Midlands. Its aim is to improve outcomes for children and families; it offers early years and family support services including a supported contact centre and family learning sessions.

Our funding will support the delivery of 20 financial skills and confidence-building sessions over a 12-month period to 50 beneficiaries, including one-to-one and small group work. Two members of staff from the children’s development team will attend Budget Coach Training, delivered by the charity, Community Money Advice, to improve their financial capability skills. They will then share this learning across the wider team.

The Growing Club CIC, based in Lancaster, was founded in 2016. Since then it’s been designing and delivering peer-based training by women, for women. It’s enabled over 800 women so far to rediscover confidence and skills to return to work, education, renegotiate positions, and to start and grow sustainable businesses. 

We are funding a parents’ outreach project, Women and Money Matters, at West End Primary School, Morecambe. The aim is to support around 50 parents to discover new ways of thinking about and managing their money, to make healthier decisions for themselves and their families, and to become positive role models for their children. The project will include peer-led group work, a monthly drop-in, and one-to-one practical support for debt advice and guidance. The project will be delivered in partnership with Green Rose CIC, RoseTinted Financial, and TP Financial Solutions.

Support And Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship (SAMEE) was founded in 2016 and is based in Bournemouth, Dorset. Its mission is to enable disabled people to escape poverty and gain further independence through learning self-employment skills. This support starts during their training as they explore self-employment as a viable career option for those who may not attain the qualifications required for further/higher education, apprenticeship or traditional employment opportunities.

The project we are funding will enable SAMEE to provide intensive support to deliver personal financial and confidence-building training to 12 young people with learning disabilities. Each learner will develop self-employment and independent money life skills, gaining an accredited Level 1 Steps into Self-Employment Course qualification.

New Hope Global was established as a registered charity in 2014. Its aim is to improve the quality of life of minority communities in Birmingham and the surrounding areas. It focuses on four key areas: training, employment and education; health and mental wellbeing; arts and heritage; and community engagement and cohesion.   

Our funding will enable it to deliver 20 financial capability workshops delivered in partnership with trainers from the Birmingham Settlement charity. They will provide four hours a week of one-to-one support to those with complex needs, providing welfare and debt advice and money guidance, supporting about 200 people over the funding period.

Age Well East is an independent charity based in Colchester in Essex, which has been providing services since 1950. It helps people in their later years (aged 60 plus) to ‘age well’ in Colchester and north-east Essex. Its community services include welfare advice and information, befriending (including dementia groups), emotional support and bereavement services.

Our funding will support its Welfare and Advice service to help around 60 vulnerable people and their carers. The project will provide one-to-one budgeting guidance to teach clients to manage on limited incomes, strained budgets and increasing financial hardships. This will help them build and develop financial resilience to navigate the cost-of-living crisis, preventing the need to choose between heating and eating. The project will fund the salary of a welfare adviser for six hours a week over one year.

Wave Community Bank is a credit union offering savings, loans and basic bank accounts to over 9,000 members who live or work in Brighton & Hove and other parts of East Sussex, plus Medway and elsewhere in Kent. Operating for over 20 years, it’s run by members for members and works hard to promote financial inclusion and money management, to provide budgeting support, and to raise awareness of the dangers of loan sharks.

Our funding will allow the bank to open and staff three weekly community-help points at Landport Foodbank in Lewes, Havens Community Hub in Newhaven and Seaside Community Hub in Eastbourne. The help-points will run for two hours each and will be staffed by a community advocate who can assist people in accessing its financial services as well as offering urgent budgeting and money management advice. It anticipates helping 500 people at the help-points over the year.

Citizens Advice Rossendale and Hyndburn is an independent charity that has delivered its advice service for over 75 years. As part of the national Citizens Advice network, it provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities.

The project we are funding will deliver crisis debt and advocacy support and financial capability training to approximately 88 beneficiaries, who are experiencing debt and money management issues. The project will be delivered by an experienced debt adviser funded for 15 hours a week for six months over this coming winter.

The Goldhill Adventure Playground is a registered charity which for over 45 years has been providing play, learning and social opportunities for families, children and young people in a disadvantaged area of Leicester.

Working with delivery partner Melton and District Money Advice Centre (MADMAC), it will deliver the ‘My Family, My Money, My Future’ project. This will provide urgent money guidance and debt support to 125 families living in the Saffron Lane area. This will include 10 weekly drop-in guidance sessions and six one-hour financial capability workshops for families (each workshop will be repeated five times). It will deliver four peer-to-peer support sessions to help families develop and build up their long-term financial capability skills.

BASIC (Brain And Spinal Injury Centre) is a charity based in Salford, established in 1987. The charity specialises in centre-based services for people who have undergone treatment for a traumatic head injury, brain haemorrhage, brain tumour, stroke or similar long-term neurological condition.

The project we are funding will deliver a three-part programme of financial skills support for up to 15 people with brain injury or stroke, and up to seven carers. Stage one provides cognitive training for those with low capabilities in a range of cognitive functions including memory and concentration. Stage two will be a six-week course (six two-hour sessions) of financial skills training provided by Salford Citizens Advice, developing skills including household budgeting, planning and income maximisation, understanding financial products, and ways to engage safely with online finances. Stage three will involve one-to-one sessions with the co-ordinator at BASIC who will support and mentor participants to apply their new financial skills digitally.

Citizens Advice York is an independent charity, providing free, confidential and impartial advice and campaigns on big issues affecting people’s lives in York and the surrounding areas. These issues include benefits, debt, housing, employment law and immigration. Its goal is to help everyone find a way forward, whatever problem they face.

Our funding will enable it to support the delivery of the Mind Your Money project, supporting up to 40 people with mental health conditions and those caring for people with mental health conditions who are experiencing debt and money-management issues. The training will be delivered by four trained volunteers from its existing cohort of 28 active volunteer advisers. Three supported-learning programmes will be delivered with different entry points across the year, each with four bite-size modules. A further two commissioned programmes for partner organisations will be delivered.

Roar Pursuits CIC is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2017 and based in the London borough of Greenwich. Its aim is to provide education, training and support to young care leavers to enable them to build stable and successful independent lives. It has developed ground-breaking early interventional life hacks which are designed by a team who all have lived experience of being in care.

The project that we are funding is to deliver financial capability training to around 30 young care leavers who have a diagnosis or who are awaiting a diagnosis of a learning disability in Greenwich and the surrounding boroughs. It will consist of a 12-week programme of fortnightly sessions facilitated by experienced trainers to six small groups of five participants, providing money saving advice, housing support as well as one-to-one training dependent on individuals’ support needs.

Deaf-initely Women is a deaf-led charity based in Belper in Derbyshire, established in 2015. It aims to improve the wellbeing of deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing women through raising awareness and health education. It wants to equip these women to become emotionally and financially strong and empower them to be able to cope within their personal, working and family lives.

We are funding the delivery of the Managing Money Better project, which will enable Deaf-initely Women to co-design and deliver accessible training, including four workshops for 40 deaf women with full communication support. As part of the project it will create four signed and captioned vlogs, and four factsheets for its website. The training will be delivered in collaboration with Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts. A Facebook support group will be created to enable participants to share tips and ideas.

Feeding Coventry is an independent charity, working to end food poverty in Coventry. It opened in March 2020 just as the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic, and its projects aim to alleviate poverty and prevent hunger by addressing both immediate needs and underlying causes. It supports members holistically by working with them through financial hardship and long-term health inequalities, providing advice, guidance, family support services, and opportunities to engage in health and wellbeing activities.

We are funding a support worker post for 12 hours a week for six months. The support worker, alongside a volunteer support worker, will be trained by MIMA-qualified advisers to better support clients in managing their budgets and to develop further money-management skills. The project will deliver two Christians Against Poverty Money Courses for 50 members and 20 volunteer befrienders and provide ongoing mentoring and support.

Imago Dei Prison Ministry is a registered Christian charity established in 2016 in East Grinstead. Its purpose is to see that all women in prison, regardless of faith, are empowered to change their lives with a new hope for the future, and to productively re-integrate into society. It works with women to address underlying issues around offending behaviour and provide women with skills, self-belief and support to help them make different choices. It currently works across three prisons: HMP Downview, HMP East Sutton Park and HMP Send. ID Essence is its young adults team, which was originally Kahaila Essence but merged with Imago Dei Prison Ministry in March 2021 and delivers ‘myLife’ courses in HMP Downview to women aged 18 to 25.

The project we are funding is part of the ‘myLife’ suite of courses, ‘Money Money Money’. The ID Essence team will deliver over a year in HMP Downview five Money Money Money courses with weekly two-and-a-half-hour sessions for six weeks. Overall between 25 and 40 women will participate and at least 20 women will gain an OCR Entry Level 2 accreditation in an ‘Introduction to Life and Living Skills’.

Treasures Foundation is a registered charity, established in 2009. It provides safe accommodation in East London and specialist support to women with histories of drug abuse and offending. It works alongside women to enable them to recover, build healthy relationships, learn new skills, reach their full potential and lead fulfilling and independent lives.

We are providing funding for its ‘Moving On’ project, preparing the women who have made sufficient progress in their recovery, to move on to next-stage accommodation, or social or private housing. This includes funding a Quaker Social Action financial capability ‘train the trainer’ course for their specialist support manager, delivery of eight financial skills sessions to two cohorts of six participants and additional one-to-one support for those who need it. As part of the project a resource guide will be produced by staff, ex-residents and participants to support existing and future residents.

CHAT (Churches Housing Action Team) is a registered charity, established in 1995 in Tiverton, Devon. For over 25 years it has been providing free, confidential advice and life-changing support to vulnerable individuals across a wide range of housing problems such as homelessness and repossession. CHAT aims to tackle homelessness, avoid evictions and bring hope.

We are funding its ‘Hopeful Futures’ project, which includes funding the costs of basic debt advice training from the national charity Community Money Advice for four new volunteers. It will fund the delivery of nine budgeting workshops based on the Just Finance Foundation ‘Cash Smart Credit Savvy’ course, with three in each market town in Mid-Devon – Tiverton, Crediton and Cullompton – with a minimum of eight participants a workshop.

Happy Days is a registered charity established in 2014 in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. It provides supported community housing schemes to residents who have been street homeless, and those at risk of homelessness. The community setting incorporates on-going mentoring and support to bring about sustainable change in people’s lives. Its aim is to see homelessness reduced and vulnerable people empowered to live independent and purposeful lives.

We are funding it to deliver two budgeting courses comprising three sessions to 35 intensively supported residents and to 10 more less-supported residents. It will further deliver a ‘cooking on a budget’ course, comprising four sessions, including a trip to a supermarket. The trainer will be assisted by support workers, who will provide further ongoing support to the residents.

Mustard Seed Edinburgh was established in 2017. It’s a Christian community of mission, with a particular emphasis on bringing social justice and transformation to those in its community struggling with issues of homelessness, poverty and isolation. Alongside services on a Sunday it runs ‘Soul Food’, which offers a safe space, a free hot meal to anyone on a Thursday evening and a free hot breakfast on a Friday morning. It is currently the only centre that runs all three Christians Against Poverty (CAP) programmes in Scotland: Debt Advice, Life Skills and Job Club.

The project we are funding is to support the ongoing development of its blended CAP services in the community, alongside its Soul Food programme on a Friday to those who are homeless, or those at risk of homelessness, in Edinburgh. Over the funding period it will support up to 200 people. It will run eight Life Skills and eight Job Club programmes, and provide one-to-one support to those who need debt advice.  Working closely with other third-sector groups, it wants to ensure that, as people get accommodation, they are as financially stable and independent as possible, and are equipped with the necessary financial management life skills as possible, so that they can live positive, hopeful lives.

Established in 1965, CHAS Bristol is a registered charity that provides specialist housing advice, practical support and advocacy for marginalised Bristolians. Its clients live in deprived inner-city areas and rely on benefits and have financial and digital literacy issues, which often puts them at risk of homelessness. CHAS Bristol empowers its clients to achieve lasting solutions – more income, less debt, and a safe permanent home.

We are funding it to deliver a programme of six workshops to groups of eight clients who will learn about their rights, the financial support available, debt and money management, and how to access support. The workshops will be delivered in partnership with the charity Talking Money, and CHAS Bristol will also support at least 100 people on a one-to-one basis as part of the wider project

Transitions UK is a registered charity established in 2014, with a mission to provide support, mentoring and personal development that changes young lives and futures across the UK. It particularly focuses on disadvantaged young people with learning disabilities, care leavers, those at risk of criminal exploitation or offending and those with mental health and emotional needs. It works across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, parts of north London and the West Midlands.

The project we are funding will deliver financial skills workshops for 50 young people who are leaving care as part of Transitions UK’s Attain Project. The Attain Project provides a two year befriending and mentoring service, in a nurturing environment for personal development, together with supportive networks and direction that helps young people develop into becoming well-adjusted young adults. The one hour for 10 weeks workshop programme will be delivered in collaboration with Santander and Metro Bank.

Insight Society was formally established in 2003 as a non-profit company, and is a service-user-led social enterprise. It helps and supports people who are blind, or severely visually impaired (BSVI) who live in Birmingham and the surrounding areas. Most service users are BSVI women from black and minority ethnic communities including a significant number who speak English as a second language. The main services it provides include advice and guidance, education, creative arts, employment and training, and health and social care services. 

The project that we are funding will enable Insight Society to train 100 BSVI young people to plan their own personal finances and take full control of their bank and credit card accounts. Financial independence for young blind people has been challenging for many years-however, with new smartphone app technology, and voice-controlled software such as JAWS, this is now becoming an accessible reality. Bespoke training resources will be created. A translator and employees from local financial institutions will support delivery. A combination of small group training and one-to-one sessions will enable the participants to become more self-sufficient in controlling and managing their own finances independently. 

Act On It was founded in 2004, and registered as a not-for-profit company in 2009. It is based in East Sussex and specialises in using drama and creativity to support marginalised young people excluded from education. It works across the South East, training teachers to use a drama-based approach to support marginalised students in primary and secondary school settings.

The project we are funding will enable Act On It to further develop its Moneywise project. It will deliver six online financial-literacy workshops to 10 young people who are not in mainstream education. The young people will work through existing Moneywise resources and then create and produce new money-based content for additional online resources for their peers, including comparing different bank accounts and how to access student finance. Act On It will train 10 teachers/support workers as Project Champions to use the Moneywise resources and to share them with others in their own setting.

Hull Kingston Rovers Community Trust, is a registered charity, established in 2007 by the rugby league club Hull Kingston Rovers. Its vision is "to provide opportunities for members of the community to become the best they can be" through sport, physical activity, health, wellbeing and education. It is based in Marfleet, East Hull, which has exceptionally high levels of deprivation, with over 27% of residents receiving out-of-work benefits and one in three children living in poverty. It works in Marfleet, and in schools and communities across Hull.  

We are supporting its employability team to deliver the ‘My Money’ project. This will provide financial awareness and one-to-one support to 75 young people aged 18 and 25. All participants will attend monthly seminars, and have regular one-to-one support from their adviser. To aid delivery the two lead advisers will undertake further financial capability training provided by the charity Quaker Social Action. Depending on the UK lockdown status, it hopes to deliver face to face, but is able to deliver the project digitally if necessary. 

Active Youth Outreach Services is a community interest company, which has worked within the communities of Worcestershire since 2015. Its vision is focused on addressing the issues surrounding youth disaffection and disengagement. The services it offers include community and positive engagement, national curriculum support, anti-social behaviour intervention, relationship training, internet safety and team building.

Our funding will enable Active Youth Outreach Services to help over 800 young people in a post-lockdown environment to find work or education and get support with managing their money. It will partner with national financial education specialists The Money Charity and schools to deliver 28 half-day sessions in at least five schools and colleges in the Kidderminster area.  The sessions will deliver a combined workshop of money management, employment and training support.

Free@last is a registered charity, located and working in the culturally diverse Nechells district, in central Birmingham. It originally started in 1999 as a support network for dads, and has expanded into all areas of community development and need, offering youth workshops, debt management help, and running enrichment activities such as trips and excursions. 

Free@last has developed and is implementing a poverty strategy, to help eradicate the issue of child poverty in its area, and break the ‘handout’ mentality of some local residents. Our funding will support this strategy, by strengthening the capacity of the debt advice service which has been running for 12 years, and by enabling free@last to deliver monthly financial workshops to around 120 people over the year. The essence of the project is to demonstrate that the debt cycle can be broken and that there is support to help residents take positive steps to breaking the poverty mindset. 

Mesila is dedicated to empowering Orthodox Jewish communities to understand and apply the fundamental principles of financial stability.  It has been operating in the UK since 2016, based in London, but works in communities across the UK supporting many ‘just about managing’ and low-income families. For adults this includes a comprehensive financial coaching service, workshops and seminars. For children and young adults it provides financial educational programmes to ensure they develop strong foundations.

The project we are funding will provide support for those who have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including but not limited to 1:1 financial coaching for 80 individuals, and delivery of 4 webinars on current topical issues: redundancy, the uncertain financial climate, planning for the future, and government support, which will reach at least 200 beneficiaries. Furthermore, 2 volunteers will receive training and certification to deliver the unique Mesila coaching course.

Bags of Taste is a non-profit company which works with vulnerable people struggling with food poverty to enable them to eat healthy food on a budget. It has been delivering ‘food resilience’ courses since 2014, and currently operates in 13 areas across England: Birmingham, Haringey, Islington, Southwark, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, City of London, Wandsworth, Waltham Forest, Thanet, Sheffield, Maldon and Hastings. 

Bags of Taste has learned that the issue with the poor diets of people in poverty is complex and deeply entwined with the poverty trap.  Its proprietary research into the barriers that people in poverty face has led it to develop a multi-layered intervention that addresses issues of motivation; confidence; lack of financial resource; the sourcing of good, cost effective ingredients; and lack of skills and equipment. It uses aspects of behavioural economics, network science, social psychology and other concepts such as nudge techniques to encourage and motivate participants to make the healthier choices that will affect their daily diets long term.

Our funding will enable Bags of Taste to run 2 physical 'food resilience' courses in the London boroughs of Islington and Southwark, working with 52 participants, Covid restrictions permitting. A further 2 courses will be run in Sheffield (50% match-funded) working with 52 participants. If Covid restrictions are prohibitive, the project would convert to delivering mentored virtual courses, which would teach a total of 108 participants. 

Swindon Advocacy Movement (SAM) was set up as a user-led organisation in 1995 as a response to many people with learning disabilities leaving long-stay hospitals to live more independently in the community. It has been delivering community-based projects that make long-term, meaningful changes to the lives of people with learning disabilities now for over 25 years. In 2014 it was awarded the Swindon borough contract to provide statutory advocacy services under the Mental Care Act, the Mental Capacity Act and the Care Act.

Our funding will enable SAM to deliver financial skills and confidence-building sessions to 25 adults with learning disabilities living in Swindon, including 1:1 work and where relevant small group work. Twenty beneficiaries will achieve AQA Unit Award Scheme certificates, and 10 will be supported to access online training. This will be delivered by a 5-hour-a week funded project co-ordinator post over 1 year, with the support of a volunteer recruited on to the project.

Rugby Christian Life Centre is a church and registered charity that has a vision and ethos to support the whole community in which it is situated. It currently delivers a number of initiatives to support the vulnerable and socially disadvantaged, the isolated and excluded. It has been established in the New Bilton area of Rugby for over 24 years. During the Covid-19 pandemic it has developed a working partnership with New Bilton Community Association 

The project we are pilot funding is the New Bilton Job Club. This will deliver financial literacy advice and guidance, and work-readiness skills to at least 30 people aged between 35 and 65 in the New Bilton, Long Lawford and Newbold areas of Rugby who have been affected by the pandemic. This will be delivered by a 15-hour-a-week funded project-worker post over 1 year. 

The Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan Trust, a registered charity was established in 2009 in Leicester. In 2018 they supported over 2,000 disadvantaged and vulnerable people in Leicestershire. They support people to live without the fear of violence and abuse, by providing holistic practical support by helping people transform their lives through education, skills development and employment opportunities. 

The project we are funding is to support 78 people, who have become homeless as a result of a change/transition in their life, to successfully maintain a new tenancy. This will be achieved through intensive and wide-ranging tailored 1:1 support to empower people to change their relationship with money, maximise their income and reduce expenditure, understand the important tasks that need to be undertaken so not to fall behind with their rent and priority bills. A project advisor will be funded for 12 hours per week for six months.

The Pandora Project, is a registered charity based in King's Lynn,  which was established in 2013. Its main aim is to support women affected by domestic abuse in rural West Norfolk. 

The project will deliver 1:1 financial capability support and guidance to 50 vulnerable women who live in West Norfolk.  Each will be offered up to 6 sessions.  This will be delivered by a 10 hour per week funded finance-worker post over one year.  The project will empower women to take control of their finances and feel comfortable and more confident managing their money. Having an in-house finance worker who understands the financial impact of domestic abuse will improve the service Pandora can offer their clients. 

Clean Slate Training & Employment CIC was set up in 2006, by the former Managing Director of the Big Issue. They are based in Bath. Their overarching aim is to create a lasting impact that helps people help themselves to overcome poverty and escape the threat of homelessness. Clean Slate works with long term unemployed people, ex-offenders, people with histories of substance abuse, people with learning and physical disabilities and new parents.

Our funding will fund four 3 Bs group money skill training days to a minimum of 30 people at risk of homelessness in Gloucester. Each 6 hour money skills training course, addresses participants' attitudes to money and fills any gaps in their financial life skills. The 3 Bs borrow from the triple-threat faced by Universal Credit claimants: banking, budgeting and being online, but goes on to explore borrowing less, saving more, spending less and earning more. The course creates a safe space to explore the way people in their situation should think, behave and manage their money. It will involve participants editing content for Quids in! magazine and act as an agony aunt. By the end of the course they will have identified their own goals and the key steps they will need to take.

Middle Eastern Women and Society organisation (MEWSo) is a small registered charity based in Islington, North West London. They have been been delivering services to Middle Eastern, North African and Asian migrant, refugee and asylum seeking women and survivors of gender based violence in Westminster and Islington for over 8 years. 

The project that we will fund will improve the financial knowledge and resilience of 35 women and their dependants at a critical point of their lives, namely divorce or separation. The service will be delivered over 40 weeks by two experienced welfare advisors who have lived experience of separation, and can speak native languages (English, Arabic, Kurdish and Farsi). Four hours  of 1:1 support per week will be delivered.  Four workshops of 3 hours each using the CAP Money Course resources will be delivered.  A financial capability resource in English, Arabic, Kurdish and Farsi will be developed. Two community volunteers with lived experience will be trained to support and co-facilitate training and provide outreach and further support on financial matters to clients in need.

Newbigin Community Trust is a registered charity, serving and empowering the culturally diverse community in Winson Green, Birmingham.  They facilitate and create opportunities for neighbours to work together towards common goals and create community and networks of mutual support; a place that reduces social isolation and supports people in times of need.

This project will employ an Advocate Coordinator for 10 hours per week to deliver and support the following activities: 

Recruit & train 6 volunteer peer advocates, their training comprises of 5 half day financial capability workshops.

Provide 2 x 3.5 hour weekly drop in sessions, one at  HMP Birmingham's Visitor Centre and the other at Newbigin House.

3 hours of family outreach will be provided each week to vulnerable families where English is not the first language for banking / benefit support. 

In partnership with Birmingham Settlement's Training Unit 25 young people aged 11-16, will attend 2 financial education workshops. 

The Community Bureau, based in Lochgilphead, Argyll, is a Scottish Charity Incorporated Organisation. Founded in 2015, they are an umbrella organisation supporting a range of innovative community development projects and social enterprises designed to meet the needs of their rural and remote community.

This project will deliver the Skills for Living Project to 8 young people with Learning Difficulties.  

Two cohorts of 4 people each will attend 4 x 90 minute financial skills workshops.  Following completion of the workshops each young person will have the opportunity to volunteer in a safe environment for up to 2 hours on 3 successive weeks.

Speaking Out is a registered Community Interest Company with over 10 years’ experience delivering services to residents of hostels for homeless people across Birmingham and the Black Country.

This project will engage and support 30 young people aged 16-18, who are resident in five homeless hostels across Birmingham and Dudley. 

Five new volunteers will be trained to work with the young people in the hostels. There will be 1:1 tuition for each participant as well as weekly group sessions. This support will be delivered over 20 weeks to help them learn basic budgeting skills, numeracy and give them the opportunity to take an adult numeracy AEB qualification.

The project focuses on developing an appreciation of the value and importance of money as a key way of reintegration into society.

Warm Hut, a registered charity was established in 2009 to support French speaking asylum seekers and refugees living in the Greater Manchester area, especially in Salford. The charity now has a wider remit of helping the local community in Salford and surrounding areas such as Cheetwood and Cheetham Hill.

This project will provide a face to face drop-in debt and money advice service for refugees and migrants experiencing financial difficulties, alongside a weekly club to discuss finance and related issues.  It will deliver 10 x 2 hour workshops and learning circles providing preventative information & support. Topics covered include:  trust in UK financial institutions; remittances; transferring money abroad; bad credit history; living within means and saving for the future.

A community personal finance outreach programme in Cheetwood will support up to 30 young people, aged 16-21,and up to 10 Community & Faith leaders.

Oasis Hub Mayfield is based in a deprived area of Southampton. It was established in 2008, by the international charity Oasis whose vision is to build communities where everyone is included, and people reach their potential.  Their Community Hub model is designed to meet the individual needs of a locality, which are tailored to maximise local opportunities.

Four workshops will be delivered at the Oasis hub site by a money trainer from local debt advice service Frontline Debt Advice.  They will provide practical budgeting advice and support  for up to 40 parents whose children attend the Oasis academies Mayfield and Sholing.