Funding, Resourcing and Procurement

Fundraising

BVSC’s Engage for Funding Network provides information on funding & procurement and wider Business Development. Sign up here

For further information on Engage for Funding Network contact please BVSC’s consultant Tony Carr, 4FrontPartners who facilitates these webinars.

BVSC’s Funding pages provide further wide-ranging funding information including on Birmingham Community Lottery and easyfundraising.

BVSC’s Accelerator Programme also provides in depth support in fundraising.

For further support contact: Ian Henshaw, Head of Funding, Sector Development and Communication, BVSC: [email protected]

Support Partners

Our Support Partners also provide organisations with wide-ranging fundraising support:

iSE (Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs) business consultancy support including on ‘Exploring Social Investment and Social Finance options’ and ‘Sustainable Funding’
Thrive Together Birmingham Near Neighbours partnership with Church Urban Fund includes Fundraising Resources
Sport Birmingham Funding webpages
Locality mycommunity Funding webpages
NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) Funding and Income webpages

Find Funding

BVSC’s Engage for Funding search portal provides a database of funding opportunities
BVSC’s weekly e-bulletin provides a funding update. Sign up here
BVSC’s Engage for Funding Network includes ‘Meet the Funder’ events. Sign up here
BVSC’s Funding pages provide further wide-ranging funding information
Birmingham City Council NDSU provides a monthly external funding bulletin
Locality beginner’s guide to finding funding for your project

Grants Application

BVSC’s Engage for Funding webinars provide information on grants applications. Sign up here
BVSC, working with our consultant, Tony Carr, 4FrontPartners can provide consultancy support to organisations applying for grants. Contact: Ian Henshaw, Head of Funding, Sector Development and Communication, BVSC: [email protected]
Neighbourhood Network Schemes (NNS) provide training on grants application
BCM (Birmingham Community Matters) provides wide ranging support and training for smaller organisations on grant applications
Thrive Together Birmingham Near Neighbours Partnership with Church Urban Fund provides resources on Writing for Grants
NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) all about grants webpages

Grants Distribution

BVSC’s Grants Team distributes funding to both organisations and individuals.

For further information on BVSC Grants Team contact: Stephen Raybould, Director of Programmes, BVSC: [email protected]

BVSC’s Research Team working with University of Birmingham and funded through an NIHR Programme Development Grant provide Research Better Together grants.

For further information on BVSC Research Grants contact: Sophie Wilson, Director of Research, BVSC: [email protected]

BVSC’s Older Adults & Communities Team provides support to providers who distribute grants through Neighbourhood Network Schemes (NNS) and issue micro-grants through the Community Development Practice Hub.

For further information on BVSC Older Adults & Communities Grants contact: Rosie Barrett, Head of Older Adults & Communities, BVSC: [email protected]

BVSC’s Health & Social Care Team provides grants / support to grants distribution relating to Health & Social Care

For further information on BVSC Health & Social Care Grants contact: Steph Bloxham, Head of Health & Social Care, BVSC: [email protected]

Birchfield Big Local, a BVSC Satellite Project has a small grants scheme which funds projects in the area, initiated by local residents .

Available grants funding is promoted through the Engage for Funding Network and BVSC News Pages as well as our weekly e-bulletin. Sign up here.

Our support partners also distribute grants:

Thrive Together Birmingham’s Near Neighbours Partnership with Church Urban Fund includes grants distribution e.g. small grants programme
Birmingham City Council’s NDSU (Neighbourhood Development Support Unit) manages a range of place-based grant programmes
WMCA (West Midlands Combined Authority) provide wide-ranging grants distribution including through United by 2022 – the Commonwealth Games Legacy Charity
NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action) distribute grants to members

Funder Relationships

BVSC are members of West Midlands Funders Network (WMFN).

BVSC have well established relationships with major funders and deliver ‘Meet the Funder’ opportunities, including through our Engage for Funding webinars.

Our Support Partners also have good funder relationships e.g.

BCM (Birmingham Community Matters) have a partnership with Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust to support small organisations in Sutton Coldfield
Thrive Together Birmingham have a partnership with the Church Urban Fund

Procurement/ Contracts

BVSC’s Engage for Funding webinars include information to support procurement/ contracts (e.g. 19/02/24)

BVSC’s Older Adults & Communities Team supports organisations working with Older Adults and Adults with disabilities with engaging with Birmingham City Council’s Adult Social Care commissioning process. Contact: Head of Older Adults & Communities, BVSC: Rosie Barrett, [email protected].

Our Support Partners also provide organisations with wide-ranging procurement/ contracts support:

iSE (Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs) is working with BVSC satellite project Birchfield Big Local, Birmingham City Council, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) on a pilot project looking at the barriers to social enterprise in the commissioning process
NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) provide information on Commissioning and Contracts under ‘Delivering Public Services’ webpages

Social Value

VCFSE organisations entering into the procurement process to get contracts to supply public sector organisations need to deliver Social Value.

BVSC provides information on Social Value for VCFSE organisations and businesses on our Engage for Business webpages.

BVSC’s Older Adults and Communities Team supports organisations to engage with Birmingham City Council Commissioning Social Value Action Plans. For more information contact our BVSC Head of Older Adults and Communities: Rosie Barrett: [email protected].

BVSC’s Health & Social Care Team have worked closely with Birmingham City Council and Birmingham & Solihull ICB on Birmingham & Solihull Social Value Conference. For more information contact our BVSC Head of Health & Social Care: Steph Bloxham: [email protected]

Our Support Partners also provide organisations with Social Value support:

Birmingham City Council and Birmingham & Solihull ICS provide Match My Project - a digital platform that provides a meeting point for local businesses and the VCFSE Sector in Birmingham. The platform is a database of hundreds of projects that require support. It enables businesses and the VCFSE sector to find ‘matches’ of projects that they can potentially co-deliver to achieve social impact in local communities.
iSE (Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs) Business Consultancy includes assistance with and interpretation of the Social Value Act

Supply Chain Management

BVSC is a Living Wage Employer and promotes the Real Living Wage. Being a Living Wage Employer requires consideration of the Real Living Wage in the Supply Chain. Further information is available on our Living Wage City webpages.

Our Support Partners also provide organisations with Supply Chain Management support:

Neighbourhood Network Schemes (NNS) provide training on Modern Slavery Awareness
iSE (Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs) Business Consultancy includes ‘Developing supply chains through encouraging the commercial sector to work with and support social enterprises to fulfil the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations

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BVSC aims to support a vibrant and resilient sector which in turn ensures that people from across the city feel included and engaged and have access to appropriate support from people who understand the issues and challenges they face.
Join BVSC

There are several ways that you can engage with BVSC to stay informed, grow your organisation and connect with others.
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The aim of Neighbourhood Network Schemes (known as NNS) in Birmingham is to help older adults in Birmingham to lead healthy, happy and independent lives in their own homes and communities.
Funding

Find out how BVSC can help you with fundraising
Compliments, Comments and Complaints Process

At BVSC we strive to provide our customers with the best service possible. We know that some of the best ideas come from people outside of our organisation and we therefore welcome feedback at every level to help us continuously improve what we do. This means that we want to hear from you when things go well, and when things could have gone better.
Quality Standards
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