Being Alongside first launched its grant scheme in the summer of 2023. Our aim was to give a helping to local churches and other organisations seeking to start new projects to support those experiencing mental ill-health in their community.
In the last three years, we have directly supported more than half a dozen local initiatives, including a number of regular drop-in events exemplifying the values of “being alongside” those in need.
Given this success, the trustees have decided to extend the scheme for a further year, until at least September 2027, and expand the number of projects which could benefit.
We initially focused on providing seed corn funding for brand new projects (principally café style drop-in events and befriending services), but in light of demand, we are now expanding our criteria to provide support to existing projects that need one-off help to sustain their work.
We will also consider applications from previous grant recipients, where they can show an ongoing need (alongside a plan for financial viability).
To help spread our support as widely as possible, we will now encourage applicants to restrict bids to £1,500, while retaining the maximum (in exceptional circumstances) of £2,000 per award.
We have amended our application form to reflect these changes: the new form is below, and the trustees welcome fresh applications. We will consider those in September 2026, December 2026; and March, June and September 2027.
Please download the file, save it on your own computer and edit it from there, before returning the completed form to us by email.