Step Up Fund 2 (up to £10,000) - Application Form
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About this fund
The Organisational Support Grant is designed to help voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations in Wirral become more resilient, sustainable and effective. The fund provides grants of up to £10,000 to support organisational development, such as improving governance, strengthening systems and processes, developing skills, or planning for long-term sustainability.
To be eligible, organisations must be able to demonstrate how their existing, day-to-day work already supports one or more of the priorities in the Wirral Health & Wellbeing Strategy (for example employment, early years and families, violence reduction, cardiovascular health or fuel poverty). The funding is not for new service delivery. Instead, it is intended to help organisations strengthen their foundations so they can continue to deliver their current work more effectively, safely and sustainably, and play a stronger role in improving health and wellbeing across Wirral.
What we're looking to fund:
We will fund activity that strengthens an organisation’s resilience, sustainability and capacity, where the organisation’s core, day-to-day work already contributes to one or more of the Wirral Health & Wellbeing Strategy Gamechangers.
Examples of what we can fund:
- Development of governance, policies or compliance (e.g. safeguarding, trustee development, financial controls).
- Training and skills development for staff, trustees or volunteers.
- Improvements to systems and processes (e.g. finance, monitoring & evaluation, volunteer management, digital tools).
- Business planning, sustainability planning or income diversification work.
- Specialist consultancy or mentoring that builds long-term organisational capability.
- Work to strengthen partnership working, referral pathways or system readiness.
- Essential equipment or digital upgrades that support organisational effectiveness.
Funding is intended to help organisations do what they already do better, more safely and more sustainably, in support of local health and wellbeing priorities.
What We Cannot Fund:
- New service delivery or pilot projects unrelated to organisational development.
- Organisations that cannot demonstrate how their existing work aligns with Public Health Gamechangers.
- General running costs without a clear development purpose.
- Capital works or large infrastructure projects.
- One-off events with no lasting organisational benefit.
- Activities already fully funded from another source.
- Retrospective costs.