Power to Change Community Business Fund round 5 opens 24 April

Grants of between £50,000 and £300,000 are available for locally based community-led businesses in England to increase their social impact and make them more viable in the long term by increasing traded income, securing an asset or reducing revenue costs.

Round 5 of Power to Change's Community Business Fund has a budget of £5 million in 2018 and is a highly competitive grant programme.  In 2017, just 1 in 20 applications were successful.

To be eligible to apply, Community Businesses must be incorporated and have a charitable purpose at the heart of the project that funding is being sought for.  An organisation must also have at least one year of accounts to be eligible.

There are many types of community business, but the four key features they must have are:

  • Locally rooted
  • Accountable to local community
  • Trading for benefit of local community
  • Broad community impact

Funding is available for:

  • Building-related capital costs - up to a maximum of 75% of these costs
  • Non-building related capital costs - up to 100% of these costs
  • Project specific revenue costs of running the business - up to 75% of these costs

Projects must be ready to start within six months and can last between 18 months to three years in total.

For full eligibility criteria and information on how to apply, click here to visit the Community Business Fund page of the Power to Change website.