As a Council for Voluntary Services, SAVS help local Southend charities and community groups develop and thrive. One such way in which SAVS do this is to offer free ‘Tailored Funding Searches’ and access to ‘Meet the Funder’ events.

Funding support is carried out in-house by Maria Hayton, SAVS Funding Support Officer. She comments,

“Identifying relevant funding opportunities is a part of the service SAVS provides to the sector on a regular basis. SAVS has paid subscriptions to funding databases, which enables access to a wide range of potential funders. The regular funding updates circulated in the newsletter and via media channels offers a snapshot of these.”

For new organisations and more established ones, researching options for funding can be time consuming, resource intensive and overwhelming.

Maria continues,

“By completing a simple form, SAVS capture key data about an organisation and can complete tailored funding searches for them. Not only can SAVS help find funding for a project or service but they can also identify any potential barriers to an application being made. And the help doesn’t just stop there, this information also allows SAVS insight into which funds local organisations would benefit from learning about at ‘Meet the Funder’ events.”

Penny Langran, Grants Officer at Fowler, Smith & Jones Trust, who hosted a recent Meet the Funder event at SAVS comments,

“As always, it is very useful to visit SAVS to have the opportunity to speak to the groups who attended.  It is always lovely to meet people in person and not only hear about what they are doing within the Southend community but to answer any questions they have, either as part of the meeting forum or individually.”

Since the launch of the Tailored Funding Search form at the start of April 2023, 86 tailored searches have been completed for 78 individual organisations. The total number of funds shared is 738.  SAVS has hosted five Meet the Funder events both in-person and online with further events being planned.

SAVS Tailored Funding Search Request Form