Charities invited to apply for grants

GRANTS of up to £30,000 are being offered by NHS commissioners across the Thames valley towards projects that promote health equality and complement NHS services in the region.

The year-long grants are available for local voluntary or community group such as charities, co-operatives, community interest companies and non-profit companies limited by guarantee and start at £500.

The Berkshire West

CCGs set up the Partnership Development Fund as part of their commitment to working with the voluntary sector from across Newbury, Reading and Wokingham on local services for patients that align with the CCGs’ strategic and operational plans.

The programme is overseen for the CCGs by Gabrielle

Alford, Director of Joint Commissioning. She is keen to emphasise the collaborative way that the CCGs work with the voluntary sector:

“The voluntary organisations that we work with are supporting the CCG with innovative ideas to improve patients’ wellbeing. Partnership Development Fund projects can bring a new perspective to our thinking and we value the speed at which some projects and services are delivered to achieve patient benefits. The CCGs track progress and the positive impact that projects are having on patients’ lives. We all learn from the experience of collaborating in this way, to improve what we do in the future. In spite of the tough financial situation for the NHS locally, the CCGs have ring-fenced £325,000 for the Partnership Development Fund in 2018/19, to secure projects/ services from the voluntary sector.”

The 2018/19 Partnership Development Fund is open for applications from Friday 1 September 2017 for six weeks. The deadline for completed applications is 5pm on Friday 13 October 2017.

Successful applicants will be awarded grants for schemes that complement the CCGs’ commissioning priorities and can be delivered within the 2018/19 grant year.

In January next year, all applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application and their projects will start on April 1, 2018.

For more details, log on to www.wokinghamccg.nhs.uk/ourwork/development-fund