Community Chest

We are committed to making a difference for our customers and communities and our annual Platform Community Chest Fund of £160,000 supports this aim.

If you're a charity, club, other not-for-profit organisation or a Platform customer, you can apply for Community Chest funding to bring about positive changes in our local communities. All applications are assessed by members of our Customer Voice Panel.

Tree planting

Guidance on applying for funding

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from charities, not-for-profit organisations, clubs, constituted groups and informal groups. Platform customers can apply but the application must be for the benefit of multiple customers.

We cannot fund profit-making businesses or political parties and can only fund religious groups if they can demonstrate that the funding will be of equal benefit to members of the community who have different faiths or no faith. 

Groups who we feel will exclude any members of the community from funded activities on grounds such as ethnicity, gender or disability will not be funded.

Projects we can consider for funding

We can consider projects that will make a difference in at least one of the following ways:

Digital Inclusion - Helping people in Platform communities to access and use the internet safely and effectively. (Examples: IT equipment/training.)

Health & Wellbeing - Improving physical health and mental well-being for people in Platform communities. (Examples: Exercise classes, well-being workshops, dental health initiatives, holiday hunger initiatives, improvements to physical environments.)

Community Cohesion - Helping to bring people together and making sure that no groups of people are left out. (Examples:  Community events or activities, particularly if they reach groups who might otherwise be excluded.)

Skills & Employability - Creating opportunities for Platform customers to develop life skills and skills needed to gain work. (Examples:  Courses, support, other initiatives with learning opportunities.)

We partner with an organisation called Stay Nimble - a career coaching company, who offer free places to our customers to help with CV writing, job searching, interview skills etc.  Please visit our Stay Nimble  page for more information.

Community Safety - Making Platform neighbourhoods safer for everyone. (Examples:  Neighbourhood Watch schemes, security marking programmes.)

2023-24 Application deadline and assessment dates

Deadline for applications

Panel assessment date

27th September 202311th October 2023
25th October 20238th November 2023
22nd November 20236th December 2023
20th December 202310th January 2024
24th January 20247th February 2024
21st February 20246th March 2024

Find out more - Frequently Asked Questions

We welcome applications from charities, not-for-profit organisations, clubs, constituted groups and informal groups. Platform customers can apply but the application must be for the benefit of multiple customers.

We will not fund profit-making businesses or political parties. We will only fund religious groups if they can demonstrate that their funding will be of equal benefit to members of the community who have different faiths and no faith. We will not fund groups who we feel will exclude any members of the community from funded activities on grounds such as ethnicity, gender or disability.

Applications from informal groups must come from a Platform customer and the group must include at least 50% Platform customers. However, applications from charities, not-for-profit organisations, clubs and constituted groups do not need to come from Platform customers.

Applications must, though, demonstrate how they will benefit Platform customers.

Applications must demonstrate how a positive difference will be made to people in Platform communities, with benefits in at least one of these areas:

  • Community Cohesion - Helping to bring people together and making sure that no groups of people are left out.
  • Community Safety - Making Platform neighbourhoods safer for everyone.
  • Digital Inclusion - Helping people in Platform communities to access and use the internet safely and effectively.
  • Environmental Sustainability – Helping to reduce negative impacts on the natural world around us.
  • Health & Wellbeing - Improving physical health and mental well-being for people in Platform communities.
  • Skills & Employability - Creating opportunities for Platform customers to develop life skills and skills needed to gain work.

No - Platform Community Chest will not provide funds to support individuals. However, Platform’s Wellbeing Fund does provide support for households in need and our Successful Tenancies Team can provide a range of support for customers.

Yes – if an application comes from a group of Platform customers, who can demonstrate that enhancements would make a positive difference to the wellbeing of people in their block or area. These must be easy to maintain, must have the support of neighbours and must not cause any significant problems.

The annual budget for Community Chest is £160,000, so we need to make sure that it supports as many great projects as possible, to benefit communities across our geographical areas. All applications are assessed on their own merits by a panel of Platform customers.

Applications can be made for up to £10,000 funding.

Not necessarily – the panel may offer you part of the amount you requested. It would then be up to you whether to accept, or refuse if you felt that a reduced amount would make your project unviable.

We ask you to provide links and/or quotes for items you intend to purchase or work to be carried out through the project. We reserve the right to request that alternative items or providers are used if we feel they provide better value for money.

Members of the Platform Housing’s Customer Experience Panel, who are customers themselves, will assess all applications.

We have a scoring matrix, through which applications are assessed. Elements assessed include:

  • Contribution towards our community priorities
  • Evidence that projects are needed and wanted by local communities
  • Numbers of beneficiaries, particularly Platform customers
  • Good value for money
  • Whether additional funds have been secured from other sources
  • Lasting benefits of a project
  • Supporting our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion aims
  • Plans to measure and celebrate success

Different levels of funding will be considered depending on overall scores given to applications. A smaller value application may be approved with a relatively low score, whereas higher value applications will need to achieve higher scores to be approved.

Applications will be assessed at panel meetings, which are usually held once a month. If an application is being made for an event or activity, then please apply at least three to four months in advance of the planned date. We’ll contact applicants after the meeting to let them know the outcome and arrange payment, if successful.

No – if funding is granted to an informal group without its own account, then Platform will purchase items requested on the group’s behalf and arrange delivery with you.

Requests for sponsorship will be assessed against the same criteria. If there is a strong case that by providing sponsorship, something will take place that is of significant benefit to Platform communities, then the application will be considered. Sponsorship is not part of Platform’s marketing strategy, so we would be doing it for community benefit rather than for promotion.

Yes – we ask you to help us to publicly celebrate what you achieve with the support from Platform and to keep receipts and records of your purchases. As part of your application, we ask you when and how you will be able to share (in the press, on social media) the story and photos from your project, mentioning your support from Platform. We also ask when you’ll be able to give us details of how the project has gone, providing copies of receipts from purchases.

We ask you to complete a Feedback Form to let us know the project is complete and what has been achieved. Your local Community Engagement Officer will be available to support you with this and may also visit you to see the impact of the funding.

We won’t demand money back if you say your project will benefit, for example, 50 Platform customers but only benefits 35 as long as you let us know what you did and any learning you’ve taken from it (that may be useful to others).

However, if you don’t end up spending all of the money you were granted on items requested in the bid, then we will ask for you to return the funds you didn’t spend, as this money can then be used towards other projects.

If your application demonstrates significant benefits to customers through our scoring system, then more than one application will be considered from the same group, as long as the group has met the expectations outlined above in terms of reports, receipts and sharing stories. However, the total amount awarded is capped to no more than £10k in any financial year.

Platform covers a large geographical area, with many different communities, so our customer panel particularly welcome applications that benefit communities that have not previously received Community Chest Funding.

Community Chest cropped logo

Community Chest Funding Form

  • Current Tell us about your group
  • Tell us about the project
  • How the grant would benefit Platform customers
  • If the application is successful
  • Complete
Address
Contact address including postcode
What type of group is this?
Bank account
Does the group have its own bank account? (Please note that we cannot make payments to individuals’ accounts, so if you are an informal group with no bank account, we would make purchases on your behalf if your application is successful.)
Previous

Has your group or organisation received funding from Platform Community Chest Fund previously

Making a positive difference in 2022

£138,999.80

Community Chest Funding awarded

98

Community projects supported

124

Funding applications received