GrantRadar

Cambridgeshire Community Foundation

Microsoft Research Limited Fund

A fund at Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, supported by Microsoft Research Limited, giving grants of up to £5,000 (typically £2,000-£5,000, average £2,900) to voluntary and community organisations in Cambridgeshire that support people facing disadvantage. Priorities are training and resources for people in need, employability support, cultural or educational experiences, and small green-space projects; projects open to the public or using computing are favoured. It has two rounds a year (1 February and 1 August) and reopens on 2 November for the 1 February 2027 deadline.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£2,000 – £5,000
Deadline
106 days left
1 February
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Voluntary and community organisations in Cambridgeshire that deliver support for people facing disadvantage
  • Community-focused not-for-profit organisations delivering charitable work in Cambridgeshire; groups must be legally registered if their income is above £5,000
  • Eligible: registered, exempt and excepted charities; CIOs; religious organisations if the project benefits the wider community and has no religious content; parish and town councils, village halls and parochial church councils; CICs, social enterprises and companies limited by guarantee (established and running for at least one year, with extra governance rules: three independent directors or two plus a documented steering group, no person with over 50% control, asset lock, and an income-generation plan); co-operatives and community benefit societies; schools; sports clubs that are CASCs, affiliated to a national governing body or have income under £5,000
  • National organisations can apply for projects delivered in Cambridgeshire if funding is restricted to the area
  • All applicants need three independent/unconnected management committee members and two unconnected signatories

What it funds

Projects in Cambridgeshire that:

  • Provide training, support and resources for local people in need
  • Provide support or training to improve the employability of those facing disadvantage
  • Enrich the lives of disadvantaged local people through cultural and/or educational events or experiences
  • Improve local green spaces through small-scale environmental projects

These areas are not exclusive - other areas, such as organisational costs, may be considered.

Projects open to the public and/or using computing in their delivery are favourably considered.

Example: Sawston Community First Responder Group bought a Raizer chair for non-injury falls.

What it will not fund

  • Organisational structures not listed as eligible, or projects which are not charitable in focus
  • Activities or projects which have already taken place
  • Sponsored events or fundraising activities
  • Debt or loans
  • Grant-making bodies or activities (usually)
  • Improvements to land/buildings that are not open to the general public at convenient hours
  • Projects promoting political activities or lobbying for causes
  • The practice of religion or projects that actively promote religion or a particular belief system
  • Animal welfare projects
  • Overseas travel
  • Statutory obligations, i.e. activities that replace government funding

How to apply

  1. Check your organisation and project are eligible and read the Foundation's application guidance
  2. Prepare the required documents
  3. When the round opens (2 November for the 1 February deadline), complete the online general application form linked from the fund's page, naming this fund as your preferred fund
  4. Submit the form and all documents by 11:59am (midday) on the deadline
  5. A member of the Grants Team may call to clarify; complete applications go to an internal panel and then the fund panel
  6. Outcomes are announced by email; successful applicants sign and return the grant offer letter (two signatures)

Submit only one general application per round; each round has its own form, so a draft started in one round is lost when that round closes.

Panels may fund in part, and an application may be passed to other funds.

Have ready

  • Signed governing document (constitution or articles) confirming not-for-profit status, with a dissolution clause passing assets to similar charitable organisations
  • Accounts for the past year (small unincorporated groups may give an income and expenditure document; groups under a year old a list of income and expenditure to date)
  • Bank statement or paying-in slip from the last 3 months showing bank name and logo, account name, sort code and account number (screenshots not accepted)
  • Names of three independent/unconnected management committee members/trustees/directors and two unconnected cheque signatories
  • Three quotes for any capital item or equipment costing over £500
  • CICs: CIC 36 form (registered in last 12 months) or latest CIC 34 annual report
  • Co-operatives/community benefit societies: FCA registration form (last 12 months) or latest AR30
  • Evidence of a long-term lease if funding is for a building or land the organisation does not own

Documents must be submitted with the application by the deadline or it may be declined without assessment; documents sent in the last two years need not be resubmitted unless there have been significant changes. Safeguarding and equality polic…

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