Feeling Connected (Derbyshire Voluntary Action)

Feeling Connected Micro Grant

Micro grants of up to £100 for new, volunteer-led, informal get-togethers that reduce loneliness and isolation in Chesterfield Borough and North East Derbyshire District. The grant is only for individual residents or informal teams of friends and neighbours. Constituted groups, charities, CICs and social enterprises cannot apply. The money is paid as a reimbursement against receipts, and the Feeling Connected team offers mentoring and support alongside it.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: Up to £100; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Light; short form, little evidence needed

Who can apply

Individual residents, or informal teams of friends and neighbours, organising a volunteer-led activity in Chesterfield Borough or North East Derbyshire District
The initiative must not be part of a formal organisation and must not have its own bank account
Constituted groups, CICs, social enterprises and registered charities are explicitly ineligible
Feeling Connected points formal groups to Derbyshire Voluntary Action's funding pages instead
The initiative must be new, volunteer-led, not for profit and must not have had Feeling Connected funding before
New criteria apply from 1 April 2026

What it funds

The costs of new, informal, volunteer-led initiatives that bring people together and help them feel more connected and less lonely: shared activities, neighbourhood gatherings, community projects, social groups and support groups
The initiative must be new, meaning it will start within three months of applying or started within the last six months
It must be not for profit, and it must benefit a community or neighbourhood in Chesterfield Borough or North East Derbyshire District
Applications are particularly welcome from, or near, Holme Hall, Staveley, Grangewood, Barrow Hill and Birdholme (Chesterfield) and North Wingfield, Danesmoor, Eckington and Killamarsh (North East Derbyshire)
Up to £100 is reimbursed against paid receipts or invoices

What it will not fund

Initiatives that are part of a formalised voluntary group or organisation (constituted groups, CICs, social enterprises, registered charities, etc.)
Initiatives that have their own separate bank account
Ideas that have already received Feeling Connected funding
Initiatives that started more than six months ago, or will start more than three months after applying
Paid organisers (the initiative must be volunteer-led)
Profit-making activity
Activities outside Chesterfield Borough and North East Derbyshire District

How to apply

Check the eligibility criteria on the Funding page (new criteria from 1 April 2026)
Complete the short online Micro Grant application form: your name, group/activity name, area (Chesterfield Borough, North East Derbyshire or both), start date, location and postcode, expected beneficiaries and volunteers, how often it will run, your idea, a rough cost breakdown, and how it reduces loneliness and isolation
A member of the Feeling Connected team contacts you to talk about your idea and any support you need, and tells you whether it goes to the next monthly Applications Review
The monthly Applications Review decides, and you are told whether you are approved
Run your activity and keep original paid receipts or invoices
Meet the team to be reimbursed (up to £100) and answer a few questions about the difference the initiative made

Rolling; no deadline is published.

Help with the form, one-to-one mentoring and Learning Together sessions are available.

Have ready

Online application form
Original paid receipts or paid invoices (after the activity, to be reimbursed)

No documents are needed at application stage.

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