Community Investment Fund

Do your services deliver genuine social impact to people and their communities in East Central England*? If so, you may be eligible to apply for our Community Investment Fund. We can award grants to any organisation that meets the criteria and helps people move closer to the job market by helping them overcome the barriers and challenges that keep them from moving forward.

*See the bottom of the page for a full list of locations.

Are you an SME, charity or third sector organisation that supports people in need?

The Community Investment Fund supports local projects to create sustainable changes for individuals and their communities. Our ultimate goal is to help organisations tackle key barriers in their local area and help individuals eventually move closer to the job market. We are dedicated to helping individuals overcome key barriers and recognise that each community may have specific barriers and support needed. This is why we recognise that the role of local community organisations is essential in tackling these barriers, as they are best placed to inform us of what support is needed.

What is the Community Investment Fund?

Groups and causes we support: (this list is not exhaustive and includes marginalised and disadvantaged groups):

  • Mental & Physical health issues 

  • Cost of living, debt & money 

  • Homelessness & unstable living conditions 

  • Over-50s

  • Single-parent families 

  • Transportation 

  • Caring 

  • Skills & qualification 

  • Returning citizens

Applying for funding

We’re not currently accepting applications for our Community Investment Fund, but if you register your details below, we’ll let you know when the next round opens.

Applying for funding

Our mission is to provide long-term, sustainable, and positive results for individuals and communities. To ensure we achieve our goals, we have set out some criteria for organisations that wish to be considered for funding. Please note we welcome applications from organisations that have previously applied.

Applicants/proposals must:

  • Be registered with Companies House and/or the Charities Commission

  • Organisations must be not-for-profit

  • Share Jobs 22’s values, priorities and business objectives

  • Be financially solvent (Jobs 22 will carry out full due diligence)

  • Must progress individuals towards more engagement within their local community and closer to employment

  • Cover East Central England; see locations below

  • Highlight a compelling need to be awarded funding supported by data, insights and evidence

  • Present long-term, sustainable, positive results for indviduals and communities

  • Include measurable outcomes and can report to Jobs 22 on outcomes regularly (frequency agreed at awards stage)

  • Present innovation in their approaches to supporting people and addressing community challenges

  • Observe equal opportunities when designing their activities and programmes

Locations

The Community Investment Fund covers East Central England including:

  • Bedfordshire

  • Leicestershire

  • Lincolnshire

  • North Buckinghamshire

  • Northamptonshire

  • Staffordshire

  • Warwickshire.

Our wonderful CIF Round 1 Awardees - in their own words

Meet our first beneficiaries of the Community Investment Fund

Belina Grow CIC

We are a new Community Interest Company dedicated to developing projects that engage and empower women who are currently outside the labour market. Our mission is to conduct research and provide support to help them transition into work, education, and training. We work in communities alongside the people we serve and recruit to our projects from those communities as we really value both lived experience and the role models that come through our programme first as parents and then as mentors and advisers. 

Living Without Abuse (LWA)

We believe that all people have the right to live safely and without fear of violence and abuse.  We provide support to anyone experiencing or fearing violence or abuse from a partner, ex-partner or family member.

We are committed to raising awareness of domestic abuse and sexual violence, working towards its prevention and eradication, and assisting those affected by this crime to determine their own lives.

LWA is a domestic and sexual abuse charity based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, and was formerly known as Loughborough Women’s Aid. We provide support to men, women and children affected by domestic abuse and/or sexual violence across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Great Healthcare for the Community (GHC)

We’re an Education and Skills Training Provider that offers a variety of courses and skills training. We work with several training providers, Local Authorities, ESFA, DWP, WMCA and ESF. Our goal is to make sure we allow individuals out there to be able to have the chance to fulfil their skills and prosper in their knowledge. GHC was originally formed to increase the take-up of services by all sections of the community and deliver help, support, and advice in areas such as health, employment training, community service, and community development. We operate in Birmingham, Sandwell, Staffordshire and Nottingham.