£11.25 million to be made available for charities working with disadvantaged women and girls

Charities can now apply for funding to support projects helping thousands of women and girls across the UK, as part of the latest and final round of the Government’s Tampon Tax Fund. 

A pot of £11.25 million has been made available to charitable organisations to bid for, with priority given to those working to end violence against women and girls, as well as organisations that support a network of charities.

For this round of funding, the grant threshold has been reduced from £1 million to £350,000. This means that more organisations will be able to apply, increasing accessibility to organisations that support this vital work.

The Tampon Tax Fund was introduced in response to VAT being imposed on sanitary products by the European Union, and following this round will have provided more than £90 million of funding supporting women and girls charities.

As per the government’s manifesto commitment, the Chancellor announced at the Budget in March 2020 that the tax would end on 1 January 2021 following the UK’s exit from the EU, as part of a wider government strategy to make sanitary products affordable and available for all women.

Minister for Civil Society and Youth, Baroness Barran, said:

The Tampon Tax Fund was launched in 2015, and since then has reached disadvantaged women and girls across all four nations, tackling an extremely wide and diverse range of issues.

The support provided through this final round will ensure specialist charities who receive grants can support women and girls in need, and help to become more sustainable and plan for the future.

We remain as committed as ever to ending violence against women and girls which is why this category is a priority for this round of funding, and we will continue to tackle the issue as a priority.

The government is particularly encouraging applications from specialist women’s networks whose projects include making onward grants to other women’s’ charitable organisations. This will make use of the expertise in the charitable sector, ensure this round of funding reaches as many disadvantaged women and girls as possible and help the country to build back better following the pandemic.

Grants may be for 12 or 18-month projects, and all activities must be concluded and funds spent by 31 March 2023.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 4 July 2021.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said:

The UK Government’s Tampon Tax Fund has supported charities right across the UK, including Rape Crisis Scotland, with vital work to help women and girls.

The lower grant threshold for this final round of applications will ensure that even more charities can access funding. I’d strongly urge Scottish charities working to support disadvantaged women and girls to apply.

• Charities and organisations supporting disadvantaged women and children have received funding through the £750 million package supporting the voluntary sector during the coronavirus outbreak, including £200 million for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund.

• DHSC have their Call for Evidence open to inform the first ever Women’s Health Strategy.

• The Home Office is committed to preventing domestic abuse:

• Last year we launched a new public awareness raising campaign highlighting that if anyone is at risk of, or experiencing domestic abuse, help is still available.

• The Government also gave over £28 million to domestic abuse organisations to help them to deal with the pressures of the pandemic.

• We committed £10 million in last year’s budget (2020/21) to continue to support innovative new approaches to preventing domestic abuse. We allocated £7.17 million of this funding to Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to fund implementation of the Drive Programme and other programmes delivered to perpetrators of domestic abuse in the community.

• For the year 2021/22 we have an additional £25 million to fund work on domestic abuse perpetrators and expand perpetrator programmes.

• We have paid more than £27 million to domestic abuse organisations to date to help them to deal with the pandemic, including keeping helplines running and vital support services open.

• In addition to the £40million Victims Fund support for specialist services.

• In 2021-22, we will provide just under £151m for victim and witness support services. This includes an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding from this financial year to help domestic abuse and sexual violence services meet Covid-driven demand.

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Charities across the UK supporting vulnerable women benefit in latest round of funding from Tampon Tax Fund 

28 May 2019: Ten projects will receive a total of £15 million to help improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable women across the UK in the latest round of funding from the Tampon Tax Fund, Minister for Civil Society Mims Davies announced today.

The funding will support a diverse range of projects over the next two years including helping women at risk of homelessness or modern slavery to programmes that address problem gambling and violence against women. The money has been awarded to larger projects with around £7.5 million given to four projects making onward grants to small and medium sized organisations across the UK.

Minister for Civil Society Mims Davies said:

It is absolutely right we invest money from sanitary products in projects to give more women and girls the help >and support they need to address difficult challenges they face in our society.

This important funding will help thousands more vulnerable women of all ages across our communities.

It will provide more of the opportunities they need to rebuild their lives.

Over 70 charities have received grants from the Tampon Tax Fund, with £47 million allocated since the Autumn Statement in 2015. This additional £15 million brings the total to £62 million.

The latest round of funding has been awarded to:

UK Community Foundations (UKCF) £3,545,000 (UK wide)

Through the creation of a Tampon Tax Community Fund, the UKCF will deliver a UK wide onward grants programme to projects that will make a difference to the health, wellbeing, confidence and social and economic activity of women and girls. The grants will be awarded via an open competition.

Homeless Link £2,000,000 (England wide)

They will run an onward grants programme to provide direct support to women who are, or are at risk of, homelessness across England. Homeless women often have different needs and issues to men, and the project will produce and disseminate evidence-based learning and resources about the best ways to provide gender specific support to homeless women.

Spirit of 2012 £1,500,000 (UK wide)

This project called ‘The Carers Music Fund’ is a UK wide onward grants project that aims to increase access to music making for women and girls with caring responsibilities.

Comic Relief £1,294,002 (UK wide)

This project is an onward grants programme investing in projects working to end violence against women and girls, particularly those who are more at risk due to multiple and complex needs.

Gamcare £1,191,818 (UK wide)

Through their Vulnerable Women and Problem Gambling Programme this project will develop better support for women and girls affected by problem gambling. Gamcare will work with a network of organisations to improve treatment options for women who are problem gamblers and women affected by domestic violence related to gambling.

Crisis UK £1,140,000 (UK wide)

This project will help homeless women who are survivors of modern slavery rebuild their lives and find new homes. It will develop a model to identify and support the recovery of women who have escaped modern slavery and are homeless or precariously housed and help them into accommodation.

SACRO £1,092,194 (Scotland wide)

This Scotland-wide project will provide support to women who work as prostitutes and use the internet to find clients. The project will reach out to women online, provide basic safety information and support, and signpost them to specialist one-to-one support services

Southall Black Sisters £1,090,000 (London, North-East & Manchester)

Southall Black Sisters will provide support for women with no recourse to public funds through their ‘Recourse to Safety’ project. It will make essential support and protection available to abused women by providing safe accommodation, subsistence and help including counselling, therapy, immigration advice and community awareness-raising.

Changing Lives £1,000,000 (North East & Yorkshire)

Changing Lives’ ‘STAGE’ project will provide support for vulnerable women who have been groomed by groups of men for sexual exploitation in locations across the North East and Yorkshire.

Youth Access £1,000,000 (England wide)

This project is a consortium of 12 organisations that aims to improve the number of young women accessing mental health support across England through their services. This will include a range of psychological therapies, group and one to one support, with a focus on young women with multiple needs and BAME young women.