Tampon Tax Fund

The purpose of the Tampon Tax Fund is to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to projects that improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls.

Aims:

The Tampon Tax Community Fund aims​ ​to​ ​support​ ​women​ ​who​ ​are​ ​most​ ​marginalised​ ​to​ ​overcome​ ​barriers that​ ​prevent​ ​them​ ​from​ ​fulfilling​ ​their​ ​potential. ​ The​ ​women​ ​that​ ​will​ ​benefit​ ​from​ ​this​ ​initiative​ ​will​ ​have​ ​had little/no​ ​access​ ​to​ ​support​ ​or​ ​previous​ ​investment​ ​in​ ​their​ ​personal​ ​or​ ​educational development, and/or their social networks.

​This ​programme aims to fund small​-scale interventions, ​​which​ ​will​ ​make​ ​a​ ​considerable difference to the lives and happiness of women and girls by raising the aspirations of girls and young women and combating the influences that affect their confidence.

These grants will invest in a wide variety of projects, large and small, that aim to make a tangible and long-term difference to health, wellbeing, confidence and social/economic activity as well as addressing equality gaps.

How much can I apply for?

• Between £5,000 and £10,000
• For a duration of up to 12 months
• Meet one or more of the Tampon Tax Community Fund objectives (below).

What difference will it make?

Women and girls can be disproportionately disadvantaged by multiple issues which are often complex in nature. Combined with these barriers and differing needs within population and geography, specialist and local support is often necessary. Within this context applicants will need to demonstrate how they meet one or more of the following objectives:

• Building skills and confidence, for example, supporting women and girls to learn new skills, giving them the ability to apply for new jobs and/or return to the workplace.
• Improving health and well-being, for example, teaching women how to look after and improve their own mental or physical health and live in good health for longer.
• Building social networks, for example, connecting women to others they can share similar experiences with, supporting them to feel less lonely, more valued, more able to pass on that support.

What are the priorities of the programme?

Priority will be given to:

• Women and girl organisations, we define these as:
  • An organisation that has been established by women or girls and/or is led and staffed by women and girls
  • An organisation that has been established with the key aim of working with women and girls only
  • The majority of beneficiaries served by the organisation are, and will continue to be, women and girls, and the majority of the services will reflect this.
• Grassroots organisations offering localised support.
• Organisations working with beneficiaries with multiple disadvantages.
• User led organisations that have a clear understanding of the needs they are supporting.
• Sustainable projects that provide long-term solutions to the people they are helping.

Who can apply?

This fund is open to the following organisations:

• Constituted Community groups
• Registered UK charities
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations
• Companies Limited by Guarantee
• Community Interest Companies
• Co-operatives – registered Community Benefit Societies and registered Industrial and Provident Societies
• Credit Unions
• Social Enterprises

If you are applying in partnership or as part of a consortium the organisation submits the bid must be an eligible entity from the list above, this organisation will manage the funds if successful.

Funding to Community Interest Companies and other non-charities may include conditions to restrict funding to charitable objectives only.

What we will fund:

• Volunteer expenses: Budget for training, travel, telephone calls, travel and meals.
• Activity costs: Budget for resources to facilitate a project/activity; costs that fall outside capital, volunteer or staffing costs, e.g. catering, insurance.
• Temporary/sessional staff costs: Budget for external consultants and sessional staff that are employed for the specific project/activity that is being funded.

Who can’t apply:

This fund is not open to the following organisations:

• Groups in receipt of Tampon Tax funding from another funder
• Individuals or Individual Sponsorship
• Organisations that are connected to a political Party
• Statutory organisations, including schools
• Faith based organisations are welcome to apply but we do not fund religious activities.

What we won’t fund:

• Use for activities of a party political or exclusively religious nature. Note that in line with Compact principles, DCMS recognizes the importance of an independent civil society sector. DCMS, therefore, recognizes that civil society organisations are entitled to campaign within the law, in order to advance their aims, irrespective of any funding relationships that might exist. DCMS funding may not be used to fund these activities.
• Paid for marketing and advertising (save as expressly permitted in eligible expenditure)
• Purchases of capital equipment (save as expressly permitted in eligible expenditure).
• Costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from other public authorities or from the private sector
• Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
• Statutory fines, criminal fines, or penalties
• Trips abroad.

How do I apply?

There is a form to be completed online. To apply please click here to be taken to our application page.

When can I apply?

This round is now closed. Further rounds to be confirmed.

They will be reviewed, shortlisted and assessed by SYCF. Eligible projects will be taken to a local panel, where a decision will be made on which projects have been successful. Applicants will be notified shortly after the panel.

Equal Opportunities

The Tampon Tax Community Fund will be inclusive within the class of women and girls; grants will be made to all women, including trans women and gender non-conforming women.

We are committed to promoting equal opportunities, to valuing diversity regardless of age, gender, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion/belief, culture, language, disability, learning difficulty, sexual orientation, marital status, economic status, health status, or any other discriminatory grounds.

Supporting Documents

We will ask for the following supporting documents to uploaded with your application:

• A copy of your most recent annual accounts or management accounts if these are unavailable.
• A copy of your governing document – Constitution, Memorandum and Articles, Articles, or Set of Rules
• A photocopy of a bank statement no more than 3 months old that clearly details the organisation details and the bank account and sort code. The bank account must be in the name of the organisation applying and have two unrelated signatories.
• Copies of your equal opportunities policy.
• Copies of your safeguarding policy if you are working with children or vulnerable people.
• Names of your Trustees (or management committee if you are not a registered charity) and an overview of your organisation’s structure. You need a minimum of three unrelated Trustees to be eligible for the grant.

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How we use personal data provided

By completing this application form, UK Community Foundations and its network partners will use the personal data about you and other individuals named in your application to assess and administer a grant application for the Tampon Tax Community Fund. Personal data about your Trustees or management committee may also be used for identification, debt tracing and the prevention of money laundering. To support with this, searches (e.g. to verify your identity) may be made with third parties, including publicly available sources.  If your application is successful, your details may also be used to contact you to gain your thoughts on the effectiveness and impact of the programme.

When necessary, personal data collected through the application process will be shared with UK Community Foundations and its network partners, the Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the evaluating partners and with other third parties where the law permits or requires it.

We will only use your information where we have a legal basis to do so, for example, to carry out our legitimate business interests to manage and promote our grants or to meet our legal or contractual obligations. By providing any personal data about another person you are confirming that they understand how their data may be used and shared.

We would like to be able to share your data with other funders or infrastructure support organisations who may be able to help. As part of your application we will ask if you are happy for us to share your data for this purpose.

You have certain rights when it comes to your personal information. This includes rights to access and correct your information, and to erase, transfer, object to, restrict or take away consent around how we use your information. Please contact your local Community Foundation if you or anyone named in your application have any concerns with the information being used publicly or if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Communications

For successful organisations we will be producing a series of template materials, press releases and social media posts to celebrate the grant awarded.

Please note: we reserve the right to use details and photographs submitted as part of your application and monitoring report for publicity purposes. We will always ask your permission before giving your contact details to the press or any third parties.

Monitoring and evaluation

Successful organisations will be required to complete an interim monitoring report or phone call at half way through their project, and one monitoring report at the end of the Grant term. We will be asking how the grant was spent, as well as the difference the project has made, what was achieved, any key issues and lessons learnt.

Before beginning the project, we suggest successful organisations take the time to read the monitoring forms, so that necessary information can be recorded from the outset, this should include:

• Sharing the evaluation form with staff in the organisation
• Discussing and deciding specific goals based on the application
• Deciding who will write the report
• Collecting data from the outset
  • Quantitative data (numbers) – how many people are taking part or using the service, achieved goals (e.g. employment, improved health)
  • Qualitative data (stories) – feedback from users and volunteers, observed increase in skills, confidence etc.
  • Learning – feedback from project participants, what went well, what would you do differently etc.
• Build in time to complete the form.

Funded organisations should also be willing to discuss the progress of the project over the phone as and when necessary and to host visits that will assist with learning and best practice.