Supporting people in socially and economically deprived areas of North East England

About The North East Economic Inactivity Trailblazer VCSE Small Grant Programme

The North East Economic Inactivity Trailblazer VCSE Small Grant Programme (the Fund) will provide grants to charities and voluntary groups for new and innovative projects that help residents who are economically inactive and living in Mission Critical Neighbourhoods (see below). Projects will help people to move into work, education, or training by responding to local needs, including through activities that improve health and wellbeing.

All funded activity must be complete by 31 March 2026 and grantees will be expected to attend at least one online session to share learning and insights to inform future programmes and activities. Grantees will also need to collect and share data from their work, including details of residents participating in the programme.

Who can apply

Applications can be submitted by voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations that fit our standard eligibility criteria and:

• have an annual turnover of no more than £1.5 million
• are based and working within the region
• demonstrate an understanding of the Mission Critical Neighbourhoods

Grants will support activity that helps residents of Mission Critical Neighbourhoods identified in the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON) and listed in the full guidance Trailblazer Full Guidance – 20 August 2025

Please contact us if you are unsure or have any questions.

What we will fund

Grants of between £40,000 and £70,000 for five months are available.

The Fund can support a broad range of projects and activities that helps residents who are economically inactive and living in Mission Critical Neighbourhoods move closer to, and into work, education or training. Economically inactive residents are individuals who, for whatever reason(s), have not been looking for work for the last 4 weeks, and who are not available to start work in the next 2 weeks.

Examples of activity include:

• Community engagement, reaching out/engaging with those residents across their neighbourhoods who are economically inactive. This could be in person or via digital engagement.
• Providing wrap-around support to enable residents to move closer to mainstream provision. This could include upskilling staff to provide additional advice, extending support to new areas out-of-hours or digital support.
• Promoting to all residents the importance of work to help people to live healthier and more independent lives. This could include activities such as work-experience, mentoring and coaching.
• Enhanced activity to support residents with poor mental health and well-being challenges. This could include mental health first aid training for staff, as well as direct support to individuals which builds on social prescribing models, or exploring new ways to measure wellbeing as part of service delivery.
• Providing referral pathways for residents into current employment support provision. This could include preparing participants to access services e.g., navigating transport options
• Building relationships with and between local services. This could include activities like building local provider forums, communication channels or generally engaging with different services.
• Developing resources and tools which help residents to respond to identified local needs. Activities could include developing a local transport map, service directory, health and wellbeing tools or case studies which promote education and employment opportunities, co-designed with local residents.

How to apply

Please complete our online Expression of Interest (EoI) form available via the call for applications on our grantee portal.

Your EoI should:

• demonstrate your understanding of the issues in Mission Critical Neighbourhoods, how your project will address them and the aims of the Fund
• include your previous and/or current experience of working with communities in Mission Critical Neighbourhoods
• provide a realistic number of beneficiaries you feel you can support between November 2025 to 31 March 2026
• confirmation that you are able to collect, secure and share the data outlined in the data collection spreadsheet Template Trailblazer Project Data collection form
• include a detailed budget for the activity, including contributions to core running / management costs for the organisation (up to 15% of the total grant)

The budget can be included in the EoI or uploaded as a separate document

If you are based or working in the Co Durham area you must apply through Point North Community Foundation: Grants | Point North

Monitoring and reporting

In line with the ‘test and learn’ principles of the Trailblazer programme, the Fund aims to capture and share insights from delivery that improve understanding of innovation within the VCSE sector.

Successful applicants will need to collect data from their work, including details of residents participating in the programme. Data will need to be collected and shared monthly with the Community Foundation/Point North.

Please see the full guidance document for more information on monitoring and reporting Trailblazer Full Guidance – 20 August 2025

When will we find out if we have been successful?

Timeline is as follows:

• 10 September 2025 – fund closes for applications
• October 2025 – applicants notified of the outcome and grant offers sent
• November 2025 – delivery begins
• November to March 2026 – monthly data monitoring to be submitted
• 31 March 2026 – delivery ends and all grant funds spent
• April 2026 – end of grant monitoring must be provided