Oxford’s community groups and organisations have benefitted from £478,500 of funding over the past year, thanks to Oxford City Council’s Community Impact Fund.
In total, 158 community projects have received funding from the Council over the past year as part of the Oxford Community Impact Fund, which provides funding to community groups, organisations and individuals to deliver programmes for wider community benefit.
In addition, the past year saw a significant increase in applications, with over 20% of grants being awarded to new projects within the city.
Oxford Community Impact Fund
In 2022, Oxford City Council created the Community Impact Fund in order to find better ways of supporting community groups and individuals to deliver projects for wider community benefit.
The Council aims to support its four priorities through the Community Impact Fund grants: support thriving communities; enable an inclusive economy; pursue a zero carbon Oxford; and deliver more, affordable housing.
The Community Impact Fund aims to provide further support for community groups to deliver projects and initiatives through three types of grants.
Three-year grants for Big Ideas
The three-year grants, known as Big Ideas grants, allocated £338,000 to support a wide range of organisations and projects across the city. These grants enable organisers to run long-term or repeat projects.
In 2023, 36 organisations were funded through the Big Ideas grant, including African Families in the UK (ADiUK), Arts at the Old Fire Station, Asylum Welcome, Barton Community Association, Donnington Doorstep Family Centre, Elmore Community Services, Fusion Arts, Good Food Oxfordshire, Makespace Oxford, Oxford Hub, Oxford Youth Enterprise. Parasol and Refugee Resource.
Other beneficiaries included Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground, Cowley Road Works, Mandala Theatre Company, My Life My Choice, Oxfordshire Science Festival (IF Oxford), Oxford Pride, Sanctuary Hosting, the Young Women’s Music Project, Wood Farm Youth Centre and more. The full list can be seen on the Oxford Community Impact fund page on Oxford City Council’s website.
Small and Medium Grants
£84,000 is given each year in Small and Medium Grants of up to £5,000. The funding is split into three rounds of applications through the year.
In 2023, 94 projects were funded through the Small and Medium Grants scheme, including Barton Community Association, Damascus Rose Kitchen, Be Free Young Carers, EMBS Community College Ltd, MyVision Oxfordshire, Oxford Community Action, Oxford Mutual Aid, and more.
Match My Project
Despite the Community Impact Fund, accessing funding is very competitive and the availability of funding is declining whilst needs are continuing to rise.
To help address this, earlier this month the Council joined forces with Match My Project to launch a “matchmaking” platform for businesses and charitable organisations looking to partner up and do good in the city.
On Match My Project Oxford, community projects can post resource requests for anything they need – including funding – and businesses can offer to fulfil them. The initiative aims to help address the decline in the availability of external funding and the impact this will have on the delivery of community projects within the city.
Community Impact Fund 2024/2025
Applications will open in early January 2024 for the 2024/25 Community Impact Fund.
For more information, please email grants@oxford.gov.uk.
“We are proud to be supporting community groups across the city, and are extremely grateful for their hard work and passion. Our Community Impact Fund aims to directly help these groups and it is great news that our grants have been able to support local communities and groups during these challenging times.”
Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council
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