More than a roof grant programme

Thank you for taking the time to read this guidance for the More Than a Roof Grant Programme. We hope you will find this information useful and that your questions and queries are answered.  If not, please do get in touch with us on grants@centrepoint.org and we will be more than happy to assist.

Vulnerable young people arrive at supported accommodation following a period of rough sleeping, a breakdown of their family relationships, and a myriad of other traumatic experiences. The room they are given may be the first safe bed they have ever had. But all too often those rooms feel institutional and unwelcoming.

It is vital that supported accommodation feels safe and secure. Somewhere where young people escaping homelessness can finally relax, and start to overcome the trauma of the past. Centrepoint will enable our 100 plus partner charities to access funding to implement the More Than a Roof philosophy, through a new grant giving scheme. Youth homelessness organisations have the opportunity to apply for grants to make the rooms more homely.

The More Than A Roof Grants Programme will enable young people to feel that their room/living space is more of a home for them.

Please ensure your proposal meets the following outcomes:

• Young people feel positive about living in their room 
• Young people feel that living in the room benefits their wellbeing, in terms of feeling happy in an organisation’s accommodation
• There is an increase in the organisations resources to transform the rooms of young people

All applicants need to be a member of Centrepoint Partnering Scheme, registered with Charities Trust, and meet one of the following criteria:

• Constituted group - e.g. the organisation has a constitution document that governs it but may not have charitable or company status 
• Not-for-profit company or Community Interest Company
• A registered charity

In addition:

• Applicants must also have a bank account in the name of their organisation and at least 2 years of annual accounts audited or signed by financial officer or treasurer

We cannot accept applications from the following:

• Organisations that do not directly provide accommodation to homeless young people
• Organisations who provide accommodation for under 3 months to homeless young people (see FAQ’s for further explanation)
• Individuals
• Sole traders
• An organisation applying on behalf of another organisation.

We can fund

This grant is for the provision of items (see below) for a young person aged between 16 and 25 years old who has a room or shares a room with one other person in a partner organisation’s accommodation. 

The items that can be purchased are:

• Soft furnishings - e.g. curtains, cushions, rugs, bedding, bean bags
• Electrical goods – e.g. Lamps, lights, toasters, kettles
• Decoration – etc. pictures, plants, clocks, ornaments, mirrors

This list is not exhaustive but please check with us if you are unsure.

We cannot fund

• Beds, Mattresses, furniture i.e. wardrobes, chest of drawers or large white goods such as fridges TV’s, paint or any permanent changes to the room (see FAQ’s section for a fuller explanation as to why we will not be funding such items in this round of funding) 
• Salaries of staff or organisational running costs
• Religious activities (we can fund faith-based organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content)
• VAT you can reclaim
• Cash that will be given directly to individuals
• Procurement of infrastructure, premises or rent
• Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants

If you have any questions around your organisation or group’s eligibility based on the above, please get in contact with us at grants@centrepoint.org.

The period for which you must spend the grant funding is from signature of grant agreement between the organisation and Centrepoint until 31 March 2025. 

• Applications should be submitted via the online form and the required attachments emailed to grants@centrepoint.org by 5pm, 16 September 2024
• Organisations will hear the outcome of their applications by 14 October 2024
• Organisations will be expected to spend their funding by 31 March 2025

Apply now

All applicants will undergo due diligence checks by Centrepoint to assess if they have the basic financial and organisational policies and processes in place. These include areas such as; safeguarding, information security and fraud prevention and adequate financial management processes.

We have a simple application form that applicants will be asked to complete. This includes organisational details and asking applicants to identify the number of young people they will support and the number of rooms refurbished. Applicants are also required to include a calculation for turnover of young people within the grant period so that they can provide new residents with soft furnishings of their own. 

Centrepoint wants to ensure that the following criteria is met:

• To enable as many organisations within the Partnership (who have accommodation) to benefit from funding
• To ensure a balance between small and larger organisations receiving funding
• To ensure that the distribution of funding is balanced geographically
• Agreement from the organisation to report against the fund’s outcomes at the end of the grant period

This criteria could mean some applicants do not receive funding or only a proportion of the funding they applied form in this round but could apply for subsequent rounds. 

We anticipate that the average value of the grant will be between £2,000 and £5,000.

Successful applicants will be expected to provide a project and financial report at the end of the project.

The report will ask organisations to provide a short summary of how they felt the funding contributed to the outcomes of the More Than a Roof - Grant Programme and report on the expenditure of the grant funding.

Organisations will also be asked to:

• Undertake a short questionnaire with the young people regarding whether they felt the grant met the stated aim and outcomes of the fund
• Submit anonymised demographics data on the young people benefiting from the funding
• Submit copies of all receipts relating to grant expenditure

At the end of the report, organisations will be able to share lessons learned or insights which will help Centrepoint to shape future funding rounds.

Q – Will this be the only opportunity to apply for funding?

A – No. The funder has indicated the intention to fund for 3 years if there has been satisfactory progress made, the grant programme meets its outcomes and they are happy with the overall progress that Centrepoint has made on the other programmes funded by the funder. By taking a cautious approach we hope to achieve the outputs for the first year whilst at the same time making it as simple and straightforward for partner organisations to receive funding. 

Q – Why does the grant not fund short term and emergency accommodation i.e. under 3 months?

A – During our consultations with partners and colleagues in Centrepoint we concluded that in practice it would be difficult for these organisations to fulfill the requirement to purchase items, settle young people in and gain feedback from them in such a short time frame. Grant making is also a new thing for Centrepoint so for the first round of funding we want to take a cautious approach, learning and further consulting on how future rounds of funding can accommodate young people in short term accommodation, e.g. move on grants.

Q - Why won’t the grant programme fund furniture and larger white goods/electrical items etc. as they are also needed by young people particularly as they move on from supported accommodation?

A - The consultation with partner organisations and young people showed that there was consensus on the impact and value of soft furnishings etc. for young people feeling more at home in their room. However the consultation also showed that such things as white goods etc. would also be useful but present some hurdles for organisations for example, installing and removing furniture if the young person is to take it with them. We want to explore how we can extend the fund to these items as much as possible in future rounds of funding. 

Q - Why is the fund not giving the option to obtain money to purchase soft furnishings etc. at the time a young person moves on into their own accommodation?

A - We heard in the consultation how ‘move on’ grants would be really useful for some partner organisations and some young people. However, we also recognise that obtaining feedback from young people becomes more difficult if they move on from supported accommodation. As stated above, we want to explore how to make ‘move on’ grants available, accessible and easy to report back on, in future rounds of funding.

Q – We are a large organisation and if we apply for all the funding we need, will our application be rejected because of cost?

A - One of our criteria is to ensure that there is a balance between large and small organisations receiving funding. However, all applicants should ask for what funding they need. Centrepoint may come back to an organisation to ask them to reduce the total amount they requested but they will not be rejected just because they requested the full amount.

Q - We provide emergency accommodation (hostels) but also deliver the service for older looked after care leavers on behalf of our county council. These are longer term stays (1-2 years), and total 29 young people at any one time. Would we be eligible to apply for these young people? 

A – Yes, you would be eligible to apply for those young people 16yrs – 25yrs and not in emergency accommodation.

Q – We have young people in supported lodgings would we be eligible to apply?

A - We are prioritising organisations who provide supported accommodation (i.e accommodation that is owned or managed by the Partnering member) as this is where we feel the greatest impact can be achieved. However, supported lodgings projects (over 3 months in hosts homes) are welcome to apply and we will make decisions on these applications once the supported accommodation applications have been assessed.

Q - We would like to apply for multiple sites, is this allowed?

A - Yes, organisations are able to apply for multiple sites. If applying for multiple sites, your organisation should still only submit one application form and request the funding required to cover all of the sites they are applying for.

Q - We are not VAT registered, can we use the grant funds to cover the VAT component of the items purchased under the More Than a Roof Programme?

A - If your organisation is not VAT registered, VAT costs incurred in the purchase of eligible items will also be considered eligible expenditure. If you are VAT registered and will reclaim the VAT from HMRC, you may only claim the net amount (excluding VAT) as eligible expenditure.

Q - We are not registered with Charities Trust. Where do we go to register?

A - It is a requirement of the funder that organisations that receive funding under the More Than a Roof Programme are registered with Charities Trust. If you are not currently registered with Charities Trust, you can register via this online form for free. Once Charities Trust has reviewed your submission, they will email you to confirm if your organisation has been added.