Local community housing projects and charities are being urged to put their case forward as Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, makes £500,000 available in each region to help make a difference to communities across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East, the North West & North Midlands and the West of England.
The Society is inviting applications for grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 for housing projects that will support the most vulnerable in local communities.
Ella Brock Smith, Social Investment Manager at Nationwide said: “In 2007, our members voted for us to donate at least one percent of our pre-tax profits to good causes and asked that we focus on tackling housing issues. We recognise there is a housing crisis, resulting in many people living in unsuitable, insecure or unaffordable accommodation. So, to help make a real and lasting difference, we are aiming to make £5.5 million available in grant funding for housing-related charities and organisations across the UK per year.
“We are delighted to open the local application process and encourage housing related charities and organisations to apply so that each region can collectively benefit from one of the £500,000 awards that is available to communities across each of the six regions, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East, the North West & North Midlands and the West of England.”
Community Boards, which comprise of Nationwide members and employees, will review all the grant applications and award grants of up to £50,000. The Boards and Nationwide branches within each region will also be providing time and expertise to these charities.
So far Nationwide has awarded £4 million in grants to more than 100 projects and will be investing £5.5 million in housing projects across the UK per year. The programme is being delivered with support from the UK Community Foundations programme, the national network for all accredited Community Foundations across the UK.
Nationwide is now inviting applications for housing community projects in these six regions until 5 July 2019. Full details can be found at www.nationwide.co.uk/communityfunding or in local Nationwide branches in these regions.
About Nationwide
Nationwide is the world's largest building society as well as one of the largest savings providers and a top-three provider of mortgages in the UK. It is also a major provider of current accounts, credit cards, ISAs and personal loans. Nationwide has around 15 million customers.
Customers can manage their finances in a branch, via the mobile app, on the telephone, internet and post. The Society has around 18,000 employees. Nationwide's head office is in Swindon with administration centres based in Northampton, Bournemouth and Dunfermline. The Society also has a number of call centres across the UK.
