MenuUK Community Foundations is delighted to be working in partnership with our Community Foundation members to deliver the Tampon Tax Community Fund.
We will be working with community groups and charities who deliver projects that support women and girls to build skills and confidence, improve their health and wellbeing, and build social networks.
A key focus will be funding preventative work to reduce the risk of crisis at different life stages. This may be by helping women and girls get into or back work, raising awareness about health issues, or by creating and developing peer networks.
We will be making grants of between £5,000 and £10,000. Applications to this fund open on Monday 17th September 2018, grants are available through our network of local Community Foundations. To find out which local Community Foundation to apply to, please review this list of Local Authority areas against Community Foundations
Our network page on our website has contact details of all Community Foundations running this programme.
Examples of the types of organisations that will be funded include the Young Women’s Project, which encourages young women to make the transition back into education, employment or training. It’s aimed at vulnerable women between the ages of 12 and 21 who experience various difficulties including low confidence, mental health issues, homelessness and teenage pregnancy. Another is a project that delivers structured training in the construction industry. This is aimed at women with little or no experience in the industry who face additional barriers such as caring responsibilities or financial disadvantage.
Shona Blakeley, Development Manager at Women’s Fund for Scotland who are working with UK Community Foundations, said: ‘Since receiving the Tampon Tax funding in 2016, we have been able to make a difference to the lives of 18,000 women in Scotland. The new funding will have a much wider reach than those it seeks to support, and will also have a positive effect on families and the wider community.’
The Tampon Tax Fund allocates funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to projects that improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls.
Contact grants@ukcommunityfoundations.org for further information.