The Administration of the Covid 19 Third Sector Resilience Fund

There are currently over 32,000 third sector organisations operating in Wales. Many of these organisations have been crucial to helping our communities deal with the impacts of the pandemic. However, the pandemic has impacted on the ability of many of these organisations to continue to deliver services because of their reduced ability to e.g. fundraise. The pandemic has placed many of our third sector organisations in a precarious position. For this reason, in April 2020, the Welsh Government launched its Third Sector Resilience Fund (administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action) as a “fund of last resort” to help viable third sector organisations survive. The pandemic served to highlight that there were some existing frailties amongst a significant number of third sector organisations that means they are not as sustainable or resilient to system shocks as they could be. For this reason, in September 2020, the Third Sector Resilience Fund evolved to include funding elements that allowed organisations to improve and diversify how they operate to become healthier organisations. Since April, this fund has had a steady stream of applications totaling over 10 million GBP (at February 2021). The draw on this funding is likely to continue into financial year 2021/22 as funding options for the sector further diminish. The Welsh Government has committed at least a further 2.25m GBP of funding to answer this need during the financial year 2021/22. The Client wishes to contract the effective administration of a grant fund for third sector organisations with a primary focus on being a “fund of last resort” to ensure viable third sector organisations survive, but also incorporating an element that allows grant funding for third sector organisations to put themselves on a more sustainable footing. The fund will be open and accessible to all parts of the third sector, but will particularly targets awareness raising at parts of the sector working with people and communities with protected characteristics. It will fund activity that will leave a lasting legacy within the organisation and will not simply support a period of delivery. It will be a Wales wide fund tailored to the voluntary sector that complements other funding/support (from government and non-government sources) options available to them, and maximise the impact/effectiveness of this funding. This is not a large funding pot – the client wants to find creative ways of maximising its impact. The Client does not want the fund to duplicate provision offered elsewhere, or for any ‘double funding’ to take place. The fund will have minimum grant pot to administer of 2.25m GBP over 1 year – but with the possibility of an increase in the size of the grant pot and an extension in the life of the grant.