Where other departments have unwisely chosen to scrap grant programmes, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have continued theirs and recently announced four new funds. They opened the funds on 11th May and the closing date for applications is 8th June. All applications must be submitted through Bravo Solutions, which is an online ‘sourcing portal’ that allows you to submit your bids to deliver the work.

All four grants are designed to encourage voluntary organisations ‘to pilot, develop and test to provide a proof of concept’ in different areas. In this round the funds are looking at violence amongst young black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in prison as well as resettlement for BAME people back into the community, services for people with learning disabilities and autism, and better understanding the needs of people with Acquired Brain Injury or Traumatic Brain Injury.

More information on each fund can be found below.

• £153,000 to develop a whole prison approach to working with young, violent offenders, particularly those from a BAME background - link to Contracts Finder
• £70,000 to improve services for offenders with learning disabilities and autism, and to provide access to expert advice to support sentence planning to improve outcomes - link to Contracts Finder
• £203,000 - understanding and meeting the needs of individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in English and Welsh male prisons and Welsh approved premises - link to Contracts Finder
• £99,000 - reintegration support package for integration into the community for BAME offenders leaving custody after a long term prison sentence - link to Contracts Finder

Clinks will advertise these opportunities to our members and beyond because we believe that voluntary organisations have the creativity to respond to the challenges we face in our prisons and in our community services. We will also continue to advocate that HMPPS continue to grant fund the voluntary sector, and will advise on future grant funding rounds.

Clinks remains a supporter of the Grants for Good campaign hosted by the Directory for Social Change, a coalition of charities which believe in the huge value of government grant-making to the voluntary sector and which aims to protect it.

If you have any questions about the grant funding please email MoJCommercialReset@justice.gsi.gov.uk