Live Well Havering Community Chest
The Live Well Havering community chest funds local projects supporting health and wellbeing in Havering!
What is the Community Chest?
We have £80,000 in funding from NHS North East London ICB’s Health Inequalities Fund to fund local projects. We are distributing this money through our Community Chest.
Local groups can bid for up to £5,000 (£10,000 if you can make a very special case) to run a community project in Havering that meets the following criteria.
- It improves residents’ wellbeing - on any topic that impacts wellbeing, from health checks, to cost of living support, to loneliness and isolation and more.
- It aims to tackle health inequalities - they work with residents pre-disposed to having health and wellbeing challenges.
- It fills a gap in the borough - there isn’t a similar project already running.
The Havering Community Chest 2025/26 opened for bids on 1 May 2025 but has now closed. We are reviewing applications and will be contacting the applicants in due course.
The criteria
We are looking for projects that improve residents' wellbeing, aim to tackle health inequalities, and fill a gap in the borough.
You can bid for new or existing projects.
Projects can be a one-off/series of events or a project lasting a number of months. We can’t fund materials alone; they must be linked to a project.
Organisations must have an income of less than £500,000 to bid.
Groups must be one of the following.
- A registered CIC
- Registered CIOs
- Company limited by guarantee
- Cooperative
- Community Benefit Society
- Constituted group/organisation
- A collective of local residents who have come together to make a bid
Groups are welcome to join up to bid together if they wish - contact us to be put in contact with like-minded organisations.
Groups must be running their project in Havering for Havering residents.
Groups can submit multiple bids, but each group will only get funding for one project.
Groups need to already have a good relationship with the audience they wish to work with/have a plan of how to reach their audience.
Groups can bid for up to £10,000 for a very special case. You will need to justify why £10,000 is needed. This will only be awarded in exceptional circumstances.
Groups/projects must pass due diligence. This will be project-specific, and we can talk through what this looks like for your project if it is a concern.
How decisions will be made
It’s important that we deliver meaningful, purposeful projects that our communities influence and shape. This year, we are shifting to a community-led model.
The Live Well Havering team will check that the bid meets the criteria to be shortlisted to the community panel stage.
Then, successful applicants will be invited to present their project to a community panel.
The Live Well Havering team will carry out due diligence to ensure the projects are realistic, achievable, and safe, and the community panel will assess the presentations. The panel is made up of community champions, like volunteers, advocates, frontline staff and people with lived experience of health inequalities.
We have sought as many diverse lived experiences as possible to make sure it is fair.
Some voluntary sector champions are on our panel. They will be able to bid for the fund, but will not be involved in any discussions about their own bid.
Stage 1: Expression of Interest, May - July 2025
Groups were invited to apply on the online portal.
We know that written bids are not accessible to everyone, so you could submit a written application or a video.
The application had to answer some questions:
- What project are you planning on doing?
- Why are you doing it?
- Why is it needed?
- Where are you doing it?
- How much money do you need and what will you spend it on?
- What difference will this project make for local people?
- How are you going to reach your target audience?
Groups also indicated whether they would be able to provide essential documents, such as a constitution and safeguarding policy.
Applications closed on 30th June 2025. The Live Well Havering team and the Community Panel read and processed the bids in July 2025.
Stage 2: Due diligence, August - September 2025
Successful applicants have to provide essential documentation by 12th September 2025:
- A constitution
- A bank account in the group's name
- Safeguarding policies
- An appropriate level of insurance
- A project plan, risk register, and budget - using this template
- x2 professional references
These documents will be reviewed and assessed by the Live Well Havering team, who will also be carrying out due diligence.
We will be assessing:
- Quality of plan: does your plan make sense, are the aims achievable, is their clear accountability, are risks mitigated?
- Budget: Is the budget reasonable for the project being planned and are all expenses accounted for? Will this project be successful with this budget?
- Impact: how will you track the impact of this project? How will you present the impact?
- Are you best-placed to run this project: Do you have the experience and qualifications to run this project?
As soon as these documents are submitted and approved, you will be invited to book a slot at our community panel on 15th or 16th of October.
If there are any concerns, or you are unable to provide any of the documents at this stage, you will not move forward to the community panel.
We are here to support you through this process. You can find resources to help you get your documents together on our website. Remember, if you want to apply for funding in the future a constitution, bank account, and safeguarding policy is crucial. Therefore, we recommend starting to get these documents in place even if they won't be ready in time for the community chest.
Stage 3: Community Panel, October 2025
The community panel will take place in October 2025.
The community panel will not know about your project before they meet you, as different panel members were involved in shortlisting.
So, it's important to explain the aims and impacts of your project on the day.
The panel will score your presentation according to the following criteria:
- What project would you like funded and how will it positively impact the wellbeing of residents?
- How can this impact be measured and is it realistic?
- How are you listening to what residents need to create your project?
- How will you engage with your audience and get residents to attend your group?
The scores will be added together and each project will be ranked. The funds will then be distributed according to the rank of the project - starting with the highest scorer and working down the list.
This means if we recieve funds to top-up the community chest, the next project on the list can be allocated a grant.
Stage 4: Delivery and impact
Successful applicants will get their funds in November/December 2025.
You will be invited to meet with the Live Well Havering Team to decide how to track the impact of your project.
We will also arrange a visit to see your project in action!
