Martin Lewis: money saving expert and finance guru offering MSE Charity winter funding grants - how to apply

• The MSE Charity is offering grants of up to £10,000 to support financial skills projects
• Funding aims to help people improve their financial capability for both present and future circumstances
• The two-stage process starts with an online Eligibility Quiz on Monday 13 January 2025
• It is open to non-profits running money management workshops, volunteer training, and similar activities

Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity has announced it is launching its winter funding round this month, offering grants of up to £10,000.

The aim of the MSE Charity is to “fund the delivery of activities that improves people's ability to become more financially capable in their present and future circumstances.”

The application process for the grants - which will be awarded to non-profit groups and organisations that “help people to improve their money skills” - begins on Monday 13 January.

How to apply

To streamline the process for applicants and ensure only appropriate applications are submitted, the charity has implemented a two-stage application process.

To begin, hopeful applicants must complete MSE Charity’s online Eligibility Quiz to confirm their organisation meets the charity’s general funding criteria. The quiz is the quickest way to determine if your organisation qualifies for funding.

If eligible, you’ll then be invited to submit a brief Outline Proposal form to tell the charity about your organisation and your proposed financial capability project.

Only organisations that successfully complete the Eligibility Quiz will gain access to the online Outline Proposal form.

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The Grants Advisory Panel will then review outline proposals in February, and all applicants will be notified whether they are invited to proceed to Stage 2 by Friday 28 February 2025.

Once the Grants Panel has reviewed your outline proposal, shortlisted applicants will be invited to complete a full application form. This will require more comprehensive information, including:

• Details about your organisation
• The project, including evidence of need, planned activities, and expected outcomes
• The team's relevant experience
• Supporting documents, such as a detailed project budget, your latest accounts, and a recent bank statement

All funding decisions will be notified by Wednesday 7 May 2025. For more information on the application process, head to the MSE Charity’s website.

Which organisations are eligible?

The easiest and quickest way to find out whether your organisation might be eligible for an MSE Charity grant is to complete their Eligibility Quiz.

But the charity has outlined a number of example activities that it might fund on its website:

• Money management workshops - understanding the basics, how money works in the UK, online banking, staying financially safe, household budgeting, how to generate and supplement low incomes.
• Training volunteers to deliver workshops or to provide peer support to others.
• Upskilling existing staff to access financial capability training to support their clients directly.
• Provide access to financial inclusion activities for people who are disadvantaged in any way such as by age, disability, ethnicity, or gender.

The charity has also listed some examples of activities it can’t fund:

• Debt Advice -if more than 75% of the project costs you require are for this activity
• Welfare Benefits and Income Maximisation advice - if more than 75% of the project costs you require are for this activity
• Job readiness skills - if more than 75% of the project costs you require are for this activity
• Animal care / therapy projects
• General Counselling / mental wellbeing type projects
• Day-centre activities not focused on financial capability skills
• Projects based outside of the UK
• Hardship or emergency cash funds
• Contributions to building funds or other capital costs
• Professional eg. accountancy or business enterprise courses or training

For more information on organisational eligibility, head to the MSE Charity’s website.

Have thoughts on this opportunity or ideas for projects that could benefit from the funding? Share your insights in the comments section.