What is the Fairer Futures Fund?
Launched in 2022, the Fairer Futures Fund will see a total £22.2m being allocated to new community-based innovative projects across Birmingham and Solihull with funding being distributed up until the end of the 2026/27 financial year.
The Fund forms part of our strategic vision to radically transform how health and social care services are delivered in Birmingham and Solihull, integrating services so they are delivered as close as possible to citizens’ homes and shifting our focus towards preventing ill-health.
It funds projects either led by or run in collaboration with the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector that will support our efforts to reduce inequalities in health. Projects are diverse and are being delivered at a grassroots level in the heart of communities – focused on those most underrepresented and underserved who are often facing disparities in health.
Our Birmingham and Solihull Place Committees - made up of representatives across the NHS, local authorities and the VCFSE sector - have responsibility for allocating these funds. Their specific remit is to act with autonomy and ensure decisions are made strategically, locally, and in the best interests of the health and care needs of the local population.
Birmingham Fairer Futures Fund
Birmingham Place has been allocated £18.5m of Fairer Futures Fund. In December 2022 Birmingham Place Committee agreed that Birmingham’s allocation of the Fund be managed as a number of sub-funds, to enable funds for both citywide and locality-based activity, in the form of small grants and larger amounts of partnership funding.
In September 2023, the Place Committee agreed proposals for the priorities, structure and management of those sub-funds:
Birmingham City-wide Small Grants Fund - £2.46m
- Addresses health inequalities experienced by Communities of Identity/Experience who are spread across the city.
- Up to £15k per annum for 3 years. Applications are welcomed irrespective of delivery period, subject to the upper limits of 3 years and £45,000.
- Targeted at the Voluntary, Community, Faith & Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector.
- Application window closed on 12th July 2024, with application outcomes notified in October/November 2024. There may be further Citywide Small Grants Fund opportunities in the future.
- Click here to find out more about the Birmingham City-wide Small Grants Fund.
Birmingham City-wide Partnership Fund - £5.74m
- Addresses health inequalities experienced by Communities of Identity/Experience who are spread across the city.
- A catalyst for statutory & voluntary sector partnership.
- Large-scale interventions.
- Application window for Expressions of Interest closes on 6th January 2025 at 17:00 (5pm), with outcomes expected at the end of January 2025. The application window for full proposals will be open between 27th January to 28th February 2025.
- Click here to find out more about the Birmingham City-wide Partnership Fund
Birmingham Locality Small Grants Fund - £2.46m
- Addresses health inequalities experienced by Communities of Place within the five localities in Birmingham (North, West, East, South and Central). For projects to be delivered within the locality.
- Up to £15k per annum for 3 years. Applications are welcomed irrespective of delivery period, subject to the upper limits of 3 years and £45,000.
- Targeted at the Voluntary, Community, Faith & Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector
- Application window closes on the 9th January 2025 at 17:00 (5pm), with outcomes expected in March 2025.
- Click here to find out more about the Birmingham Locality Small Grants Fund
Birmingham Locality Partnership Fund - £5.74m
- Addresses health inequalities experienced by Communities of Place within the five localities in Birmingham (North, West, East, South and Central). For projects to be delivered within the locality.
- A catalyst for statutory and voluntary sector partnership.
- Large-scale interventions.
- A VCFSE lead has been appointed in each locality to progress the development of a business plan for the use of the fund in the locality.
- Click here to find out more about the Birmingham Locality Partnership Fund
West Birmingham Locality Partnership Fund
- This fund has now closed
Evaluation
For all of the sub-funds listed above, projects will be expected to have a clear rationale for how they will achieve the change in health outcome proposed.
The Birmingham City Council Public Health toolkit will be used across the programmes to measure outcomes. In December 2023, Birmingham’s Public Health Team hosted a series of webinars to provide information and advice on measuring impact. Recordings of these can be found on the Birmingham Public Health YouTube channel.
Birmingham Measurement Toolbox
The Birmingham Measurement Toolbox introduces standardised demographic questions, as well as 13 standardised impact measures. You can use the questions from the impact measures toolkits and the demographic questionnaire in the toolbox to help you understand if different interventions are more effective for different groups.
Please note that whilst there may be projects for which the measurement toolkit is not appropriate (such as those that aim to work indirectly with the public e.g. through training and connecting), these will nonetheless require robust evaluation measures.
Grants Awarded in Birmingham
You can find more information about different projects in Birmingham that have recently received funding from the Fairer Futures Fund in Birmingham below.
Projects all support efforts to reduce health inequalities at a grassroots level in the heart of communities.
Solihull Fairer Futures Fund
