Final round of tampon tax fund launched

21 May 2021 03:40 PM

Charities can now apply for funding to support projects helping thousands of women and girls across the UK, as part of the latest and final round of the Government’s Tampon Tax Fund.

• £11.25 million to be made available for charities working with disadvantaged women and girls
• Threshold for applications reduced to £350,000

A pot of £11.25 million has been made available to charitable organisations to bid for, with priority given to those working to end violence against women and girls, as well as organisations that support a network of charities.

For this round of funding, the grant threshold has been reduced from £1 million to £350,000. This means that more organisations will be able to apply, increasing accessibility to organisations that support this vital work.

The Tampon Tax Fund was introduced in response to VAT being imposed on sanitary products by the European Union, and following this round will have provided more than £90 million of funding supporting women and girls charities.

As per the government’s manifesto commitment, the Chancellor announced at the Budget in March 2020 that the tax would end on 1 January 2021 following the UK’s exit from the EU, as part of a wider government strategy to make sanitary products affordable and available for all women.

Minister for Civil Society and Youth, Baroness Barran, recently said:

The Tampon Tax Fund was launched in 2015, and since then has reached disadvantaged women and girls across all four nations, tackling an extremely wide and diverse range of issues.

The support provided through this final round will ensure specialist charities who receive grants can support women and girls in need, and help to become more sustainable and plan for the future.

We remain as committed as ever to ending violence against women and girls which is why this category is a priority for this round of funding, and we will continue to tackle the issue as a priority.

The government is particularly encouraging applications from specialist women’s networks whose projects include making onward grants to other women’s’ charitable organisations. This will make use of the expertise in the charitable sector, ensure this round of funding reaches as many disadvantaged women and girls as possible and help the country to build back better following the pandemic.

Grants may be for 12 or 18-month projects, and all activities must be concluded and funds spent by 31 March 2023.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 4 July 2021.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart recently said:

The UK Government’s Tampon Tax Fund has supported charities right across the UK, including Rape Crisis Scotland, with vital work to help women and girls.

The lower grant threshold for this final round of applications will ensure that even more charities can access funding. I’d strongly urge Scottish charities working to support disadvantaged women and girls to apply.

Guidance for applicants

Notes to Editors:

• Charities and organisations supporting disadvantaged women and children have received funding through the £750 million package supporting the voluntary sector during the coronavirus outbreak, including £200 million for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund.
• DHSC have their Call for Evidence open to inform the first ever Women’s Health Strategy.
• The Home Office is committed to preventing domestic abuse:
• Last year we launched a new public awareness raising campaign highlighting that if anyone is at risk of, or experiencing domestic abuse, help is still available.
• The Government also gave over £28 million to domestic abuse organisations to help them to deal with the pressures of the pandemic.
• We committed £10 million in last year’s budget (2020/21) to continue to support innovative new approaches to preventing domestic abuse. We allocated £7.17 million of this funding to Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to fund implementation of the Drive Programme and other programmes delivered to perpetrators of domestic abuse in the community.
• For the year 2021/22 we have an additional £25 million to fund work on domestic abuse perpetrators and expand perpetrator programmes.
• We have paid more than £27 million to domestic abuse organisations to date to help them to deal with the pandemic, including keeping helplines running and vital support services open.
• In addition to the £40million Victims Fund support for specialist services.
• In 2021-22, we will provide just under £151m for victim and witness support services. This includes an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding from this financial year to help domestic abuse and sexual violence services meet Covid-driven demand.