We’re really pleased that you’re thinking about applying for funding from ACT to help ensure that every patient at Addenbrooke’s experiences the best possible outcome and the highest quality of care available. We hope that these FAQs give you enough information to make your application but if you’re unsure about the process, or you have a question that isn’t covered here, please get in touch with us at: fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk
Where do I apply for funding from ACT?
Applications for ACT funding should be made through our ACT funding portal which can be found at https://act4addenbrookes.smartsimpleuk.com/
Currently, you can use the ACT funding portal to apply for ACT grants. Requests to spend from ACT charitable funds should continue to be made using our Charitable Expenditure Request Form.
How do I apply for funding from ACT?
Contact us
If you have an idea or project in mind that you would like to discuss, please contact the Charitable Expenditure team via email at fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk
We’ll get in touch to let you know the most appropriate funding source for your idea.
If we think your application is suitable for funding, we will direct you to the most appropriate funding route. This may be a departmental charitable fund, our grants programme or, in some cases, a CUH funding source might be more appropriate.
Visit our ACT funding portal
- We will direct you to our funding portal if you are applying for a grant. If it’s the first time you’ve used our portal, you’ll need to register your details. You only need to register once.
OR
- Complete a charitable Expenditure request form. If you are requesting to spend from a charitable fund, please complete the request form and return to fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk
What types of projects and activities does ACT support?
ACT funds projects, activities and research that benefit patients across Addenbrooke’s, The Rosie and beyond. Applications for ACT funding should demonstrate:
- what the benefit is to patients
- why your application isn’t considered a core NHS cost or NHS funding responsibility.
Does ACT provide funding for staff?
Yes, ACT can provide funding to staff where there’ll be a direct patient benefit or a contribution to patient benefit. Examples of this could include initiatives to improve staff wellbeing or morale and support for learning and development.
ACT does not fund social events for staff, including Christmas parties. This is because such activity is not equitable across CUH, for example, there are cases where a department might not have a charitable fund, or a fund might have an insufficient balance.
What type of funding is available from ACT?
We provide funding through five funding streams:
| Our charitable funds | Patient benefit grants (professional Advisory Committee) | Innovation grants | Research grants | Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowship Scheme |
| ACT holds individual charitable funds for many of the departments in the hospital. | – These are grants made through the Professional Advisory Committee, specifically to support patient benefit. – Grants are usually awarded for projects of up to 2 years. Typically, grants of up to £40,000 are made. | These grants are made by the Innovation for Patient Benefit grant panel to support new and innovative ways of providing health care. – Typically, grants of up to £25,000 are made. | – These grants are made through the Research Advisory Committee to fund research projects. – ACT is particularly interested in projects which act as a catalyst to further research or that bridge temporary funding gaps. | – ACT runs a fellowship scheme with the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and The Evelyn Trust. – The scheme awards grants at the entry point to the clinical academic training pathway. – Fellowships are available for healthcare professionals, both medical (trainee doctors who are post FY2) and non-medical (nurses, midwives, AHPs, Healthcare Scientists). – Grants cover a year of salary and consumables, enabling fellows to gain experience and collect pilot data with the aim to apply for a full PhD. |
When can I submit or make an application and when will I hear the outcome?
This depends on the funding stream you are applying through:
Our charitable funds | Patient benefit grants (professional Advisory Committee) | Innovation grants | Research grants | Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowship Scheme |
| – You can contact us or submit an application at any time. – For applications under £5,000, we aim to let you know the outcome within 2 weeks. – For applications over £5,000, we aim to provide an initial response within two weeks but full approval can take up to three months depending on the value and complexity of the request. | – You can submit an application at any time. – The Professional Advisory Committee meets quarterly to review full applications and then makes recommendations to the Charitable Expenditure Committee. – Visit our webpage to find the application deadline for each quarterly meeting and details of when you can expect to hear back. | -You can submit an application at any time but full applications are considered twice a year by the Innovation for Patient Benefit grant panel. – Successful applicants are invited to present their ideas in person to the panel, who then make recommendations to the Charitable Expenditure Committee. – Visit our webpage to find the application deadline for each round and details of when you can expect to hear back. | – You can submit an application at any time. – The Research Advisory Committee meets quarterly to review full applications and then makes recommendations to the Charitable Expenditure Committee. – Visit our webpage to find the application deadline for each quarterly meeting and details of when you can expect to hear back. | – Applications are considered once a year. – Visit our webpage to find the next application deadline and details of when you can expect to hear back. |
I’m not sure whether my department has a charitable fund, what should I do?
ACT holds individual charitable funds for many of the departments in the hospital. Each fund has at least two Fund Advisors who authorise funding requests. Your Operations Manager or their deputy or your lead nurse should be able to let you know whether there’s a fund for your department, who the relevant Fund Advisors are and how you can get your funding request approved by Fund Advisors.
You can also email us at: fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk if you’re not sure.
Approval to use charitable funds
Approval must be sought from ACT before committing charitable funds for any purpose. This approval will be provided in the form of a grant letter for any amounts of £5,000 and above, or by email for amounts below £5,000. This approval is necessary to ensure the proposed expenditure is compliant with ACT’s charitable objects and charitable expenditure policy. ACT has an obligation to ensure that funds are spent in line with charity law and is ultimately accountable to the Charity Commission. It is vital, therefore, that ACT maintains good governance around all of its charitable expenditure. ACT’s charitable expenditure policy is available on our Introduction to Funding webpage.
My department does not have a charitable fund, or the fund does not have sufficient balance, what should I do?
We encourage applications for high quality projects regardless of the availability of departmental charitable funds. You do not need a departmental charitable fund or a sufficient fund balance to apply to ACT for funding – please email fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk to discuss ideas and projects with our team as we still might be able to help.
Who needs to authorise my application in CUH?
If applying for funding from a departmental charitable fund, you should have the approval of one of the fund advisors if the value is up to and including £500 or two fund advisors if it’s over £500.
Applications of £1,000 and above require approval from your Associate Director of Operations (ADO). This is the same as if you were requesting CUH expenditure. Any applications of £50,000 and above require the approval of your divisional board.
The full approval thresholds are set out below:
Note that for research grants, if your application is for an amount greater than £25,000 you should discuss with the Chair of the Research Advisory Committee prior to making your application. Please email fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk with any questions.
If you are applying for a fellowship through the Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowship Scheme you should ensure your application is reviewed and endorsed by the academic lead for the directorate or department in which your research will be undertaken. If you are non-medical staff and applying for a fellowship, your application should be endorsed by your line manager.
ACT-funded expenditure needs sign-off and approvals in exactly the same way as if it was NHS-funded. For applications of £5,000 or more, further ACT approvals are needed. ACT must approve expenditure before you make a commitment to pay or place an order.
Important: Pre-approval from CUH does not guarantee funding approval from ACT. We strongly recommend that you do not incur any costs on the assumption that your application to ACT will be successful. If your application is rejected, we cannot reimburse costs that have already been incurred.
Does anyone else in CUH need to approve my application?
It is your responsibility to ensure the project you are seeking funding for conforms to relevant CUH compliance requirements, examples include:
| Arts | All projects that incorporate art in any way should be discussed and endorsed by the Addenbrooke’s Arts Programme. Please attach evidence of the Programme’s endorsement to your application. You can contact the Addenbrooke’s Arts Programme at: natalie.ellis22@nhs.net |
| Medical equipment | All medical equipment must be approved by Clinical Engineering. Please attach evidence of Clinical Engineering’s approval to your application. If you are asking ACT to fund equipment that will need to connect to the IT network, store patient information (including images), then ACT also requires evidence of agreement from the ehospital team. You can contact Clinical Engineering at: adam.armstrong@nhs.net |
| Estates and Facilities | Any project that affect the material structure of the hospital estate must be approved by the Estates and Facilities department. Please attach evidence of Estates and Facilities’ approval to your application. To contact Estates and Facilities for approval, please email Rachel Northfield at: Rachel.northfield3@nhs.net If you are seeking funding to improve a patient or staff area, please contact ‘Our Place’ in the first instance to make them aware of your ideas and to see what CUH funding might be available. To contact ‘Our Place’ please get in touch with: cuh.ourplace@nhs.net |
| Fire Safety | All projects must be compliant with CUH fire safety requirements. Evidence of fire safety compliance may be required with your application if it is for certain items, for example, wall hangings or soft furnishings. If you have any queries about fire safety requirements, please contact the Fire Team at: cuh.firesafetyteam@nhs.net |
| Infection control | All charitable expenditure must be compliant with CUH infection control requirements. Evidence of infection control compliance may be required if your application is for certain items, for example, wall hangings or soft furnishings. If you have any queries about infection control requirements, please contact the Infection Control team at: cuh.infectioncontrol@nhs.net |
| IT | If you are seeking funding for IT hardware, you should first contact the eHospital team to ask for their approval and to check that the hardware cannot be CUH-funded. We are unable to approve applications that are not explicitly endorsed by eHospital so please attach evidence of their approval to your application. The contact details for the eHospital team are: Claire Tolliday: claire.tolliday1@nhs.net Ari Ercole: ari.ercole@nhs.net James Gingell: james.gingell@nhs.net |
This is not an exhaustive list so if you need any guidance on CUH compliance requirements, please speak to your Operations Manager or their deputy, or your lead nurse.
My department has a charitable fund, why do I have to apply to ACT to use it?
ACT is a registered charity dedicated to supporting innovation in patient care across Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and serves as the legal custodian of the charitable funds received for this purpose. We have an obligation to ensure that funds are spent in line with charitable expenditure policy and Charity Law – this is why an applications process is necessary. ACT’s charitable expenditure policy is available on our Introduction to Funding webpage.
We love hearing your ideas for making Addenbrooke’s even better and supporting you in providing the best patient care possible – we approve the majority of applications, but some are not approved if the patient benefit isn’t clear, or if the expenditure is considered to be a core-NHS cost.
What is the monthly apportionment charge that appears on my fund statement?
The monthly apportionment charge serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides funding for our annual grants programme, supporting patient benefit, research, innovation and clinical fellowship grants. Applications for these grants can be made by any staff member in any department. Secondly, the charge is used as a contribution to ACT’s governance and running costs, helping to ensure the financial sustainability of the charity.
What types of income can ACT accept?
ACT only accepts voluntary income. This means income that has been fundraised or donated. We are not able to accept any payment for services, including training, events, reports and examinations. Monies received in lieu of services (including corporate sponsorship, speaker fees etc) should be paid to the organisation who has provided the service.
All donations to ACT, regardless of their source or origin, become the responsibility of the charity and can only be spent in line with ACT’s charitable objects and charitable expenditure policy.
My question isn’t answered here
Please get in touch with the Charitable Expenditure Team with any unanswered questions at fundsandgrants@act4addenbrookes.org.uk