Grants of up to £10,000 are being made available to charities to ramp up their digital capabilities.

The Sector Challenge Programme is part of the Covid-19 Digital Response Fund and is being run by technology charity CAST, design charity Shift and digital cooperative Dot Project.

Through the programme charities will work alongside a digital partner to improve their digital, design or data capabilities.

These are aimed at four areas where support has been affected by the pandemic: financial wellbeing; mental health; sexual abuse and domestic violence. The challenge will see three charities selected to work in each area, bringing the total supported to 12.

The Covid-19 Digital Response Fund is managed by the National Lottery Community Fund and Catalyst, an initiative set up to boost the charity sector’s digital development

According to Catalyst the programme aims to advance skills and knowledge through learning from experts. It also aims to enable sharing of good practice across the charity sector and involve charities in the design of services that effectively support communities.

Applications opened this week and close on 27 November. Successful applications will be notified the week of 14 December and project work will begin on 11 December until 26 March.

Covid-19 has accelerated a move to digital among charities this year. This includes pivoting in-person fundraising online as well as ramping up cyber security as more charity staff work from home.

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