Aims and activities
Aims and questions
Aims and activities
Lightning Reach is a free one-stop online grants portal transforming how people in financial hardship access support. It enables charities and public sector institutions to get financial support from various sources to the people who need it most, quickly and securely. This includes grants and other support available from charities, local councils, social tariffs and more.
The portal launched at the end of 2021, and has so far been used by over 100,000 people and facilitated over £10m in grants to individuals through its partners.
Some support partners administering grants through the portal include the Royal British Legion, Teaching Staff Trust, Lambeth Council, PA Housing and Charis. In addition, the Lightning Reach portal has over 2,500 support schemes which individuals can be matched with and signposted to based on their circumstances and needs.
The portal's been co-designed by the Social Innovation Council, an initiative bringing together a key group of organisations that provide support to individuals, and aims to:
- Enable individuals (and support workers assisting them) to find and apply for support across multiple providers quickly, easily and securely
- Utilise innovative technology (e.g. open banking and ID verification) to help organisations reduce paperwork and fraud
- Streamline processes by facilitating coordination across organisations, to reduce duplication and transform the user experience
- Use data and insights across the ecosystem to identify gaps and deliver personalised, data-driven support over the longer term
Lightning Reach is also funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Big Issue Invest, Fair4All Finance and other funders - and has been featured in The Sun, The Guardian, The Big Issue and other media.
How to get involved
We would love to work with the following organisations to expand and shape our next phase:
- Funders who provide grants to individuals (or are open to doing so) to link in with the portal and expand the range of support available to individuals
- Funders who provide grants to organisations, who are open to supporting smaller organisations to adopt innovative new technology and trial the portal
- Organisations involved in the ecosystem of providing advice, support or other practical assistance to individuals in need of financial support, who can provide input into the development of the portal or refer people who may benefit from it.
To discuss or find out more, please contact Ren Yi Hooi (Founder and CEO).
You can also sign up here to receive Lightning Reach’s newsletter to receive updates about the project’s progress, insights and upcoming events.
Who's involved
Who was involved
Who was involved
We have collaborated with a cross-sector group, including a number of grant-making charities, local authorities, housing providers and other ecosystem institutions to develop the portal through our Social Innovation Council.
Some of the support partners using the portal to administer grants include the Royal British Legion, RAF Benevolent Fund, ABTA LifeLine, Teaching Staff Trust, Electrical Industries Charity, Racing Welfare, Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, Lambeth Council, PA Housing and Charis.
We are also working closely with a number of partner organisations who signpost people to the portal for support and assist digitally excluded clients to use the portal, including TSB, Edinburgh Council, National Energy Action and more.
