Funding
This section briefly summarises various sources of funding which may be available to support your project as well as provides some useful hints and tips which all organisations should consider before assembling a project and funding application.
Section 1 � Sources of Funding
This is only a general guide for information, and changes may occur at anytime to any of the funds listed. If you wish to make an application to any of them you are strongly advised to research each one fully to see if you are eligible before making an application.
Awards for All
BBC Children in Need
Bernard Sunley Charitable Trust
Big Lottery
Biffa
Camelot Foundation
Coalfields Regeneration Trust
Comic Relief
Community Chests
Community Champions Fund
Co-op Group Community Dividend Fund
Community Investment Fund
Foundation for Sport and the Arts
Hedley Foundation
Help Yourselves!
Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales
Local Network Fund for Children and Young People
National Sports Foundation
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Percy Bilton Charity
Peter Harrison Fund
Princes Trust
Sportsmatch
Tesco Charity Trust
Variety Club of Great Britain
This is a lottery grant scheme aimed at local community groups, clubs, leagues and voluntary associations. It awards grants of between £300 and £10,000 to support projects, which enable people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, as well as projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.
Web site: www.awardsforall.org.uk
It aims to positively change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, including those who are affected by illness, distress, abuse or neglect, disability, behavioural or psychological impairment to those living in poverty or situations of deprivation. It provides grants to organisations that are not for profit and work with disadvantaged children and young people.
Web site: www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey
The foundation does not publish specific areas of interest but grants usually fall into particular categories such as community, youth, health, leisure, welfare and education. Only registered charities can apply for funding with no limit set on the size of grants.
Web site: no web site available but contact details available on request.
The Big Lottery Fund replaced the New Opportunities Fund and National Lottery Charities Board, which made grants under the Community Fund. It is responsible for distributing half of the money for good causes raised by the National Lottery and bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need. It covers health, education, environment and charitable purposes, with open grant programmes available to support various voluntary and community organisations.
Web site: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Biffa is a landfill tax credit funded scheme, which offers three levels of support including the small grants scheme, main grants scheme and flagship scheme. The small grants scheme, provides grants between £250 and £5,000 to enable communities to improve local amenities and conserve wildlife, and the main grants scheme which provides grants between £5,001 and £50,000 to improve community facilities for sporting achievement, lifelong learning and community involvement.
Web site: www.biffaward.org
Launched in 1996 by Camelot Group Plc, operator of the National Lottery. Its funding programme - �Transforming Lives� wants to develop new approaches and creative ideas for re-connecting marginalised young people to the mainstream of UK life. Priority groups include young parents or those at risk of becoming young parents, young exiles newly arrived in the UK, young people with mental health problems, and young disabled people.
Web site: www.camelotfoundation.org.uk
The trust awards grants across British coalfields and runs the following grant programmes; Bridging the Gap � for requests between £500 and £10,000, and Main Grants � for requests between £10,000 and £300,000 in England and £10,000 and £100,000 in Scotland and Wales. The main funding themes include supporting communities, learning communities, enterprising communities, and supporting people into work with applications being welcome from new or existing groups and organisations who are contributing to the regeneration of coalfield areas and communities.
Web site: www.coalfields-regen.org.uk
Comic Relief operates 3 grant programmes within the UK including the Red Nose Day Programme, Sport Relief and Robbie Williams� Give It Sum Fund. Sport Relief is the most applicable for a sport related project with funding spent in two ways including large grants through the Young People & Conflict Programme and small grants through the Community Foundation Programme. The Conflict Programme aims to support projects working to reduce tension and conflict and tackle divisions between young people using inclusive sports activities. The Community Foundation Programme provides small grants of up to £5,000 to support projects that use sport and exercise to strengthen communities and provide opportunities for people who are excluded or disadvantaged.
Website: www.comicrelief.com
Community Chests offer small grants of up to £5,000 to community groups for projects to help them renew their own neighbourhoods. The community chest programme focuses on the most deprived neighbourhoods and marginalised groups such as BME, youth to enhance community provision and deliver community activities.
Website: www.communityfoundations.org.uk
This fund can provide grants of up to £2,000 to encourage more community activity and involvement in regeneration by funding individuals working on community projects who will in turn pass on their skills to others in the community.
Website: www.dfes.gov.uk/communitychampions
The fund supports projects that benefit local communities. Community and voluntary groups as well as charities can apply for funding up to £5,000 to support projects that benefit the local community, around issues such as combating crime and anti-social behaviour, promoting education and improving health for disadvantaged groups.
Website: www.co-operative.co.uk/en/communityfund/
The Community Investment Fund is the National Lottery funding available through the 9 regions in Sport England. It aims to increase participation in sport amongst priority groups, identified by the regional sports boards. The majority of funds will be committed to targeted projects with some available for community projects through an open process. The projects that receive funding will be required to provide significant increases in sports participation and demonstrate integration with health, education and community development.
Website: www.sportengland.org
The Foundation distributes money donated by Littlewoods Gaming into a wide range of sports and artistic causes and supports a wide range of activities where there is clear beneficial impact across the community. The Foundation�s main goal at this time is to encourage active participation by young people, where an average award of up to £40,000 will help to create or maintain facilities and opportunities for the general community or will assist arts or sports provision.
Website: www.thefsa.net
The foundation aims to assist and encourage development and change. Only registered charities can apply with most grants being capital or one off in nature. The main objective is young people including their education, training, health and welfare as well as disabled people and the terminally ill.
Website: www.hedleyfoundation.org.uk
This was created by Save the Children and British Gas and aims to support adults and young people working together. Grants are between £1,000 and £3,000 for projects and activities that help children and young people who are excluded and isolated as well as those living in areas of deprivation.
Website: www.helpyourselves.org.uk
This fund makes grants of up to £10,000 to recognised charities to help people, especially those who are disadvantaged or disabled, to play a fuller role in communities. It supports charities, which contribute to community life, and aims to promote capacity building and strategic and collaborative working with the voluntary sector.
Website: www.lloydstsbfoundations.org.uk
This fund can provide grants up to £7,000 to help disadvantaged children and young people aged 0 � 19 years by investing directly in the activities of local community and voluntary groups. The fund encompasses four themes including aspirations and experiences, economic disadvantage, isolation and access and children�s voices.
Website: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/strategy/localnetworkfund
A government led initiative designed to encourage partnerships between private investors and not for profit organisations to deliver community sports projects. There are three priority areas for funding including Fit for Sport, 2012 Kids, and Women Into Sport. A minimum of £50,001 of sponsorship is required which would be matched on a pound for pound basis by the foundation.
Website: www.nationalsportsfoundation.org
Eighty-eight most deprived areas are receiving additional resources through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. This is a targeted grant that can be spent in any way that will tackle deprivation in the most deprived neighbourhoods to improve services, narrowing the gap between deprived areas and the rest of the country.
Website: www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
This is a grant making trust, which makes grants to support organisations and individuals in need throughout the UK. Registered charities assisting disadvantaged youth, people with disabilities and older people may apply for a grant towards capital expenditure.
Website: www.percybiltoncharity.org.uk
The fund has various grant programmes available but the Opportunities through Sport, a nation-wide programme open to registered charities throughout the UK is best placed to support a sports related project. This programme aims to support sporting activities or projects, which provide opportunities for people who are disabled or otherwise disadvantaged to fulfil their potential and to develop other personal and life skills.
Website: www.peterharrisonfoundation.org
The Princes Trust Group Award provides small grants between £1,000 and £5,000 to disadvantaged young people aged 14 � 25 years to set up projects that will make a real difference, to life in the local community.
Website: www.princes-trust.org.uk
Sports match is government funded to support the development of grass roots sport in England. It makes awards to community organisations running new projects aimed at increasing participation in sports at community level by matching commercial sponsorship money up to £50,000 invested in community sport on a pound for pound basis.
Website: www.sportsmatch.co.uk
Community awards are available to benefit local organisations whose core work supports children�s education and welfare including special needs schools, children and adults with disabilities and elderly people. Awards are one off donations and range between £1,500 and £5,000.
Website: www.tesco.com/everylittlehelps/csrcharitiesdetail.htm
The Variety Club Children�s Charity aims to help sick, disabled and disadvantaged children and young people up to and including the age of 18 years, who are resident within the UK. Applications can be made from non-profit making groups working with children including statutory bodies such as schools and hospitals and registered charities.
Website: www.varietyclub.org.uk
Section 2 � Hints and Tips
This section provides ten useful hints and tips when developing your project and applying for funding.
- Be clear and concise about what the project is why it is needed and what it will achieve. Try to continually emphasise the main benefits of the project throughout the entire application process from the initial telephone enquiry to post funding project evaluation form.
- Ensure that your project is well thought out and SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timescaled) in every way to have a good chance of securing funding.
- Raise as much match funding as possible through general fund raising and contributions made by other organisations and groups involved. It is normally required for most funding applications, and demonstrates a real commitment to deliver a successful project.
- Involve other groups and clubs in your project where appropriate as this will strengthen and sustain your project in terms of delivery, and links to other projects and programmes.
- Check the eligibility criteria fully before applying to a fund, specifically relating to the type of organisation, which can apply and the type of projects and themes currently being supported. For instance some funds may only be open to registered charities and most are unlikely to fund mainstream school activities.
- Be as innovative and creative as possible and think about the current hot topics and priority areas which will prompt organisations to want to fund your project � try to make your project stand out from other applications whilst ensuring that you can deliver it.
- Consider applying to more than one fund to support different elements of your project. One might only support training with another only supporting a particular target group. Think about how you could break your project up into different elements, which would meet each fund�s requirements.
- Assemble all supporting documentation to be included with your application. Most applications will require a copy of a governing document, and most recent accounts as a minimum requirement. Others will require more information including copies of other policies such as a child protection policy, as well as a more comprehensive project file in some cases.
- The following organisations may be able to provide ideas, as well as advice and support on project development and funding. Also, remember to research funding organisations at a local level as some will only support projects in defined geographical areas
- Central Council for Physical Recreation � www.ccpr.org.uk
- Community Foundation Network � www.communityfoundations.org.uk
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport � www.culture.gov.uk
- European Sponsorship Association � www.europeansponsorship.org
- Learning & Skills Council � www.lsc.gov.uk
- National Association of Councils for Voluntary Services � www.nacvs.org.uk
- National Council for School Sport � www.ncss.org.uk
- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister � www.communities.gov.uk
- Sport England � www.sportengland.org
- UK Sport � www.uksport.gov.uk
- Youth Sport Trust � www.youthsporttrust.org
- Set aside sufficient time to develop your project. It can take time to assemble projects and funding applications and so consider appointing a Consultant to identify funds and assemble applications on your behalf to ensure continued momentum and project delivery. Indoor Sport Services would recommend RMS Sports Consultants on Tel 07970 679357 to provide useful advice and support in this area.