National Lottery Community Fund - Bringing People Together

Description
Large grants are available to voluntary and community organisations in the United Kingdom for projects that will build stronger connections across communities, and improve the infrastructure and conditions that are needed to strengthen these connections.

Current Status
Open for Applications
Maximum value:
£ 300,000
Objectives of Fund
The programme seeks to fund ideas that enable communities to thrive by creating the conditions, infrastructure and social fabric that enable better and longer lasting ways of bringing people and communities together. This will be achieved by supporting:

Bold and experimental responses to bringing people together using new, or new combinations of approaches.
New projects or projects that build on existing work.
A range of projects reflecting a mix of communities and places from across the UK.
Value Notes
Grants of up to £300,000 are available, for up to two years.

It is expected that up to 20 awards will be made for the 2021/22 period.

Who Can Apply
Applications will be accepted from:

Registered charities.
Community Interest Companies (CICs).
Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs).
Community Benefit Societies.
Co-operative Societies (if it has a not-for-profit clause and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority).
Voluntary or community organisations.
Statutory bodies (including town, parish and community councils).
Companies limited by guarantee (if it has a not-for-profit clause or is a registered charity).
Groups of organisations, as long as they are led by an eligible organisation.
Organisations must have at least two people on their board or committee who are not related.

The fund is interested in bold and experimental responses to bringing people together using new, or new combinations of approaches. All projects will need to:

Have a clear equality, diversity and inclusion focus.
Deliver across at least two countries in the UK.
Demonstrate they can learn and adapt as they go.
The fund is keen that projects reflect a mix of communities and places from across the UK, and is particularly keen to:

Support projects led by - or supporting - people and communities who have been disproportionality affected by COVID-19.
Support projects that are open for everyone and can show what proactive action has been taken to ensure any potential barriers for participation will be addressed - particularly for disabled people, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and people who are seeking asylum or are refugees.
Support projects that will connect with each other, and share approaches and learning.
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:

Individuals.
Sole traders.
Retrospective costs.
Organisations focused on making profits and sharing these profits privately - including companies limited by shares, organisations without the right asset locks, or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders.
Organisations based outside the UK.
Applications made by one organisation on behalf of another.
Schools.
One-off celebratory events and projects that are focused on service delivery without any clear longer-term sustainability or evidence of impact.
Projects that are exclusively transferring their activities to deliver online.
Place-based activities which are exclusively focused on a community space or hub in one area and do not deliver across a minimum of two UK countries.
Projects that cannot show how the wider community has informed its design and development.
Statutory activities and activities that replace government funding.
Loans, endowments or interest.
Paying someone else to write the application.
Political activities, including lobbying.
Fundraising activities.
VAT.
Alcohol.
Religious activities.
Eligible Expenditure
Bringing People Together funding is intended to support projects that focus on one or more of the following priorities:

Build connections across communities, not just within existing communities.
Support and explore what is needed to connect communities and enable stronger collaboration to bring people together and keep people together - community infrastructure such as networks, shared resources or coordinated approaches, or supporting infrastructure organisations that support the work of other groups.
Focus on creating longer-term change.
Explore what best practice and new approaches to bringing people together look like since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Bring people together around climate action in communities.
Build collective action and strengthen communities' own abilities to have control, influence and agency on the things that matter most to them (collective efficacy).
Eligible costs include:

Staff costs.
Development work (testing new ways of working, staff training and development, developing governance, tech or IT upgrades/purchases, sharing learning).
Transport.
Utilities/running costs.
Volunteer expenses.
Equipment.
Capital costs (however, these costs should not be a significant amount of the proposed budget).
Costs associated with delivering a project bilingually in Wales, such as translation costs.
How To Apply
Applications may be made at any time while funding remains available.

Funding proposals can be submitted using the online application form on the National Lottery Community Fund website or applicants can send an email or video to their regional funding officer (details are on the National Lottery Community Fund website).

Organisations invited to the next stage will then be contacted by the National Lottery Community Fund to discuss the next steps of the application process.

For more information visit https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/bringing-people-together