National Lottery funding available for diverse communities following £1.2 million boost for Windrush 75 – let’s spread the word!
The National Lottery Community Fund have been in touch with us to help spread the word about funding opportunities available this year, following a £1.2 million boost to Windrush 75 projects in 2023.
Whether you are applying for funding for the first time or you are an established community organisation, The National Lottery Community Fund wants to make the application process as simple and supportive as possible to give you the best chance of success.
Here is a short summary of their open funding programmes with grants on offer from £300 to £5 million!
National Lottery Awards for All
The National Lottery Awards for All programme is for everyone and is National Lottery funding at its simplest. Groups can apply for grants from £300 to £20,000 and projects can run for up to two years.
It can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
1. Bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
2. Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
3. Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
4. Support people, communities and organisations facing more demands and challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis.
This funding is here for every community in the UK – focussing on communities experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage – reaching more than 90% of UK wards last year (financial year 2022-23) through 11,300 grants.
Here is a short guide that will help you strengthen your application and avoid some common pitfalls. Visit your local National Lottery Awards for All webpage to find out more: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Reaching Communities England
Reaching Communities England awards grants over £20,000 for up to five years, supporting projects that work to make positive changes in their community.
It can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
1. Bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
2. Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
3. Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.
The National Lottery Community Fund has dedicated teams based in the communities they serve. Visit the Reaching Communities England webpage for contact details for your local funding team and to find out more.
Visit your local funding page to see grants over £20,000 available in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The UK Fund
The UK Fund is The National Lottery Community Fund’s exciting new funding programme.
In a nutshell, they’re on the lookout for ambitious projects that connect diverse communities across the UK and want to hear from those that:
1. Strengthen relationships between people whose experiences of life have not been the same. For example, relationships between people of different ethnic backgrounds, generations, occupations or geographies
2. Create connections between online and offline worlds
3. Help make sure people from all backgrounds can shape the future of their communities.
Grants available are between £500,000 and £5 million for up to ten years. The programme has £20 million of funding available and they are looking to fund in the region of 15 projects over the next year.
Watch this pre-recorded webinar outlining key information about the programme, read this blog for examples of projects likely to be funded, and visit The UK Fund’s webpage to learn more about the programme and how to apply.
Professor Patrick Vernon OBE, Convenor of the Windrush 100 Network, says: “It was fantastic to see £1.2 million of National Lottery funding go out to communities across the UK last year to commemorate Windrush 75. The National Lottery Community Fund wants to continue supporting a diverse range of groups to access life-changing funding and we urge communities to check out these opportunities available.”
If you have any questions or want to know more, please contact The National Lottery Community Fund’s friendly and approachable Advice Team on 0345 4 10 20 30 or general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk. They’ll be delighted to hear from you and to help!