National Lottery Community Fund - Bringing People Together

Aims/priorities: 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.

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.

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.

Grant amount: Grants of up to £300,000 are available, for up to two years.

Application process: 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.

Deadline: Applications may be made at any time while funding remains available.

Contact information: Bringing People Together Enquiries - Tel: 0345 4102 030, Email: bringingpeopletogether@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Website address: www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Applicants: 
Organisations
Amount: 
over £25,000
Status: 
Live
Structure: 
Charitable Company
CIC
CIO
Partnerships and Consortiums
Registered Charity
Social Enterprise
Funding Theme: 
Covid 19
Community