Big Lottery Fund
Islington Reaching Communities Briefing
01/12/2014
Introduction
─ Jane Sterland
─ Funding Officer
─ Early Contact Team
─ Based in Holborn, London
─ Supporting applicants and potential applicants
─ Raising BIG’s awareness of local needs and priorities
Overview of Big Lottery Fund
Big Lottery Fund Mission
“The Big Lottery Fund is committed to bringing real
improvements to communities and to the lives of people
most in need”
Big Lottery Fund
─ BIG is one of four distributors of Lottery funding
─ We are responsible for 40% of all the money raised for
good causes by the National Lottery
─ We distribute £600 million in funding each year
─ 80-90% of our funding goes to community and voluntary
organisations
BIG is an outcomes funder
Your project must meet at least one of these four outcomes:
People having
better chances
in life
Stronger
communities
Improved
rural and
urban
environments
Healthier and
more active
people and
communities
Big’s Funding Principles
─ Partnership
─ User Informed
─ Local
─ Long Term
─ Evidence, Impact and Influence
BIG Funding – Three main themes
Demand led:
—Awards for All (Small grants up to £10,000)
—Reaching Communities (Larger grants upwards from £10,000)
Targeted:
─ Focusing on Early years children, Young people with mental
health problems, Unemployed young people, People with
multiple complex needs, Older people
Social investment:
─ Building Capabilities, Social Investment
Awards for All Programme
─ Small grants scheme awarding £300-£10,000
─ Applications from community & voluntary groups, schools,
health bodies and parish / town councils
─ Single stage application process
─ BIG gives decision within 6 weeks of application
─ Project must be complete within one year of award
Reaching Communities Programme
─ Larger grants scheme awarding grants over £10,000
─ Main programme:
o Revenue projects funding from £10,000 (average £300,000)
o Smaller capital projects funding from £10,000-£100,000
─ Buildings programme:
o Larger capital projects funding from £100,000
o Geographically targeted at most deprived areas
Reaching Communities Programme
─ Very competitive programme – success rate one in ten
─ Applications from community & voluntary groups, charities,
statutory bodies, social enterprises, not-for-profit companies
─ Two-stage application process to identify fundable projects
─ BIG gives decision typically within 8-9 months of application
─ Project can take up to 5 years to complete
Reaching Communities Stage 1
― Stage One asks you to explain your project to us
― Need to clearly state what you want to do, provide strong
evidence of the need for your project and describe the
changes that will result
― We will then decide if your project is one we could fund, and
if so we will send you a stage 2 application form
― Time taken to give a decision is currently about ten weeks,
depending on the complexity of your project and how much
funding you are asking for
Reaching Communities Stage 2
─ Stage Two asks you to explain your project in more detail
─ Opportunity for a telephone interview with a Funding officer
to give advice on completing your application
─ We will want to know more about the need for your project,
consultation carried out, difference your project will make
and detailed budget
― You will have up to 4 months to submit Stage 2 application
― We will then about 8 weeks to assess your application and
may contact you to clarify points
― Decision will then be taken by a grant making panel which
meets twice a month
Preparing to write your
application
Read the Guidelines.....
─ Is your organisation eligible?
─ Do you have required governance in place?
─ Are you asking for funding for a project?
─ Are your project activities suitable for the programme?
─ Would the programme fund your project costs?
─ Can you start / complete your project in the required
timescale?
Research services in your area
─ Is other work being done to support your beneficiaries?
─ Will your project fill a gap in service?
─ Does it support local priorities?
─ Are there any similar projects in your area?
─ What has BIG funded in your area already?
Gather information to support
your case
─ Consult with project beneficiaries – include all groups who
will benefit from your project
─ Involve stakeholders – e.g. schools, doctors, parents,
community representatives, local Council
─ Build your evidence – e.g. surveys, focus groups, results of
pilot projects
─ You will need to show that your project is needed,
supported and will make a difference!
Making a strong case for funding
Now you are ready to start writing
your application.....
Start by defining Need
─ Go back to basics – assume the Grant Officers assessing
your application know nothing about the needs of the
people you are trying to help
─ Quote your sources - make sure all sources of evidence
are listed and dated, and all the information is up to date
and relevant to your project
─ Make a strong case – use a broad range of information and
if in doubt add more rather than less
Why is providing evidence of
need so important?
─ High demand for limited resources
─ Prove that you understand the community and their needs
─ Prove that you haven’t made assumptions
─ Prove the scale of the need your project will address
─ Prove why your project is the best way of meeting the
need you have identified
How much evidence do you need
to provide?
Depends on:
─ The scale of the problem
─ What capacity you have
─ How much funding you are
─ applying for
....... the important thing is to make a strong case
Sources of evidence
‘Soft’ Information
‘Hard’
Consultations
Information
Focus groups
Local statistics
Focus groups
Questionnaires
Questionnaires
Letters
of support
Interviews
Interviews
‘Before and after’ data
Waiting lists
‘Hard’ Information
Local statistics
Census
Strategies and policies
Local & national priorities
Research reports
Deprivation Index
Office for National Statistics
Defining Project Aim, Outcomes
and Activities
─ Project aim – be clear about the purpose of your project –
does it closely reflect the need identified?
─ Outcomes – strong and clear points to explain the change
you want to make for the project beneficiaries
─ Project activities - together should add up to show how
the outcomes and aim will be met
Developing a strong application
Project Need
Project Aim
The overall point
of your project
Project Need
Project
ProjectOutcomes
Outcome
The difference you want to make
or the change you want to bring
about for your beneficiaries
Project Activities
The services and activities you will carry out
to meet the outcomes and achieve the project aim
What BIG is looking for in
applications
What BIG is looking for in
applications
─ Project is appropriate for the programme
─ A good fit with BIG outcomes
─ Strong evidence that your project is needed
─ Proof that your project will make a difference
─ Beneficiaries consulted and involved in all stages of the
project
Real Unsuccessful Applications
─ ‘The outcomes need to focus on the difference that the
project will make to the lives of the beneficiaries’
─ ‘It is unclear from the activities as to what services they
will provide to achieve the outcomes’
─ ‘Evidence of need could be much stronger and is not
dated so it is hard to establish how current it is’
─ ‘The applicant lists the organisations and people they
have consulted but does not provide any dates or findings’
Real Successful Applications
─ ‘Beneficiaries and their needs are clearly identified’
─ ‘A full range of activities has been provided that will
clearly deliver the project outcomes’
─ ‘Varied and relevant external evidence confirms the issues
identified and shows support for the project and gaps in
current service’
─ ‘Beneficiaries involved in management committee, user
group, consultation, project planning and design,
volunteering, recruitment and evaluation’
Tips for Success
• Read the guidelines and use all other help available
• Start by defining need – make it the core of your
application
• Focus on your beneficiaries and the difference that your
project will make to them
• Get a ‘critical friend’ to review your application before
submission
• If not successful first time, ask for feedback and try
again!
Reaching Communities grants
in Islington
Reaching Communities awards in
Islington
―165 Stage 1 applications
―79 invited to Stage 2
―18 Reaching Communities Grants
―Success rate 11.5%
―Total value £4,382,298
―Average grant £243,461
―Also 82 Multi borough awards
Reaching Communities projects
in Islington examples
─ Project to assist adults with learning difficulties to manage their own
health by providing health advocacy, training, support and one to one
health facilitators
─ Project to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable older
people including those with dementia by providing support to help
them to address their own problems
─ Project to reduce social isolation and improve life skills of people with
mental health problems to enable them to become more active and
included in their community
─ Project to improve life chances for disabled people by providing
information service, drop-in advice sessions, case work and home
visits
─
Support and Guidance Available
Support and Guidance Available
─ Big Lottery Fund website: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
─ Programme Guidance Notes
─ Getting Funding & Planning Successful Projects
─ Good Practice Guides e.g. equalities, involving young people
─ Case studies of successful projects
─ BIG Advice Line: 0845 4 10 20 30
─ Email enquiries: general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Reaching Communities website
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Reaching Communities website
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Questions and Comments?