What is the Big Lottery Fund?
BIG is responsible for distributing almost half of
the money that the National Lottery raises for good
causes.
Our mission is to bring real improvements to
communities and the lives of people most in need.
We want to use Lottery money to make changes
for communities with a particular emphasis on
tackling need
What will Awards for All fund?
Awards for All projects must help to achieve at least one
of BIG’s outcomes:
• people having better chances in life with better access to
training and development to improve their life skills
• stronger communities with more active citizens working
together to tackle their problems
• improved rural and urban environments which
communities are better able to access and enjoy
• healthier and more active people and communities
What does this approach mean?
You need to think about:
- What are the needs of the people you want to
help?
- What changes do you want to make to the lives
of the people you want to help?
- Are those changes the main aim of your
project?
- How will those changes help achieve one or
more of the four Big Lottery Fund outcomes?
Some recent Awards for All grants in
Braintree
£2,683 to Earls Colne Friendship Club to provide outings for members
enabling older people to meet up on a regular basis thus reducing
isolation
£10,000 to Colne Engaine Parish Council to purchase play equipment
creating an enhanced local environment
£10,000 to Halstead and Colne Valley Scout Council to provide toilets,
storage and shelter at their campsite enabling greater use of the site
£1,552 to Prail Court Tenant’s Association in Coggeshall for seating, a
Wii and TV to enable group activities thus reducing isolation
£6,000 to Kelvedon and Feering Pre-School to create an outside
covered play area improving play opportunities
£10,000 to Stisted Parish Council to replace unsafe play equipment and
provide play equipment for children with disabilities thus extending play
opportunities
Who can apply to Awards for All?:
You can apply if you are a:
• voluntary and community organisation
• school
• parish or town council
• health body
You can apply if..
You have:
• at least 3 unrelated people on your governing body
• a UK bank account in the name of your organisation with
at least two unrelated signatories
You can:
• send BIG an application at least three months before
your project is planned to start
• complete your project within one year of when BIG
confirms your award
How much you can apply for?:
• Between £300 and £10,000
• Only one application at a time
• One Awards for All funded project needs to be completed
and the End of Grant report approved before you can
apply again
• One organisation cannot receive more than £10,000 of
Awards for All grants in any one year period
• No match funding requirements within grant limit
What Awards for All can pay for:
Examples of what a grant could pay for:
• equipment hire or purchase
• information technology equipment
• building and refurbishment work
• sessional workers
• updating equipment and premises for health and safety reasons
• training
• volunteer expenses
• transport costs
• venue hire
Building projects and Awards for All
• BIG will only fund non-recoverable VAT.
• Any planning permission needed must be in place before
making an application.
• For building projects, applicants must own their own
freehold or hold a lease that will continue for at least five
years.
• Total costs of building works must not be more than
£25,000 (including VAT).
Awards for All cannot pay for:
• Activities that happen or start before BIG confirms the
grant
• Day-to-day running costs
• Existing activities and repeat or regular events that are
less than 3 years old
• Items that mainly benefit an individual
• Building and refurbishment work costing more than
£25,000 (inc. VAT)
Awards for All cannot pay for:
(continued)
• Salaries of permanent or fixed term staff
• Projects or activities that the state has a legal obligation to
provide
• Political or religious activities
• Routine repairs, maintenance and replacement
• Fundraising activities
• Used vehicles
Application process:
You read our guide
You send us your application
Online or by
post
We let you know our decision
30 working
days
You send the documents we ask for
20 working
days
We confirm the grant
10 working
days
You start your project
Things to double-check:
• Is the name of your organisation on your application form,
bank account and governing document exactly the same?
• Are you asking for an item or activities that Awards for All
can fund?
• Have you filled in all sections of the form?
• Does your main contact know all about your project?
• Will your main contact be available during the assessment
and grant confirmation period?
The figures
During the period 1 April 2011 to 30 September 2011:
492 Awards for All applications were received from the
East of England
290 (59%) received an offer of funding
Of those not offered funding:
35% did not link to at least one programme outcome
25% asked for something we could not fund
11% did not provide adequate evidence of need
Improving your chances
BIG scores applications to help decide who should be
funded. Applications will score higher if they:
• show strong evidence of need
• seek to involve as wide a range of people as possible
• meet more than one of our outcomes
• are from groups that have never received an Awards for
All grant
• are from groups with a smaller annual income
• are for smaller projects
Showing the need
Community consultation through meetings and surveys
Waiting lists and attendance records
Identifying gaps in facilities, activities or services –
talking to other agencies
Statistical research (but keep it local)
Looking at local, regional or national strategies
Evaluation of previous projects and pilots
Involving as wide a range of people
as possible
Think about who you want to benefit from your project
How will you ensure that people will know about your
project and how to benefit from it?
Think about the barriers that may stop people using your
project e.g. disability, literacy
Are there groups who traditionally do not take part – can
you think of ways of involving them?
Explain how you will promote and publicise your project so
as to encourage participation by everyone you want to
benefit
Which of our outcomes will your
project meet?
Which of the four BIG outcomes will your project help
achieve?
Only pick outcomes you can justify
Remember to relate outcomes to identified need:
e.g. if you pick the outcome ‘healthier and more active
people and communities’, what evidence do you have of
poor health in people or your community
Do you need more than £10,000?
Reaching Communities programme
- Open to voluntary and community sector and the statutory sector
- Grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 for revenue costs and
£10,000 to £50,000 for capital costs
- Maximum project size: £750,000 (£200,000 capital)
- Projects seeking more than £300,000 revenue must be exceptional
- Funding period between 1 and 5 years
- Can fund new and existing work
- Rolling programme: can apply at any time
- 2 stage application process
- Minimum decision time: 3 months Max: 5 months
- No match funding required within award maximum
Village SOS
- Open to rural villages of 3,000 people or less
- One entry per village
- Project must be a community business
- Kick-start grants of between £10,000 and
£30,000
- Closing date: 20 October 2011
- Website: www.villagesos.org.uk
- Helpline: 0845 434 9123
Further information and advice
Website:
www.awardsforall.org.uk
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Phone: BIG Advice Line 0845 4 10 20 30
Text phone: 0845 6 02 16 59
Ed Hickman:
01223 449032
[email protected]
Other Lottery distributors:
Arts Council England:
www.artscouncil.org.uk
Heritage Lottery Fund: www.hlf.org.uk
Sport England:
www.sportengland.org
Lottery funding:
www.lotteryfunding.org.uk
QUESTIONS?