Funding Update - May 2008

HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND
In April, HLF’s third strategy document Valuing our Heritage; Investing in our future was formally launched, though most of the issues have been out in the public domain for a while (see Funding Update September 2007). Two points seem not to have been covered previously. £940m will be available over the quinquennium 2008/2013; £220m in 2008/1009 and £180m per annum in the four years thereafter. Secondly, it should be possible to submit all HLF applications on-line by July; Heritage Grants, Your Heritage and Young Roots should already be up and running by the time you see this Update. www.hlf.org.uk

Also from HLF, is the latest round of Townscape Heritage Initiative which is open for applications till the end of November. This is for partnerships of private, public and/or voluntary sector groups looking to improve built heritage, and offers grants of between £250,000 and £2m. Development grants – requiring at least 25% matched funding – are also available. Applications getting a ‘Stage 1 pass’ automatically qualifies for up to £25,000 of project development funding. http://www.hlf.org.uk/English/HowToApply/OurGrantGivingProgrammes/TownscapeHeritageInitiative

Finally, in recent months HLF seem to have given a fair number of grants to canal-based education and interpretation projects. Even if massive restoration grants look a remote prospect, there is little doubt that HLF still seem to have a bit of a love affair with waterways.

BIG LOTTERY FUND – CHANGING SPACES

In conjunction with Natural England, BLF’s Changing Spaces programme is rolling out a £25m scheme to encourage people to enjoy their natural environment, especially those people who might not otherwise do so. Whether in urban, rural or coastal communities, there is an underlying requirement that successful schemes must bring lasting change to areas of high deprivation, be it social, economic or environmental. Expected to be open for business by late April with a two-stage application process, grants of between £50,000 and £500,000 will be available, though minimum matched funding of between 10% and 30% will be required depending on the project size; this matched funding can be cash and/or in-kind.  www.naturalengland.org.uk/leisure/grants-funding/

Also from BLF, the latest round of People’s Millions was launched mid-March and is open for applications till 15th May (so you will need to move fast).  Throughout each of ITV’s eighteen regions, four awards of up to £50,000 each are up for grabs – awarded according to the number of viewers’ votes - as well as a fifth bonus award (which as one canal scheme in the South West found last year, means you can get more cash as a ‘best runner-up’ than you would as a winner). The aim of People’s Millions is to improve the quality of life for local communities through transforming the local environment, though that has been slightly extended this year to include schemes which provide opportunities, or facilities, for enjoying the local environment.  www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/apply-uk

GIFT AID
The concern raised by many over the reduced ‘take’ from Gift Aid when basic rate income tax dropped from 22% to 20% from 6th April 2008, was addressed in the March budget with transitional supplementary tax relief available to qualifying charities. For the three years to April 2011, charities reclaiming Gift Aid from HM Revenue & Customs on form R68, will get the extra 2%.  There is also a new website www.direct.gov.uk/giftaid which hopes to better promote the use of Gift Aid and payroll giving.

LANDFILL COMUNITIES FUND (LCF)
In the recent budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that for 2008/09, the maximum credit that landfill operators can claim against their landfill tax bill for contributions to environmental schemes would rise from 6% to 6.6%, increasing funding for LCF from £65m to £70m. www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2008/bn81.pdf

WASTE RECYCLING GROUP
Best known for their role as a landfill operator that distributes Landfill Tax Credits through its subsidiary WREN, Waste Recycling Group (WRG) has been running its Communities Challenge scheme for a couple of years, but has just doubled the total pot available to £2m per annum, and widened the eligibility criteria. Grants of between £75,000 and £250,000 are available for the creation or renovation of community facilities, within 10 miles of a WRG site. Such facilities might include parks, village halls, games areas, community woodlands, nature reserves, museums and visitor centres. Applications are considered three times a year with the next deadlines being 18th July (Summer) and 26th September (Autumn). Those used to the concept of having to find a third party 10% contribution on WREN projects will be pleased to hear that Communities Challenge schemes can be funded up to the full 100%. www.wren.org.uk/WRG-challenge

COALFIELDS REGENERATION TRUST
Although, on the face of it, there are a number of canal schemes that might potentially benefit from CRT’s programme of community regeneration in former coalfield areas, this does not seem to have been a funder that many have turned to thus far. Earlier this year, the Department of Communities and Local Government confirmed that it was providing a further £53m of funding over the three years to March 2011 – in Scotland an additional £7.4m is also being provided. Maybe time for those in affected areas to have a re-think ? www.coalfields-regen.org.uk

THE BIG GIVE
In what appears to be a virtual version of The Dragon’s Den, www.thebiggive.org.uk is a website, financed by the Reed Foundation, which acts as a marketplace for wealthy philanthropists, and would-be beneficiaries of their largesse, to meet. The bottom line seems to be that if you have a project of between £100,000 and £10m, anywhere in the world, you can post details on the website. Philanthropists looking for somewhere to spend their money go to the website and look for projects that fit their criteria. A new Board of Philanthropists, comprising 22 high-profile ‘persuaders’ is formally endorsing the site and looking to find new donors to pick up some of the £1bn of projects currently listed.

AGGREGATES LEVY SUSTAINABILITY FUND
Consultation on how ALSF grants might be used over the period 2008-2011 had just closed as this Update was being published. £24m per annum is likely to be available from the scheme over that period, though £3m per annum of this will be held back for any urgent cases that might arise. There are five over-arching themes; quarries, marine, resource use, transport and communities, and the consultation being undertaken by DEFRA is looking at who will deliver the grant scheme, proposed activities and targets. www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/aggregates/future.htm

PRIVATE TRUSTS
Although somewhat wary of pointing 150 waterway restoration schemes towards a small private family trust that might then be overwhelmed with applications on a very similar theme, it is as well to remind groups that such bodies do exist and can be well worth nurturing, especially if there is a common link between your scheme and the benefactor; maybe his ancestors built your canal in the first place !

There are numerous books, DVDs and CD-ROMs available (usually at a cost) that will list thousands upon thousands of these organisations, though slightly out-of-date ones will be available in most libraries. One free resource recently discovered is www.guidestar.org.uk. This lists all sorts of trusts – both those that give money and those that want it – but it has a competent search engine that will help you narrow the field. Amongst those found while searching on ‘canal’ was a Trowbridge-based organisation whose chosen beneficiary group was ‘General Public/Mankind’; lofty ambitions given their £20,000 a year budget !

Anyhow, picked at random from the Guidestar directory as a possible target for waterway restoration groups ….. the David Webster Charitable Trust distributed over £150,000 in 2006 to environment, conservation and heritage projects. Previous beneficiaries have included the (very waterway-related) Norfolk Wherry Trust. Grants are up to around £50,000 though usually only up to about £10,000. If you think their criteria fit your scheme, write c/o DW Group Holdings Ltd, Netherfield Lane, Stanstead Abbotts, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 8HE.

Andy Screen