Funding Update - September 2007

FUNDING UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 2007

BIG LOTTERY FUND

BLF’s Changing Spaces programme (first mentioned in our January 2006 Update) belatedly got going in June with the announcement of the seven award partners who will be distributing £234m to environmental projects such as local green spaces, footpaths, nature reserves, farmers markets, access to the natural environment and environmental education projects. The biggest development grant by far goes to The Places for People Group; the other six distributors are Pecan Limited Morph UK, Black Environment Network (BEN), Open Air Laboratories Network (OPAL), Plunkett Foundation, Field Studies Council Eco Challenge and Crime Concern Trust. See www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.

Also in June, BLF announced that the Government had confirmed its promise to refund the £425m diverted away from BLF to fund the 2012 Olympics from the post-Games sale of the land and associated infrastructure.

In August, BLF announced a 12-week consultation on Phase 2 of its BASIS programme which aims to support the third sector, in particular improving the effectiveness of voluntary and community organisations. BLF has already drawn up a list of what it considers to be the priority areas and these are generally where BLF sees gaps in the schemes it funded in the first (2006) phase. The involvement of Office of the Third Sector, Capacitybuilders and ChangeUp clearly point to the direction of BASIS and none of the short-listed areas of interest seem likely to generate any worthwhile benefits for waterway restoration.

HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND

In July, HLF announced its strategic framework for 2008-2013. All of the existing programmes will continue (Heritage Grants, Your Heritage, Young Roots, Parks for People, Townscape Heritage Initiative and Landscape Partnerships) but there will be more emphasis on turning round applications more quickly and more advice available to applicants, particularly at regional level. From April 2008 there will be a new application pack and schemes will be asked to place greater consideration on how ‘green’ their project is; minimising environmental impacts, sustainable use of resources etc will be key.  A new scheme aimed at youth participation, to run parallel with the existing Young Roots programme, indicates another direction of emphasis.

It is worth noting that some areas of the country have apparently a very low take-up on the Young Roots programme. If you have a scheme that involves (or could involve) ‘youth’ then check with your local HLF office whether or not they are more likely than usual to bite your hand off.

SITA TRUST

Maybe too late to take advantage of by the time this Update comes out but SITA Trust (www.sitatrust.org.uk) is offering £250,000 of landfill tax credit funds for one (and only one) Heritage project under its Community Challenge Fund. The project must be located within 10 miles of a SITA landfill site. Act fast as the deadline is 27th September.

A sister project to Community Challenge Fund in SITA’s ‘Enhancing Communities’ portfolio is Greenprints, a volunteering programme for greenspace improvements to be carried out by 16-25 year olds (look back to the HLF piece and spot a common thread). This is run in collaboration with BTCV, the BBC and V, whose website (www.vinspired.com) might give you some ideas on how you can involve the 16-25 age groups in your projects 9and be in no doubt that funders seem to want us to do just that). Up to £10,000 could be made available to a Flagship project on the proviso that the project is initiated and implemented by people of the appropriate age !

COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS FUND

Back in March, the (then) Chancellor announced an £80m fund to support community groups making a difference in their neighbourhood over a four year period. The money seems likely to trickle down from the Office of the Third Sector through existing local and regional grant distributors, with a small pot (£6m) likely to be available in 2007,  then around £25m per annum over 2008-2011. Grants are likely to be in the region of £500 to £5,000 and no priority areas have yet been sorted out.

THE WATERWAYS TRUST

TWT has announced another round of its small grants scheme which is open till 1st February 2008, with awards being made during March/April. For the River Thames they will support conservation and community projects upstream of Teddington. For other waterways the themes seem to bear a striking resemblance to last year’s, with waterway wildlife conservation projects (especially ponds linked to canals) and community based projects to improve facilities on canals and inland waterways.

GIFT AID

HM Treasury has launched a consultation on Gift Aid, aimed at increasing take-up, partly to offset the perceived negative impact on it from the cut in basic rate tax from April 2008. The Treasury seems to be open to blue-sky thinking on this one, so any innovative ideas are welcomed. The initial discussion at which Stephen Timms MP, Chief secretary to the Treasury, and Ed Miliband, Minister for the Third Sector, were present seems to have concluded however that we still need to foster a far greater culture of giving and public confidence in charities.

WALES COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY ACTION (WCVA)

Another tight deadline (28th September) but if you are trying to recruit new volunteers (or a volunteer co-ordinator) in Wales, then WCVA’s Volunteering in Wales Fund has first-year grants of up to £25,000 available (smaller amounts available for up to two further years in some cases). Community farms and community radio are cited as possible schemes they might be interested in, so canals surely could find favour there too. Go to their website www.wcva.org.uk, ring 0800 2888 329 or email help@wcva.org.uk for more information.

ENTRUST

Should you need to contact ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund, they moved at the end of July to: 2nd Floor, Acre House, 2 Town Square, Sale, Cheshire M33 7WZ.

GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION

This private foundation distributed between £2m and £3m in 2005/06 and has a somewhat wider remit than many private trusts; arts, community, education, welfare, medical, social, religion, youth (again !) and last but not least, the environment have all benefitted in the past. There are no limits per se on how much they can give, no specific deadlines for applications, and apart from the need for the applicant group to be a UK registered charity, their eligibility criteria do not seem to run too far beyond the usual hoops through which most of us are well-versed in jumping. More details on their website (www.garfieldweston.org) from where you can download an application form.

KELLOGGS ACTIVE LIVING FUND

Up to £1,000 is available for projects that implement innovative ways of getting non-active individuals active. The theme seems to be encouraging families to take exercise together, possibly by expanding existing projects to encourage new groups to participate, for which some waterway corridor schemes might be well-placed to take advantage. More from www.kelloggs.co.uk/company/corporateresponsibility/activelivingfund/.

Andy Screen