National Lottery Coronavirus Community Fund

At 10am this morning (Friday 22^nd May), the much awaited National Lottery Coronavirus Community Fund opened for applications. The National Lottery Coronavirus Community Fund is for £200m of the £360m that the Government announced back at the start of April would go to small and medium sized charities (as part of their £750m charity funding announcement). I’ve done a brief video on the basics of the application but here’s the full detail:

• The Government funding will be distributed alongside existing National Lottery funds – the application for both is the same and you won’t necessarily know which pot your funding has come from.
• The application process is prioritising 3 main tranches:
  • Organisations supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis – including those supporting older people, BAME communities and those with underlying health conditions. It also includes organisations who provide advice and support to those pushed in crisis as a result of the pandemic, and those supporting end of life care
  • Organisations providing services and support for vulnerable people, for which there will be increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 crisis – including organisations supporting those who face financial hardship, domestic abuse charities, those working with homeless people and those supporting vulnerable children and young adults. It also includes mental health support and those organisations assisting with loneliness and isolation.
  • Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to COVID-19 – including organisations supporting community and sector infrastructure, increased demand for digital and technical capabilities and marginalised communities.
• You can apply for between £300 - £10,000 using a simple application, and if you want more than £10,000 (up to £100,000) it’s slightly longer.
• You can apply for funding to cover your spending for up to 6 months after the award.
• All applicants will need the following information to hand to make the application:
  • Contact details, home address and date of birth for 2 individuals – 1 to be the main contact for the application and the other to be a senior member of the organisation who will be legally responsible for the funding. The 2 individuals must not be related.
  • Legal name of the organisation, address and type of organisation.
  • Date of financial year end and most recent accounts information.
  • Bank statement from the last 3 months.
  • Information about the project that you want the funding for – and how it will involve your community.
• Applications for amounts over £10,000 will also need to provide additional information on:
  • How you expect Covid-19 to affect your plans for the next 6 months.
  • What actions you are taking to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the organisation.
  • An up to date cashflow forecast or budget if you’re applying for over than £50,000.
• Amounts can be spent on running costs, equipment, staff costs, transport, volunteer expenses and small capital items

Once the application is received, the National Lottery Community Fund have said they are aiming to process them as quickly as possible, with funds being received within 14 days of approval of the project. They will also get in contact at the end of the 6 months to ask about progress. The National Lottery Community Fund are clear that they expect there will be huge demand for the funding and they expect to be heavily oversubscribed. They have said that they are assessing applications in the order that they receive them so time really is of the essence here! You can find all the details and the application form here: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/covid-19/learn-about-applying-for-emergency-funding-in-england [video width="848" height="480" mp4="https://albertgoodman.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/VIDEO-2020-05-22-12-03-56.mp4"][/video]