Big Lottery Fund

November 2013

What is the Big Lottery Fund?

The Big Lottery Fund is one of the four major Lottery distributors – the others are Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England

BIG is responsible for distributing 40% of the money that the National Lottery raises for good causes

What is the Big Lottery Fund?

Our mission is to bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need

BIG is an ‘outcomes’ funder – we want to fund projects that can make measurable changes for the better in the lives of people and communities experiencing disadvantage

BIG wants to fund projects whose main aim will help to achieve at least one or more of BIG’s strategic 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

Our strategic outcomes

What does this 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?

Two open demand-led programmes:

Awards for All

Reaching Communities

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

• social enterprises

You must 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

You are:

• looking for funding to undertake new activities or extend your facilities (except for organisations with annual income of less than £30,000)

Who can apply to Awards for All?:

Awards for All -how much you can apply for?:

• Between £300 and £10,000

• Only one application at a time

• One organisation cannot receive more than £10,000 of Awards for All grants in any one year period

• You can apply at any time

• 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

• small-scale building and refurbishment work

• sessional workers

• updating equipment and premises for health and safety reasons

• training

• volunteer expenses

• transport costs

• venue hire

What Awards for All cannot pay for:

• Activities that happen or start before BIG confirms the grant

• Existing activities and repeat or regular events that are less than 3 years old (except for organisations with an annual income < £30,000)

• Salaries of permanent or fixed term staff

• Routine repairs, maintenance and replacement

• Building work with a total cost of more than £25,000 (inc. VAT)

• Fundraising activities

Other excluded items detailed in the guidance

You send us your application

We let you know our decision

You send the documents we ask for

We confirm the grant

You start your project

Awards for All application process:

30 working days

20 working days

10 working days

Online or by post

Reaching

Communities

• Voluntary and community organisations

• Statutory bodies (schools, councils, health)

• Social enterprises

Reaching Communities can fund existing as well as new projects – existing projects will need to provide an evaluation of their work

Reaching Communities- who can apply:

Reaching Communities- revenue and small capital strand

You can ask for grants of more than £10,000 for projects lasting up to five years

Limit of £100,000 for capital costs such as buildings, land or refurbishment

If you want more than £500,000, you must speak to us first

Projects seeking more than £300,000 will need to show that they are exceptional

Reaching Communities buildings strand

We can fund land and buildings projects costing more than £100,000

Projects should be replacing or improving existing buildings where a wide range of community activities take place

Only available in certain areas based on deprivation and rurality

Postcode checker on BIG website

Reaching Communities- what can be funded

Revenue• Salaries of project workers

• Recruitment, training costs and staff expenses (travel, phones, stationery etc.)

• Rent, heating, lighting, maintenance and insurance

• Monitoring and evaluation of project

Capital• Building and engineering works required for delivery of project

• Plant and equipment necessary for running the project

• Purchase of land, buildings, equipment or fixtures

• Transport necessary for delivering the project

Reaching Communities revenue and small capital strand- application process

You can apply at any time

Stage 1 – Submit an outline proposal form

Response within 6 weeks

Responses: ‘Maybe’ or ‘unlikely’ or ‘outside funding policy’

If ‘maybe’, you will be invited to submit a full application

Stage 2 – Submit a full application within 4 months

Decision within two to four months

Essentials of an application to the Big Lottery Fund

The most essential!

Read our guidance!

We need your application to explain to us:

- why the people and communities you want to help are in need and how you know this

- how your project will change people’s lives for the better

- how your project activities will achieve those changes

Remember BIG’s mission is:

- to bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need

-Tell us about the needs the people who will use your project have

- Explain how you know that they have these need and what you have learned from discussing your plans with them

Don’t assume that we will automatically see that there is a need. It is up to you to convince us.

Need

Evidencing the needCommunity consultation through meetings and surveys (essential)

Talking to other agencies who can confirm the need

External research e.g. academic papers

Statistical research (but keep it local)

Looking at local, regional or national strategies

Waiting lists and attendance records

Evaluation of previous work

Try and use a variety of sources to confirm the need – don’t just rely on one

If no evidence is available, tell us

Outcomes

Think about what difference will the project make for the beneficiaries?

Don’t just tell us what you are going to do, tell us how whatyou are going to do will change peoples lives

Use ‘change’ words like: increased, improved, reduced...

Ask yourself what changes in the lives of your clients would make you think:

‘We’ve been successful and made a difference’?

Think about your clients ‘before’ and ‘after’

Examples

- older people report improved psychological and physical wellbeing through taking part in exercise classes

- young people with learning disabilities will have increased self-confidence through working in the community café

- carers will report reduced levels of stress through the provision of 7 hours respite care a week

Outcomes

Outcomes exercise

Look at the 12 examples and decide whether it is an outcome

Can you see a clear change for the better in the life of the individual?

Activities

Activities are the tasks, actions or services that take place in your project to achieve its outcomes

Activities should:

- specify what will be done, how it will be done, who will do it and when in order to achieve your outcomes

- form the main content of your project planning

- determine the resources and budget that you need to run your project

Make sure that the linkage between each of your outcomes and your range of activities is clear

A word on beneficiary involvement

BIG wants to see project beneficiaries involved both in the planning and delivery of projects so think about:

- how you can fully consult beneficiaries on planning

- how you can fully involve beneficiaries in delivery through:

- volunteering on the project- project management- peer mentoring other beneficiaries- surveys and feedback

If you can’t involve your beneficiaries, tell us why

Further information and advice

Websites: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Phone: BIG Advice Line 0845 4 10 20 30

Text phone: 0845 6 02 16 59

Edward Hickman: 01223 449032

ed.hickman@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Other Lottery distributors:

Arts Council England: www.artscouncil.org.uk

Heritage Lottery Fund: www.hlf.org.uk

Sport England: www.sportengland.org