BIG simplifies small grants process and promises earlier decisions1

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 10 Feb 2010

The Big Lottery Fund is introducing a “lighter-touch” Reaching Communities application process for organisations seeking grants of up to £40,000 a year.

In response to its major public BIG Thinking consultation last year on the future of BIG programmes, the lottery distributor has made some changes to its flagship Reaching Communities programme.

All applicants will learn at an earlier stage whether their project has a decent chance of being funded, so that those that are invited to the second stage will have a much higher chance of success. More than three-quarters of people that responded to the consultation said they wanted earlier decisions on applications, based on a few key questions at the enquiry stage - even if that meant rejection.

And, those applicants seeking up to £40,000 will face a simpler application and assessment process.

Also in the pipeline to be launched in the autumn is a dedicated capital funding stream that BIG hopes will help to fill the “large, unmet demand” for funding for community buildings. This is anticipated to fund medium-sized refurbishment, new builds or extensions to community centres, village halls or other community-use buildings.

In total the various parts of the Reaching Communities programme will be funded to the tune of at least £100m a year for each of the next five years. Grants will range from £10,000 to £500,000.

Directory: Big Lottery Fund

Place a comment

Jan Kilmartin
Play Policy Development Worker
York City Council
15 Mar 2010

I support a variety of play setting, many who would benefit from a grant, please could I be kept informed about any application bids in the future.

Many thanks
Jan

[Reply]

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.