Access to resilience | The National Lottery Community Fund

Dormant Assets NI delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund

This Fund is now closed to new applications.

Access to Resilience will fund support organisations that provide capacity building support to small VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) groups in Northern Ireland.

This programme is supported with money from Dormant Assets NI. Dormant Assets NI is an expansion of the Dormant Accounts Fund NI.

All applications have been assessed and information on all awards made can be accessed on the webpage.

This programme aims to address the gaps in our Dormant Assets investment to date. We want to fund support organisations – sometimes known as network, umbrella, membership or community anchor organisations. We want these organisations to improve access to the help they provide to small, underrepresented VCSE groups in Northern Ireland.

Support organisations will reduce barriers and increase access to the support they offer for small VCSE groups, with an annual income of around £10,000 up to £100,000.

By underrepresented VCSE groups, we mean groups that focus on representing the needs of:

older people
disabled people
women
ethnically minoritised people
faith-based communities
LGBTQ+ people
rural communities.

These groups are the focus of this funding because they can face barriers to the existing capacity building support that is available to the sector.

This can be due to difficulties accessing support in a way that meets the needs of those communities and also because additional support may be needed to address historic inequality and discrimination.

These groups were also underrepresented in the Dormant Assets funding that we have awarded to date.

Specifically, we want to fund support organisations so that they can help these groups to improve their capacity and resilience through:

financial planning and budgeting
project management
good governance
diversity and inclusion
digital skills
impact measurement
strategic planning
volunteer management
collaboration
leadership
succession planning.

We want the projects we fund to address existing barriers to capacity building and achieve meaningful and inclusive participation.

If you are a generalist support organisation that already helps a diverse range of VCSE groups, this funding will enable you to improve access to your support for underrepresented VCSE groups who are not currently benefiting from that support.

If you are a Specialist support organisation that already specialises in helping a sector of underrepresented VCSE groups e.g. women’s groups, rural groups, older people's groups etc. this funding will enable you to meet the needs of these groups.

Area: Northern Ireland
Suitable for: Support, network, umbrella, membership or community anchor organisations.
Funding size: Up to £150,000, for up to 3 years.
Total available: £3 million. We aim to make around 25 to 30 grants.
Application deadline: 12pm on Thursday 4 July 2024

How to apply

This Fund is now closed.

All applications have been assessed and information on all awards made can be accessed on the webpage.

If you have any questions

Access to Resilience overview

This video briefing will give you an overview of the Access to Resilience programme.

If you’re awarded funding, you’ll need to send us a bank statement

We ask for one bank statement dated within the last three months. So, we can check the account you want us to pay the grant into.

We'll not be able to assess your application if you do not have a bank account and bank statement that meet our requirements below. If you’re not sure you should contact us to check if your bank account and statement are suitable.

We need:

A bank account that meets our needs in our Financial Controls and Financial Governance Guidance
A bank statement that meets our needs - like in this picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for.

What we need to see on your bank statement

The bank statement (or bank welcome letter if the account was opened within the last 3 months) must be:

uploaded as one single file
a file of 12MB or less in size
a PDF, JPEG or PNG file.

It should show:

the bank logo
your organisation's legal name
the address the statements are sent to
your bank's name
the account number and sort code
the date the letter/statement was issued.

If all these details are on one page, just send us that page.

What else we accept

If you have a new bank account opened within the last three months, we can accept a bank welcome letter instead of a statement. The letter must confirm the date the account was opened and all the account details.

If you’re unable to provide a bank statement, we can accept transaction listings, if they include everything we’d expect to see on a bank statement:

the bank logo
your organisation’s legal name
the address your bank uses for correspondence
your bank’s name
the account number and sort code
date the transaction listing covers.

What we do with your data

To find out how we use the personal data you give us you can read our data protection and privacy notice.

Who can and cannot apply

This Fund is now closed.

This funding is for organisations who provide capacity building support to other VCSE groups.

To apply you must be a:

support organisation
network organisation
membership organisation
umbrella body
community anchor organisation
established organisation that has a history of providing capacity building support to other groups.

You must also be a:

unregistered voluntary or community organisation
An organisation set up with a governing document - like a constitution. But is not a registered charity or company. If you get funding we'd expect you to incorporate or become registered with a regulator (For example, the Charity Commission or CIC regulator).
not-for-profit company
A company limited by guarantee - registered with Companies House. And might also be registered as a charity.
registered charity (unincorporated)
A voluntary or community organisation that's a registered charity. But is not a company registered with Companies House.
Community Interest Company (CIC).
A company registered with Companies House. And the Community Interest Company (CIC) Regulator.

You must support underrepresented VCSE groups

You should use this funding to support smaller VCSE groups with an annual income of around £10,000 up to £100,000.

The groups you support must focus on representing the needs of one of the following:

older people
disabled people
women
ethnically minoritised people
faith-based communities
LGBTQ+ people
rural communities.

You can apply if you’re a generalist or a specialist support organisation

You might be a generalist support organisation that helps a diverse range of VCSE groups. Your aim might be to improve access to underrepresented VCSE groups who are not currently benefiting from your support.

Or you might be a specialist support organisation that already specialises in helping underrepresented VCSE groups. Your aim might be to get more resources to meet the needs of these groups.

If you're a generalist support organisation

We expect you to:

identify the sector of one of the underrepresented VCSE groups you want to improve access to – for example, women's groups, older people's groups, disabled people's groups, rural groups
collaborate with groups from that sector to work out what those groups need – for example, a women’s group, disabled people's group etc.
improve access to your services by designing or delivering them in a different way that encourages and supports participation
use diagnostic tools (or other methods) to assess the skills and capabilities of the groups you’ll support - find out more about diagnostic tools
measure the impact of the support you give to each group.

If you're a specialist support organisation

We expect you to:

Tell us which sector of under represented VCSE groups you specialise in e.g. women’s groups, rural groups etc
improve access to your services for groups that support people – for example, by delivering them in a different way that encourages and supports participation
use diagnostic tools (or other methods) to assess the skills and capabilities of the groups you’ll support – find out more about diagnostic tools
measure the impact of the support you give to each group.

Who cannot apply

We cannot accept applications from:

organisations that do not develop the skills, capacity and resilience of other VCSE groups
individuals
sole traders
religious institutions - like churches, synagogues and mosques (although faith-based community groups are eligible to apply)
organisations based outside Northern Ireland
companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
statutory organisations
schools
one organisation applying on behalf of another.

We do not accept applications written for you by private businesses or consultants

Be careful of businesses or consultants who say they can support you with your funding applications. They might say they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, or they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund. They could even offer to write an application for you. We do not accept applications from these types of businesses or consultants.

But it’s ok to get help from support organisations - like your local council or Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). They may be able to give you support and advice on writing your application.

The projects we fund

This Fund is now closed.

This programme is part of Dormant Assets NI funding. Dormant Assets NI awards money from dormant financial assets to support voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in Northern Ireland. It aims to help them be more resilient and prepared for the future by funding activity that increases capacity and sustainability.

The first phase of this funding (The Dormant Accounts Fund NI) closed for applications in March 2023. You can find out more by looking at Dormant Accounts Fund NI Awards.

We can fund

Under the Access to Resilience programme we will fund projects that help small underrepresented VCSE groups improve their capacity, sustainability and resilience. Activities might include increasing skills in:

financial planning and budgeting
project management
good governance
diversity and inclusion
digital skills
impact measurement
strategic planning
volunteer management
collaboration
leadership
succession planning.

We cannot fund

core capacity building or support programmes for the wider voluntary and community sector. This funding is to improve access to support for underrepresented community groups who are not currently receiving capacity building support
you to give grants to other organisations
applicants who are unable to demonstrate sound governance and financial management
capacity building or support programmes for religious institutions like churches, synagogues and mosques. However capacity building for faith-based community groups is eligible.

If you already have funding from us

You can apply if you have a current grant from us from another programme. For example, you can have a Phase One Dormant Accounts NI grant and still apply.

What you can spend the money on

This Fund is now closed.

The grant can be used to pay for staff and programme costs to deliver the project :

giving advice, mentoring, coaching and training
guidance materials
staff costs

You can also include costs that will support engagement and participation in the project:

travel and room hire – so that you can deliver support where it’s needed.
refreshments – if you need to meet groups at lunch time or after work.
costs to cover the time and resources of community groups that will be collaborating with the generalist support organisations.
any costs associated with meeting access needs – for example, creating materials in Braille or providing a sign language interpreter.
payments that will encourage participation – we understand that some small community groups need to be incentivised to participate in this type of capacity building programme. You can offer incentive payments of up to £1,000 per group, per year to complete the project.
reasonable out of pocket expenses for participating groups.
interpreting and translation costs.

You cannot spend the money on:

fees for private consultants – we want organisations to build skills and mutual support through partnerships with experts in the sector. We’re therefore unlikely to cover the costs of private consultants, unless a clear rationale has been provided for why the consultant's skills are not available within the sector
capital refurbishment – like improving buildings or land
alcohol
IT (Information Technology) – including software or hardware upgrades
establishing new groups or organisations (but you can help formalise or develop existing unconstituted groups).

If you get funding, you must use our logo

This programme is part of Dormant Assets NI funding.

You should use the Dormant Assets NI logo on any materials you produce, like posters or leaflets. You should also display it on your website and social media if you have them.

You can find out more on our logo guidance page.