National Lottery COVID-19 Fund – over £10,000 for partnerships
This National Lottery COVID-19 Fund in England has now closed We’ve closed this allocation of funding to new applications and should have awarded funds by the end of December 2020.
But you can still apply for National Lottery funding to help your community through COVID-19 With the COVID-19 pandemic still with us, we'll continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.
This National Lottery COVID-19 Fund in England has now closed We’ve closed this allocation of funding to new applications and should be finished distributing these funds by the end of October 2020.
But you can still apply for National Lottery funding to help your community through COVID-19 With the COVID-19 pandemic still with us, we'll continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.
The Government allocation of funding to the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF) has now closed to new applications.
We’re prioritising the assessing and awarding of funding to the organisations that have already applied for this funding.
You can still apply for emergency National Lottery funded grants in England to help your community through COVID-19.
We want to support projects and organisations playing a vital role in helping their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
We'll focus on organisations supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
This category includes, for instance, organisations supporting older people; disabled people (including people with long-term health conditions); lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer + (LGBTQ+) communities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities; all of whom are facing specific challenges during the current crisis. It also includes organisations who provide advice and support to those pushed in crisis as a result of the pandemic and those organisations supporting people and their families with end-of-life care.
Who can apply
You can apply if you’re an organisation that serves communities within England and is one of the following:
a registered, exempt or excepted charity
a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
a community interest company (by guarantee or shares)
a community benefit society
a co-operative society - you must have a not-for-profit 'asset lock' clause in your society rules and also be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority
a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee - you must be a registered charity or have a not-for-profit 'asset lock' clause in your articles of association.
What partnerships we can fund:
We can fund a partnership (both new partnerships, and one that’s already been set up) as long as they're led by a voluntary or community organisation. This includes:
a registered charity or charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
a not-for-profit company, including companies limited by guarantee and Community Interest Companies (CICs) with two or more directors.
Who we cannot accept applications from:
organisations that have already applied to us for COVID-19 funding (whether successful or unsuccessful) through the Government Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF), since 22 May 2020
statutory bodies (including town, parish and community councils)
schools
individuals
sole traders
organisations based outside the UK
anyone who's applying for another organisation
organisations that look to make profits and share these profits out privately. This includes organisations without the right asset locks. Or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders – this might mean some CICs limited by shares.
We also cannot accept applications from organisations that don't have at least two people on their board and committee who are not:
When organisations work in partnership, they help communities to thrive - by focusing on the bigger picture, rather than just what their organisation can do on its own.
We’re looking for partnerships where everyone takes responsibility to work toward their shared goals together while offering their own insights and perspectives. We call this 'generous leadership'.
We like to see projects that can test new approaches to issues in the community. And projects that are committed to equalities and the environment.
There are different types of partnership:
cross-sector partnerships
local, place-based collaboration
local and national organisations working together around a particular theme.
We can help if you're struggling financially because of COVID-19
We know that COVID-19 has affected lots of organisations' finances. We can help you make up for some of the losses, so you can keep helping your community through the pandemic and continue to support them after.
What types of projects we’re funding
We want to support projects and organisations playing a vital role in helping their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We'll focus on organisations supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
This category includes, for instance, organisations supporting older people; disabled people (including people with long-term health conditions); lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer + (LGBTQ+) communities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities; all of whom are facing specific challenges during the current crisis. It also includes organisations who provide advice and support to those pushed in crisis as a result of the pandemic and those organisations supporting people and their families with end-of-life care.
As far as possible, we're also looking for organisations to be people-led, strengths-based and connected
People-led
We believe that people understand what's needed in their communities better than anyone. So it’s important to us that you involve your community in the design, development and delivery of the activities you’re planning.
You might want to ask yourself:
Have I spoken to the people in my community?
Have the people in my community told me what they need and what's important to them?
Have I listened to them and used what they've said to create my project?
This short video explains it well. It might be helpful when you’re putting your application together.
Strengths-based
We’d like to support people and communities to build on the knowledge, skills and experience they already have, to make the changes they want.
You might want to ask yourself:
What’s already working in my community?
How will my project add to these positive things that are already working?
How will my project make the most of any resources that are already helping my community?
Connected
We want to know that you’ve a good understanding of other activities and services in your community. We’d like to see how you’ll compliment these. So you can add value to what’s already there.
You might want to ask yourself:
Have I spoken to other groups in the area that are doing something similar to my project?
Have I thought about how we can all help each other?
If your project works with children, young people or vulnerable adults
