BLF Grant Programmes in England
Awards for All: major changes to funding from 1 April 2009
Awards for All has been run by the Big Lottery Fund, with the other main National Lottery distributors (Sport England, Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund) putting additional funding into the scheme. From 1 April, each distributor will have its own small grants scheme. However, Awards for All is being retained as the name for the Big Lottery Fund's own small grant scheme.
Organisations, including parish councils, who wish to apply for a small grant will have to decide which fund to apply to. You will need to look at whether the main purpose of the project is for sports, arts or heritage, or whether the project fits one of the four outcomes of the new Awards for All scheme.
These are:
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People having better chances in life withe better access to training and development to improve their skills;
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Stronger communities with more active citizens working together to tackle their problems;
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Improved rural and urban environments which communities are better able to access and enjoy;
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Healthier and more active people and communities.
There are changes to the programmes themselves for each distributor for the processes to be undertaken to get a grant, and the amount of money that can be bid for varies considerably:
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Awards for All: grants between £300 and £10,000;
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Arts Council: grants between £1000 and £100,000;
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Sport England: grants between £300 and £10,000;
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Heritage Lottery Fund: grants between £3,000 and £25,000 (Young Roots) and £3,000 and £50,000 (Your Heritage).
The Awards for All website will now only have information about the Big Lottery Fund scheme; the website address is www.awardsforall.org.uk The BIG advice line is 0845 4 10 20 30 if you want to check if a project is best suited for this funding scheme.
The Arts Council website address is www.artscouncil.org.uk or telephone 0845 300 6200.
Sport England's website address is www.sportengland.org or telephone 08458 508 508.
The Heritage Lottery Fund's website address is www.hlf.org.uk or telephone 0121 616 6882.
Below are some of the other grant programmes currently available from the Big Lottery Fund. For more information about their full range of programmes please visit their website at http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/england
Community Spaces funds community groups who want to improve local green spaces such as play areas, community gardens, parks, wildlife areas and village greens.
Community Sustainable Energy Programme will help community - based organisations in England reduce their environmental impact through the installation of energy saving measures and microgeneration technologies.
Access to Nature programme (run by Natural England) funds a range of organisations who want to encourage people from all backgrounds to learn more about and enjoy the natural environment.
Ecominds programme (run by Mind) – funds a range of groups who want to encourage people with experience of mental distress to get involved in environmental projects, such as improving open spaces and wildlife habitats, designing public art and recycling.
Heroes Return 2 - Second World War veterans across the country can sign up for funding that will provide Lottery Support for anniversary trips to the places where they saw action.
