1. Supporting communities across England
Greater Manchester and Manchester BME Network
Joint Networking event
People in the Lead:
Supporting communities across England
11th May 2018
Jenny Rouse
Head of Regional Funding- North West

2. About Big Lottery Fund…
We ensure money raised by players of The National Lottery helps communities to achieve their ambitions and thrive.
We support charities, community groups, and people with great ideas - local or national, large or small.
Last year we made nearly 14,000 grants for over £700 million, using money raised by National Lottery players. 90% of these were for under £10,000.
North East and Cumbria Team

3. Your voice, our vision
In 2014 the Fund asked:
“How we can best achieve our mission of bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need?”
…AND IT LISTENED!

4. How Big Lottery should operate…
Confidence, not control
Simple processes, good judgements
The strengths people bring
A catalyst for others
Shared direction, diverse approaches
Using resources well
…The importance of genuine relationships and understanding context
Confidence, not control
We trust in people’s ability to make great things happen, believing that our funding should enable rather than control.
Simple processes, good judgements
We use simple, proportionate processes which enable us to make good judgements.
The strengths people bring
We start with what people can contribute, and the potential in their idea.
A catalyst for others
We listen to, learn from, act on and facilitate the things that matter to people, communities and our partners.
Shared direction, diverse approaches
We value the diversity of communities we work with across the UK, are consistent in the quality and opportunities we offer, and support people to tackle inequalities.
Using resources well
We make informed choices about the resources given to us by National Lottery players: with knowledge, with people and with money, and in an environmentally sustainable way.

5. To identify projects that…
Bring people and build strong relationships in and across communities
Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
Enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage

6. Delivered by organisations that are….
People Led
They ensure the people they work with are meaningfully involved in the development, design and delivery of the project.
Strengths based
They support people and communities to build on the knowledge, skills and experience they already have to make the changes they want.
Connected
They demonstrate a good understanding of other activities and services in the community and can show how the project will complement these.

7. What does this mean for those we work with in England?
From April 2018…
Six new regional teams:
London and South East, South West, Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, North East and Cumbia…and of course the NORTH WEST
“On the ground” Funding Officers
Working with organisations and communities
Decisions where money is spent are made locally

8. And in the North West… All change!
20 new people in a team of 25 covering three different areas- Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire & Merseyside
And a dedicated Greater Manchester team…

9. Our support for communities in England
Under £10,000
National Lottery Awards for All: our most popular
funding stream, providing a quick and simple way to get small Lottery grants of between £300 and £10,000.
Over £10,000
Reaching Communities: Flexible funding over £10,000 for up to five years to organisations in England who want to take action on the issues that matter to people and communities.
Partnerships: Through our Partnerships funding, we make grants over £10,000 for organisations which work together with a shared set of goals and values.
We’ve been listening to feedback, rich knowledge from our customers, interested parties, other funders, people who have never applied about what it’s like working with us at the Big Lottery Fund. (Accessible, reduce complexity of our processes, better local context, invest in skills of groups, support collaborations). We are using this information to make the way we award funding in England simpler and more flexible. So, we have a new funding offer - our core products in England. But this is our starting point. Our vision for our funding, and the funding products that support them will continue to evolve. How to be truly user led, responding to local issues.
National Lottery Awards for All (Small grassroots community groups, and larger groups valued by their communities)
Our largest and most popular programme (90% of our grants) – provides small amounts of funding for communities to do great things. Application form and guidance have been refreshed (to focus more on the project ideas rather than the process) and you can apply online via our website
We have removed some of our more restrictive funding policies. One of these is the reduction of the number of people required on a governing body from three to two (still unrelated). We also fund staff posts and utilities/running costs
We have removed the conditional offer stage, which allows for quicker payments
We've updated and simplified the language
Reaching Communities (groups whose plans and vision are shaped by the people and communities they serve)
Flexible approach to how you apply - online, by phone, in person, or even sending us something that you’ve written for another funder.  Informed by your idea so you don’t do lots of work if there is a low chance of getting funding. We are getting rid of standardised application forms because we are interested in supporting the best ideas, not the people who are best at filling in application forms.
Flexible mix of funding - combination of project delivery costs, capacity building and contributions to running costs needed to maximise the impact of the organisation’s project idea and plan.  So tell us about what kinds of funding you really need in order to maximise your impact and achieve your mission.  We want to support strong organisations and we recognise that means that many organisations need help with their running costs and to invest in capacity building, not just project funding on its own. Capability support embedded
REGIONAL CONTEXT WILL PLAY A LARGE PART IN WHAT WE DO AND DON’T FUND – WHAT’S GOING ON IN WIDER COMMUNITY. Conversations and local base bring us closer to communities. Better able to use local knowledge to inform funding decisions.
We will be flexible to the varying needs of each organisation and this will decide the timeframe. For example, some organisations may work with us for a number of months on the development of their idea, and others may come with a fully formed idea which they talk through with us and move to application quickly.
Fill the gap between A4A and RC – trying to reduce average grant size – (not active but the nature of what we are now looking to fund means those smaller groups require smaller funding amounts
Partnerships
New for us - 2 or more organisations
Come together to achieve – we recognise that lot of people want to work together to achieve their goals.  This funding is for people who want to work and develop ideas together with others, to start with the bigger picture rather than just what your organisation can do on its own, and to share responsibility in order to achieve shared objectives – which we call Generous Leadership. Shared ambitions and work together that makes the most of their respective skills, knowledge and contribution.
Longer terms funding – thematic/place based partnerships
Key users groups and communities with an aspiration to work together on big challenges - might include cross sector partnerships, local place-based collaborations or local and national organisations working together around a particular theme.  You can contact us if you are interested in setting up a new partnership - or if you already have an established partnership. 

10. Right now…
Five weeks in- we are learning the ropes: building knowledge of different places, how to make payments, assess ideas, make fair and informed decisions…and how to say no
The future…
More and more visible, with a growing understanding of places and the organisations and communities based there.