Big Lottery Fund in NI makes changes to grant programme
Howard Lake | 8 September 2017 | News
The Big Lottery Fund in Northern Ireland has made changes to one of its flagship grant programmes.
The changes apply to the Empowering Young People grants programme which is designed to support projects that give young people aged 8 to 25 years old the ability to overcome the challenges they face.
The changes, which the Fund says will make for an easier application process, include allowing applicants to talk to Big Lottery staff and get a quick decision, shorter forms and a different grant size – from £30,000 to £500,000. Previously maximum grants were up to £600,000. Grants can now be for 2 to 5 years.
Empowering Young People’s objectives are largely similar to previous grant rounds. We’re looking to fund projects that meet one or more of the objectives below:
• More young people have the skills they need for the future
• Young people have better relationships with their support networks and communities
• Young people have improved health and wellbeing
Crucial to applications is that they can show that young people are fully involved in the development, design, running and evaluation of the project.
After organisations apply the process will be:
• An initial assessment
• Initial feedback
• A visit from Big Lottery Fund staff
• A decision
The final decision about applications will be made by either staff within the Fund (if your application is under £200,000) or a committee of independent experts and young people (if your application is over £200,000).
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.