Nationwide opens funding programme in N Ireland
Howard Lake | 18 June 2019 | News
The Nationwide Building Society has launched a funding programme in Northern Ireland which will provide grants of up to £50,000 for housing and homelessness projects.
Nationwide are looking for local housing projects that will strengthen local communities to support the most vulnerable by:
• Preventing people from losing their home
• Helping people in to a home
• Supporting people to thrive within the home environment
The Nationwide Community Grants programme awards up to £500,000 across 11 UK regions annually. In Northern Ireland the Nationwide grants programmes is administered by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI).
Charities, Community Land Trusts and housing co-operatives can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 to make a change in your local area. The applications will be reviewed and voted on by a regional Community Board, made up of Nationwide members and colleagues.
Funding priorities
Priorities for the funding programme include:
• Projects which illustrate a clear link to Nationwide’s ambition for everyone to have a place fit to call home and can demonstrate the impact their project will have on the local community
• Projects that are supporting people in housing need in original or creative ways. This includes both projects already delivering local impact and those carrying out research to find new ways to challenge the housing crisis
• Have projects/ideas that have the potential to be used by others across the country
• Have robust plans to measure and report on the difference the grant will make
• Can demonstrate sustainability beyond the life of the grant
• Can evidence knowledge of local issues and have a network of local connections
What the programme will fund
Nationwide suggest applicants look at some of the projects previously funded by the Nationwide Community Grants programme.
The programme will fund core costs of up to 20% of the requested grant amount, staff and volunteer costs for the lead partner, small-scale capital costs, activity costs, development and capacity building costs and building works and refurbishment costs where they are essential to the successful delivery of the project.
Nationwide will fund between 50% to 100% of the total cost of the project for up to two years.
The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland will shortlist applications, assessing against the eligibility criteria and priorities of the programme and organisations that have not been shortlisted will be informed in August 2019.
The closing date for applications is 5th July 2019.
Nationwide’s community grants programme was established in 2007 when members voted to use 1% of its pre-tax profits for funding community projects.
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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.