People and Places: Large grants

Funding from £100,001 to £500,000 for projects where people and communities are working together and using their strengths to make positive impacts on the things that matter to them the most.

We're here to help and want to talk to you about your ideas to support communities to adapt, recover and thrive.

Area
Wales
Suitable for
Voluntary or community organisations, Public sector organisations
Funding size
£100,001 to £500,000
Total available
Up to £23 million in the current financial year
Application deadline

Ongoing

What is People and Places?

People and Places: Large grants offer funding from £100,001 to £500,000 for projects where people and communities are working together and using their strengths to make positive impacts on the things that matter to them the most.

We’re here for you as communities recover and rebuild, following the COVID-19 pandemic. You can apply for funding to deliver a new or existing activity or to support your organisation to change and adapt to new and future challenges.

Good/successful applications will be People Led, Strengths Based and Connected

We fund a wide range of activities across Wales so contact us to speak to a local Funding Officer if you have an idea on 0300 1230735, or email wales@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Looking for a grant between £20,001 and 100,000? Take a look at our medium grants

Who can apply?

You can apply if you are a UK-based:

  • voluntary or community group

  • registered charity

  • co-operative

  • social enterprise or community interest company

  • not-for-profit company limited by guarantee

  • statutory organisation such as a local authority, health board or school.

Partnerships from all sectors are welcome to apply as long as the lead applicant is one of the organisation types listed above. Your organisation must have a management committee with at least three unrelated members aged 18 years or over.

We cannot fund individuals or sole traders, profit-making groups or those not established in the UK. A majority of the people that will benefit from the project must live in Wales.

Check if you’re eligible

Want to double check your project is eligible? We’ve created an eligibility checker tool below for you to use at any time.

Please speak to us before starting your application. You can contact us by emailing wales@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or calling our advice line on 0300 1230735 between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

Eligibility Checker

What can you apply for?

The projects we fund

People and Places: Large grants offers funding for projects where people and communities are working together and using their strengths to make positive impacts on the things that matter to them the most.

We want to fund projects that are:

  • supporting organisations to adapt or diversify to respond to new and future challenges 
  • supporting communities adversely affected by COVID-19 
  • supporting communities and organisations to become more resilient to help them to respond better to future crises. 

Successful applications must be:

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?

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?

We’ve developed StrengthChecker, a free tool to help third sector organisations to prioritise the strengths they need to build on most for their development and growth. Please use this tool to help identify any organisational development costs.

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?

Delivering your project in Welsh

When you receive funding from The National Lottery Community Fund for a project in Wales, you'll need to deliver it in Welsh as well as English and make sure all your activities are available to your community in both languages. For further information read our guidance on managing your project bilingually or contact the Welsh Language Team at welshlanguage.advice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Make sure you include costs of delivering your project bilingually, such as translation costs, in your budget.

There is also support available from these organisations:

Promotion Team, Welsh Language Commissioner: The Promotion Team (Tîm Hybu) supports charities and businesses to plan their Welsh language Services. Contact them hybu@cyg-wlc.cymru to hear more about their: One to one support based on needs; Regular charity and business networking meetings to share experiences and good practice; Simple guidance on every aspect of developing Welsh language services; Online system to self evaluate your services; Proof reading service – up to 1,000 words a year.

Helo Blod: Helo Blod is a fast and friendly free service which is here to support businesses to use the Welsh language with confidence. Contact Helo Blod today on 0300 25 88 88 or e-mail heloblod@llyw.cymru for more information.

What can you spend the money on?

People and Places can fund capital and revenue costs up to £500,000, such as equipment, staff costs and refurbishments. We can fund projects for up to five years.

We can’t fund:

  • alcohol

  • profit-making/fundraising activities

  • recoverable VAT

  • statutory activities

  • religious activities

  • paying someone else to write your application.

How do you apply?

We remain open to all applications. We are here to help and want to talk to you about your ideas to support communities to adapt, recover and thrive.

There are two stages to the application process.

If you’d like to apply for a grant, please contact us to speak to a local Funding Officer by emailing wales@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or calling 0300 1230735 between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. We’ll put you through to a Funding Officer in your area for an informal chat with you about the idea you need funding for. If you’re ready to apply, we can send you an application form.

Before calling, please take a look at our Guidance Document for further information. You can also download a sample application form below. We also recommend taking a look at our StrengthChecker, a free tool to help third sector organisations to prioritise the strengths they need to build on most for their development and growth. Please use this tool to help identify any organisational development costs

Looking for support and advice on running a community project or charity?

Infoengine is directory of third sector services in Wales. It highlights a wide variety of voluntary and community services that provide information and support so that you can make an informed choice. Infoengine is provided by Third Sector Support Wales, a partnership of County Voluntary Councils and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

Submitting a stage one application

You can submit this application form at any time. Once we have received the application, we will let you know if you have been successful within 30 working days (roughly six weeks). If you’re unsuccessful, we will tell you why and if you wish, you can resubmit once you have addressed the feedback.

If successful, we will invite you to complete a stage two application or project plan. You will have up to four months to complete the application. Once you have submitted your stage two application, you will receive a final decision within four months.

You can contact us by emailing wales@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or calling 0300 1230735 between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

Related documents

Get help using our online forms here.

Reduce your environmental footprint

The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and are always striving to manage our environmental impact. We encourage and support projects and communities to do the same. Learn more about how you can make your project or event more environmentally sustainable and perhaps save money at the same time.

Checks

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide us. Learn more about our checks