National Lottery Awards for All Northern Ireland

We want to support people to bring about positive changes in their community. We’re interested in projects that improve people’s lives and strengthen community activity by:

• Helping people to participate in their communities.
• Developing people’s skills and broaden their experience.
• Building better and safer communities.
• Improving people's physical and mental health and wellbeing.

We want all the projects we fund to embrace the two key themes of:

• People-led – This means the people you’ll be working with will be meaningfully involved in the development, design and delivery of your project. Have you spoken to people in your local community about what they need and what’s important to them? Have you listened to what they've said & used it to develop your 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. What is working well in your community? How will your project help to build on these successes and make the most of the resources the community already has?

To help you understand what we are looking for, here are some stories about successful projects that are already people-led and strengths-based.

This is the information you’ll be asked to put in your application.

Take the time to make sure you’ve got everything you need before you complete your form.

Contact details

You’ll need to give the names, contact details and dates of birth of two unconnected people from your organisation, one of whom will be the legally responsible contact for any grant awarded.

By unconnected we mean not related by blood or marriage, in a long-term relationship or living together at the same address.

Organisation details

What type of organisation are you? What is its full legal name and address and postcode?

Accounting details

What was your organisation's total annual income for the past financial year?

If you are a new organisation, set up within the last 15 months, enter £0.

Bank statement

Make sure you have a copy of your organisation’s bank statement from the last three months.

This should be for the UK-based account you want us to pay your grant into, if you’re successful. You must have at least two unrelated people who are able to manage the account you want to use. The statement needs to show the:

• organisation’s legal name
• bank name
• account number and sort code

See more detailed guidance on what we look for on your bank statements (PDF, 466KB)

About your project

Project details

You’ll need to tell us:

• the name of your project
• where your project will take place
• all the costs involved in your project
• whether your project targets a specific group of people and, if so, who.

What you want to do

You’ll also have to tell us about what you want your project to do. Have a look at the What can be funded? section to find out more about the type of projects we will support.

• Read the Key Information for Applicants guide (PDF 118KB)
• Complete the eligibility checklist (DOCX, 173KB)
• When you have completed the eligibility checklist and have found that you are eligible complete the application form (DOCX, 201KB)
• Save the application form to your computer and fill it in. (Remember to keep saving it as you work, so that you don't lose any information)
  
• Print the form and sign it. Please note – we cannot accept signatures which have been typed into the application form on a computer. We can, however, accept signatures which have been scanned and digitally inserted into the application form as an image.
• Scan it and email it to us at applicationsni@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk, along with a copy of a recent bank statement. You will receive an email back from us to let you know that we have received your email. If you do not receive a confirmation email from our team please contact us on 028 9055 1455.
  
• If you don't have email, you can post it to us at: The National Lottery Community Fund, 1 Cromac Quay, Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 2JD.

If you have any questions about this process please get in touch. Telephone: 028 9055 1455 or email enquiries.ni@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Checks

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

Next Steps

We aim to process your application within 6 to 8 weeks of receiving the fully completed form and bank statement, but in busy periods we may take a little longer. Whether your application is successful or not, we’ll be in touch to let you know our decision.

We may also get in touch if we need more information from you while we’re processing your application.

Make sure you keep a copy of your application form, as well as any information relevant to your application – for example, quotations that you used to help work out your costs.