Manchester Cares

Awards from the UK Portfolio

Manchester Cares
  1. Funding
  2. Funding programmes
  3. Awards from the UK Portfolio

The UK Portfolio supports UK-wide ideas and projects. It tests and grows bold ideas that put people in the lead to address long-term social issues and to improve the quality of life across the UK and internationally. Please note, this funding stream is currently paused.

Area
UK-wide
Application deadline

Applications currently paused

Applying for funding

Please note – In the UK Portfolio we are very proud of how diverse our grants have been over the last few years. We now have lots of applications we need to process, and that, coupled with some initiatives we have in development, means we want to pause for a few months. That means we’re not taking applications right now, but watch this space for news towards the end of 2019.

Our new Climate Action Fund, which will enable people and communities across the UK to take the lead in tackling the climate emergency, will open for applications in Autumn 2019. We are currently looking to speak to community-led partnerships working on climate action activities to inform the programme’s development. Please see the programme page for further details.

The UK Portfolio tests and grows bold ideas that put people in the lead to address long-term social issues and improve people’s quality of life across the UK. We support projects and organisations that look beyond service delivery to spark systems change, develop new ways of working, and address the root causes of social issues in innovative ways.

Types of funding

We’re not taking applications right now, but watch this space for news towards the end of 2019.

We offer three different types of funding:

  • Small grants to develop ideas into full proposals.
  • Long-term funding, primarily for three or five years.
  • Collaborative or partnership project funding.

It is highly unlikely that we will award more than one grant to a single organisation, but you can hold a grant with another part of the National Lottery Community Fund and also receive UK Portfolio funding. In addition, having an award through the UK Portfolio would not necessarily exclude you from being part of a partnership proposal.

What we’re looking for

We are most interested in projects that:

  1. Are led or directed by those with lived experience of the social issue being addressed.
  2. Tackle the root causes of social issues, not just the symptoms, by identifying structural barriers and long-term failures in order to change systems.
  3. Are informed by diverse perspectives and multiple stakeholders, to ensure that the solutions created can achieve outcomes for all.
  4. Develop collaboration and collective responses between organisations.
  5. Focus on continuous experimentation, learning and adaptation.
  6. Take action to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

If your project does not meet one or more of the above criteria, we are unlikely to be able to fund it.

How to apply

We’re not taking applications right now, but watch this space for news towards the end of 2019.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, projects should be active in two or more of the UK’s constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Projects should also fit into one of the six areas of focus listed under ‘applying for funding’ above.

You will need to be a legally constituted organisation or partnership. We expect most funding to go to either voluntary sector organisations or voluntary sector led partnerships of voluntary, public or private sector organisations.

We will not make awards to:

  • individuals and sole traders
  • organisations based outside the UK
  • non-departmental public bodies
  • branches that don’t control how they are run or how their money is spent
  • applications made by one organisation on behalf of another
  • organisations operating mainly for private benefit.

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please email general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or call the advice team on 0345 4 10 20 30.

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