National Lottery Awards for All England

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  3. National Lottery Awards for All England

A quick way to apply for smaller amounts of funding between £300 and £10,000.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still with us, we'll continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.

We can support you to:

  • continue to deliver activity - whether your community needs crisis response, recovery or business as usual activity
  • change and adapt, becoming more resilient to respond to new and future challenges.

In order to support communities to thrive, we aim to:

  • build strong relationships in and across communities
  • improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
  • help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.

Given the on-going pandemic, we expect continued high demand for our funding and we will have to make some tough choices. Please bear with us as our funding teams respond to the demand.

Area
England
Suitable for
Voluntary or community organisations
Funding size
£300 to £10,000, for up to one year
Application deadline

Ongoing

Apply

How to apply

We only have a certain amount of funding to award

We get a lot of applications, and many of them are for really worthwhile projects. This means we have to make some tough decisions around which projects we can fund, when reading all the applications we’ve received. So there are often lots of projects we cannot fund, even the good ones.

Make sure you also check who can and cannot apply before filling out the application form.

Apply online Continue online application

The time it takes to get a decision from us might vary

We’ll try and tell you our decision as soon as possible. This usually takes us around 12 weeks. Please bear with us as our funding teams respond to the huge demand for our funding. We’ll assess applications in the order they’re submitted.

If it's difficult or impossible for you to complete an application form

You can contact us if you have any communication support needs. We’re happy to talk about alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea.

What information you need to apply

We ask for the contact details, home addresses and dates of birth of two different people from your organisation. Both contacts need to have different email addresses

One person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project. The other should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding. Both need to live in the UK.

These two people cannot be:

  • related by blood
  • married to each other
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • living together at the same address.

We ask for the legal name of your organisation - and its address. And what type of organisation it is

Make sure these are up to date and match up with any information or identity documents we ask for (when you get to the application part).

We ask for information about your organisation’s accounts

We want to know the date your accounts wrap up each year and how much income you have.

If you do not have yearly accounts because you’re a new organisation (less than 15 months old), that’s okay. We can still look at your application.

We ask for a bank statement from the last three months

It should show:

  • your organisation's legal name
  • the address the statements are sent to
  • your bank's name
  • the account code and sort number
  • the date the statement was issued.

Here’s a picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for.

We can only transfer money into a regulated UK based bank or building society protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Your account must also require at least two unconnected people to approve all transactions and withdrawals.

We ask you for information about what sort of project you’d like to do

And how your project will help and involve your community.

What happens after you apply

  1. You send us your application – we'll get back to you with a decision in around 12 weeks. During these 12 weeks, we look at your idea and do our security checks. You can find out more about the checks we do. We might give you a call within those 12 weeks, to talk a little more about your idea or ask for more information.
  2. If your application is successful – we'll send you an email with the good news. You can start your project as soon as you get this email, if you want to. And we’ll put the funding in your bank account within 14 days (or sooner, if possible)
  3. You can start spending the funding on your project – you should spend the funding the way you said you would in your application (unless we’ve agreed to something different first). We might check in from time to time – to see how things are going. Find out more about managing your funding.
  4. Share your story – let people know about your grant and the amazing work you're doing in your community. Sharing news about your project with your community can be a great way to keep them involved and engaged. You can find out more about how to promote your grant. Your award email will also include details on how to publicise your grant and let people know about how your project is supporting people in your community.

We also ask you to read and agree to our terms and conditions

You can read the terms and conditions.

BSL video: National Lottery Awards for All England

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'National Lottery Awards for All England' (YouTube)

If you’re not sure about the sort of things we ask for when you apply

Contact us.

You can also read our Data Protection Statement to find out how we use the personal data you give us.

Who can apply

Who can apply?

You can apply if your organisation is a:

  • voluntary and community organisation
  • constituted group or club
  • registered charity
  • charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
  • not-for-profit company
  • community interest company (CIC)
  • school (as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school)
  • statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish and community council)
  • community benefit society.

If you’re a smaller organisation

We’re keen to fund smaller organisations too. So we’ll look at your income when we’re making a decision.

Who we cannot accept applications from:

  • individuals
  • sole traders
  • organisations based outside the UK
  • one organisation applying on behalf of another. Be careful of businesses or consultants who say they can support you with your funding applications. They might even say they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, or they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund. They could even offer to write an application for you. We would not accept applications from these types of businesses or consultants. But you can get support and advice on writing your application from your local CVS (your local council for voluntary services)
  • companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
  • organisations that currently have National Lottery Awards for All funding - we can only fund your organisation for a maximum of £10,000 within a 12-month period. And you can only hold one grant, for each different country in the UK, at a time. If you want to apply for a new grant - you’ll need to wait until your last grant with us is closed (this does not include any Coronavirus Community Support (CCSF) funding you've been awarded)
  • organisations that have already sent a National Lottery Awards for All application and are waiting for a decision.

Board or committee members

It’s really important that organisations that apply have at least two people on their board or committee who are not related.

By related, we mean:

  • married to each other
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • living together at the same address
  • related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least two directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

If you’re a school or an organisation working in a school

Make sure your project strengthens the community outside of the school too. So it should benefit, and involve, more than just teachers, pupils, and parents of pupils, in line with current Government guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The kinds of school projects we do not usually fund:

  • projects to improve school facilities or equipment
  • projects to help with staff training
  • projects that are part of the school curriculum
  • projects that involve activities the school should already be providing (like a project teaching literacy during school hours)
  • projects that take place during teaching times (lunch breaks, or before and after school might be okay).

An example of the sort of school project we could fund

Things that would be seen as extras to the schools normal curriculum activities.

BSL video: Who can apply

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'Who can apply' (YouTube)

If you’re not sure if you can apply

Contact us.

The projects we fund

The projects we fund

With the COVID-19 pandemic still with us, we'll continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.

We can support you to:

  • continue to deliver activity - whether your community needs crisis response, recovery or business as usual activity.
  • change and adapt, becoming more resilient to respond to new and future challenges.

In order to support communities to thrive, we aim to:

  • build strong relationships in and across communities
  • improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
  • help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.

Your project should involve your community

We firmly believe that when people are in the lead, communities thrive – we want your project’s application to demonstrate this clearly.

People understand what’s needed in their communities better than anyone, especially during these unprecedented times. We want to support projects that: 

  • involve people and communities from the start 
  • build on people’s strengths    
  • are connected in their community.

But make sure you’re following the current Government guidance on COVID-19.

This short video explains it. It might be helpful when you're putting together your application.

During COVID-19, think about what you can do to find out what's important to people in your community. For example, online surveys, virtual meetings, telephone calls, conversations with helper agencies and engaging with stakeholders.

You should also think about encouraging people who benefit from your project to get more involved in running your organisation and making decisions. For example, they could become trustees or volunteers, or you could find ways to employ them.

If your project focuses on sports, arts or heritage

When we assess sports, arts and heritage projects, we’re looking for projects where the main aim is to strengthen your community in some way.

What we mean by strengthening your community

We know most sports, arts and heritage projects are good for communities generally. But we’re looking for projects that do a little more.

An example of the kind of sports project we might fund

Let’s think about an online dance group for young people. Dance is good exercise, so it promotes health (which is great). But we’re looking at how that activity strengthens the community too.

Maybe it helps the community with social isolation. Or the project might aim to move young people away from anti-social behaviour.

There might be other types of funding for you

If you’ve read through this page and feel like this funding is not quite right for your project - find other funders in the National Lottery family

If your project works with children, young people or vulnerable adults

You need to have a policy in place that explains how they'll be safe. And we might ask to see this policy, if we decide to give you funding. The NSPCC have lots of helpful advice about setting up and following good child safeguarding policies.

Projects that need insurance, qualifications or affiliations to a governing body

Depending on what you want to do, your project might need:

  • public liability insurance
  • leaders or instructors with special qualifications
  • an affiliation to a governing body.

You can ask us to cover these costs when you apply for funding (see what else you can spend the money on).

BSL video: The projects we fund

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'The project we fund' (YouTube)

If you're not sure about the sort of projects we fund

Have a look at what we've funded previously. And you can always contact us too.

What you can spend the money on

What can you spend money on?

This list does not include everything. So, if you're not sure, contact us.

We can fund:

  • your organisation's running costs
  • small land or refurbishment projects (but make sure you own the land or building, have a lease that cannot be ended for five years, have a letter from the owner saying the land or building will be leased to you for at least five years, or an official letter from the owner or landlord that says you're allowed to do work on the building). You should also think about getting planning permission for the work too
  • equipment
  • one-off events
  • staff costs
  • training costs
  • transport
  • utilities
  • volunteer expenses.

We encourage you to think about any organisational costs needed to help you and your community through the current crisis.

We cannot fund:

  • alcohol
  • contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest
  • paying someone else to write your application for you - be careful to avoid businesses or consultants who promote that they can support organisations with funding applications. They might suggest that they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, that they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund, or even offer to write an application for you
  • profit-making or fundraising activities
  • VAT you can reclaim
  • religious activities (we can fund religious organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content)
  • statutory activities
  • activities that improve educational attainment (PHSE, STEM, English, Maths)
  • overseas travel or projects that take place outside of the UK
  • political activities.

BSL video: What you can spend the money on

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'The project we fund' (YouTube)

If you're ready to start your application

Apply online Continue online application