The projects we fund
Your project must reduce health inequalities that unpaid carers experience.
Unpaid carers can face more health challenges. They can experience poverty, isolation and can find it hard to get support. We're looking for projects that will make a long-term difference to their health and wellbeing.
You must show us how you’ll:
- make long-term changes to the systems that affect unpaid carers health
- involve people with experience of care in influencing these changes. Particularly, how you'll help unpaid carers have more control over decisions that affect their health and wellbeing.
- work with other organisations
- use learning and evidence to inform your project. We'll also expect you to consider how you'll use what you learned to make changes after the project ends.
This section has details of what we mean by each of these.
Your project must make long-term changes to the systems that affect unpaid carers health
We want to fund projects that will make meaningful and lasting changes to the way things work. So unpaid carers wellbeing is better, and they can stay healthy in their caring role.
Your project will need to have a significant impact for unpaid carers. This could be through a large-scale project like changing the way carers access services. By working with different organisations and sectors. Or it could be through small changes over many years like how unpaid care is valued and talked about.
We will not fund the delivery of an existing service. For example, to expand a service in to new areas or reduce waiting lists. If you’d like funding for this see our Fairer Life Chances fund.
Your project must involve people with experience of unpaid care
By people with experience of unpaid care we mean adults or children who:
- currently care for someone or have cared for someone before
- receive care or have received care in the past.
You should involve them in developing, delivering and leading the project. We want to see how they’ll be able to influence the project. And how they’ll continue to influence changes after the project ends.
We particularly want to see how you’ll help unpaid carers to have more control over decisions that affect their health and wellbeing.
We know that many people do not see themselves as unpaid carers. We're particularly interested in projects that reach these people.
This can include:
- parents that care for a child with additional support needs or disabilities
- older people that care for their partner
- people that care for someone with an addiction
- young carers
- LGBTQ+ carers
- ethnically minoritised carers
You must work with other organisations
Systems change happens when organisations work together. We expect you to share skills, knowledge and resources to make a long-term impact.
This could include partnering with:
- community and third-sector organisations
- statutory services
- researchers
- policymakers.
We’ll ask you who you plan to work with and how you’ll work with them. We might ask for evidence of how you’ll work together. For example, a written, partnership agreement.
You must use learning and evidence to inform your project
We want to know what evidence you have that your project is needed. You'll need to tell us how you'll test new ideas and ways of working to improve and develop your project.
We’ll ask you how you plan to share what you learn. And who you’ll share it with. While you're funded, we also expect you to share what you're learning from the project with us and our partners.
You should consider how you'll continue to use what you've learned to benefit unpaid carers and influence wider change.
Reduce your environmental footprint
The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and is 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 in our guidance on reducing your environmental footprint.
If you’ll be working with children, young people or vulnerable adults
You need to have a policy in place that explains how they’ll be safe. If you get funding you’ll need to follow our expectations on safeguarding children and adults at risk.
The SCVO website has child safeguarding advice and information services.
