The People’s Projects | The National Lottery Community Fund

Family Chances

This programme is closed to new applications

We’re back with The National Lottery, ITV, UTV and, for the first time this year, the Sunday Mail. We’re giving community organisations the chance to apply for funding of up to £70,000.

After a national campaign the winners will be decided by public vote. The idea is to give Lottery players and the public a say in how National Lottery money is spent.

We’re looking for projects that:

bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
make communities stronger and more inclusive
help people or communities develop the skills and capacity they need to achieve their ambitions
involve the people you support in the design, development and delivery of your project
support people to create meaningful change in their local community or help it thrive
help people and communities connect by engaging with nature
build connections across different cultures, different communities, or both.

We’re looking for imaginative ideas from organisations that have already done good work in their local community. We’ll prioritise smaller organisations with annual turnovers of under £500,000.

We’ll award grants of up to £70,000 to 57 winners across the UK. We will offer up to 38 runner-up organisations awards of as much as £10,000.

This is an exciting opportunity, but it will take time and commitment over several months to get your project the votes you need to win. Before deciding to apply, consider if you’re happy running a public campaign that could bring lots of publicity to your project. We’ll provide free support and training to help you do this.

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of our introduction to The People’s Projects with English voice over and subtitles (YouTube):

Area: UK-wide
Suitable for: voluntary and community organisations
Funding size: up to £70,000
Total available: Up to £4.37 million
Application deadline: Closed to new applications

How to apply

This programme is closed to new applications

If it's difficult or impossible for you to apply online

You can contact us if you have communication support needs or find it hard to complete the form. We can provide alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea, such as:

a PDF version of the application form
a British Sign Language (BSL) version of the application form and guidance.

If you need help

You can:

phone us on 0345 4 10 20 30 - lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm
contact us by email at general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk
check if a different fund is better suited to your project.

BSL video: How to apply

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'how to apply' with English voice over and subtitles (YouTube):

What happens after we get your application

We’ll look at your idea. As we work on your application we’ll do some security checks. You can find out more about the checks we do.

We’ll shortlist up to 95 applications and will take an even spread from across the UK.

If we shortlist your application you’ll take part in a public-facing media campaign. You’ll work with ITV, UTV or the Sunday Mail in Scotland to promote your project. The public will then vote for their favourite projects. Voting will close at the end of May 2023.

ITV, UTV and the Sunday Mail will announce the results and there will be up to 57 winners across the UK. Each winner gets a grant of up to £70,000. We will offer up to 38 runner-up organisations grants up to £10,000. If you get a grant, you’ll have 12 months to spend it.

What happens when

The deadline for first stage applications was 12 noon on Friday 7 October 2022.

Here are the important dates if you applied:

By Friday 21 October 2022: we tell you if we’ve shortlisted your application and ask for more information about your project if we need it.
Friday 18 November 2022: final deadline to send us any extra information we ask for about your project.
Friday 13 January 2023: we tell you if your project is on the shortlist.
January – February 2023: we provide free support and training to prepare for being on TV or in the newspaper.
February – April 2023: you work with a partner to create a public campaign.
- ITV or UTV film shortlisted projects in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland.
- the Sunday Mail works on newspaper articles and online videos with other shortlisted projects in Scotland.
May 2023: your campaign for support takes place at the same time as the public vote.
May or June 2023: ITV, UTV and the Sunday Mail announce the winners.

How we'll help you prepare for the public vote

If your project is shortlisted you’ll take part in a media campaign to get public votes. We’ll offer free support and training to help you create your campaign and prepare for the vote. You should be available to put time into your campaign from January to May 2023.

If your project is in:

England, Wales or Northern Ireland

we’ll visit the shortlisted projects to make a short film which will be shown on ITV or UTV local news
the three projects in each of the ITV and UTV regional news areas with the most votes will get up to £70,000.

Parts of Scotland that receive ITV Border - such as Dumfries and Galloway or Scottish Borders

In your application we’ll ask you to choose between running your campaign with ITV Border or the Sunday Mail

if you choose ITV Border, we’ll visit shortlisted projects to make a short film which will be shown on ITV Border’s local news
if you choose the Sunday Mail, the newspaper will feature articles and online videos for shortlisted projects, with voting details
the three projects with the most votes will get up to £70,000.

Any other part of Scotland

Sunday Mail newspaper will feature news stories and online videos for all shortlisted projects, with voting details
the nine projects with the highest number of votes will get up to £70,000.

What information you need to apply

In your application you should tell us about the work you’ll do with this funding, and how it will support your community.

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

We ask you how your project will meet the criteria listed in 'what we're hoping to fund'.

You can tell us this in writing by answering the questions in the application form. Or you could create a video answering the questions. The video can be up to six minutes long.

Your video does not have to be professionally made and we will not broadcast it publicly. For example, you could record yourself speaking about the project using your smartphone camera if you find this easier than writing.

We ask you to tell us which of our partners covers your area

This could be an ITV regional news area, UTV, or the Sunday Mail in Scotland.

If you’re not sure, check our guidance on picking the correct ITV region or media partner.

We ask for two different people from your organisation to be our contacts for the project:

one person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project
the other person should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding.

Both need to live in the UK.

We need their:

names
contact details
home addresses
dates of birth.

Both contacts need to have different email addresses.

You’ll need to let the senior contact know you’re including their information as part of the application.

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 and address of your organisation. 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. Your organisation’s ‘legal name’ may not be the same as your day-to-day name. Your legal name is the one shown on your governing document (like your constitution, trust deed, memorandum or articles of association).

We ask for information about your organisation’s accounts

We’ll ask you to send us your latest accounts. We’ll 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’ll still look at your application.

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

You can read the terms and conditions.

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

Read our Data Protection Statement to find out how we use the personal data you give us.

We’ll need some other details if we take your application further

We’ll let you know the outcome of your application by Friday 21 October 2022.

We’ll then ask for more details about your project idea

You will not have to fill out another application form, but we’ll get in touch to ask any other questions we have about your project. We will also ask for a more detailed budget breakdown.

We’ll ask for your organisation’s bank details and a bank statement from the last three months

We'll only be able to take your application forward if you have a UK-based bank account or building society account.

Your account must also be:

protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
in the legal name of your organisation
managed by at least two unconnected people.

You need to:

have a bank account that meets our financial controls and financial governance guidance.
give us a bank statement that shows the:

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

We’ll ask for your bank statement as a digital file or photo. Here’s a picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for (PDF, 325 KB).

If you opened a new bank account within the last three months

You can give us a bank welcome letter instead of a statement. The letter must show the date the account was opened and all the account details.

If you cannot give us a bank statement

We can accept a list of transactions, if it includes everything we expect to see on a bank statement.

You’ll have until Friday 18 November 2022 to send us these details.

If you need help

You can:

phone us on 0345 4 10 20 30 - lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm
contact us by email at general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk
check if a different fund is better suited to your project.

Who can apply

We’re looking for projects with a strong local presence and an established track record in their area, which show what amazing things communities across the UK can achieve. You may work with a broad mix of people in your local area, or with particular groups of people – sometimes called communities of interest. Whatever you do, your project should bring people together and help your community to prosper and thrive.

Before deciding to apply, consider if you’re comfortable running a public campaign which will take commitment over several months, and which could bring lots of publicity to your project. You’ll also need to think about how a media campaign could help you to tell the story of your organisation or project, and the difference it will make to your community.

BSL video: Who can apply

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'who can apply' with English voice over and subtitles (YouTube):

What types of organisation can apply

You can apply if you’re a:

voluntary or community organisation
registered charity
constituted group or club
not-for-profit company or Community Interest Company (CIC)
school (as long as your project benefits and involves the wider local communities around the school)
statutory body (including town, parish and community council).

If you’re a smaller organisation

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

We cannot accept applications from:

one individual or organisation applying on behalf of another
individuals
sole traders
organisations that look to make profits and share these profits out privately - including companies limited by shares, organisations without the right asset locks, or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders
organisations based outside the UK
informal groups that are not constituted.

Board or committee members

Organisations that apply must have at least two people on their board or committee who are not connected.

By connected, 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 connected any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

We have limited funding

We are expecting to receive more applications than we are able to fund and we have adapted our approach to make sure there is a fair spread of applications, and winners, from across the UK. This means that we can only accept a certain number of applications from each part of the UK and we may need to close to applications before 7 October if we reach this limit.

What we’re hoping to fund

BSL video: What we're hoping to fund

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'what we're hoping to fund' with English voice over and subtitles (YouTube):

Your project must do at least one of the following:

bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
make communities stronger and more inclusive
help people or communities develop the skills and capacity they need to achieve their ambitions
involve the people you support in the design, development and delivery of your project
support people to create meaningful change in their local community or help it thrive
help people and communities connect by engaging with nature
build connections across different cultures, different communities, or both.

We’ll also prioritise applications from groups that:

show a strong track record in their local area
have the support of their communities and will address their needs
have an annual turnover of under £500,000
show they’ll be able to plan and deliver a public facing campaign, with our support and training
have project ideas that will capture the imagination of voters.

Other organisations can apply, but we’re less likely to shortlist them.

You can apply if you have a current grant from The National Lottery Community Fund. But your application should not duplicate any work we’re already funding you to do. We’ll check this when we review your application.

How we'll shortlist projects

We’ll check that your organisation is suitable to apply and eligible for the funding you’ve asked for.

We’ll then review the information you’ve provided in your application and consider:

how you meet at least one of the criteria in what we’re hoping to fund
how you meet the list of applications we’ve said we’ll prioritise
how suitable the project will be for a public campaign that will feature either on TV or in a newspaper
the activities you’re hoping to deliver, as well as your project theme and location, so that we have a good mix of projects across the region you’re based in.

We'll support a range of projects

We want to fund projects covering a variety of different communities, themes, and places. We’ll make sure the funding is spread across the UK. We’ll also try to fund a range of different types of activities being delivered across projects and regions.

Visit The People’s Projects website for examples of the kinds of projects we have funded in the past.

You must involve your community in your project

We believe that people understand what's needed in their communities better than anyone else. It’s important to us that you involve your community in the design, development, and delivery of the activities you’re planning.

Delivering your project in Welsh

When you get funding from The National Lottery Community Fund for a project in Wales, you'll need to run 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. You can also contact the Welsh Language Team at WelshLanguage.Advice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

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.

We recommend that you visit the NCVO website which provides a range of child safeguarding advice and information services for the whole of the UK.

Should you be successful in your application, we would expect you to adhere to our expectations as set out in the grant holder policy around safeguarding children and adults at risk.

What you can spend money on

We can fund projects costing up to £70,000 in total. We expect most of the funding to be for running costs for your project. But you can also apply for equipment or items up to the value of £10,000 if you need them for your project activities.

You must spend the money within 12 months of getting it.

BSL video: What you can spend money on

Watch British Sign Language interpretation of 'what you can spend money on' with English voice over and subtitles (YouTube):

We can fund:

events and activity costs
equipment and materials
up to £10,000 in total towards larger or longer-lasting items (such as furnishings for a community space)
staff costs
people’s time (that may not be staff)
training costs
transport
utilities bills or running costs related to your idea
volunteer expenses
translation costs (for example, into other languages like Welsh)

You should consider the environmental impact of your project and try to reuse, reduce and recycle where possible.

We cannot fund:

developing or buying land or buildings
larger or longer-lasting items where the total cost is more than £10,000 including VAT.
activities outside the UK
overseas travel
alcohol
items which will only benefit an individual or family, rather than the wider community 
contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest
religious activities (although we can fund religious organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content) 
profit-making or fundraising activities
VAT you can reclaim
statutory activities (for example, we can only fund school activities that are additional to the curriculum)
activities that generate profits for private gain
things you have already paid for, or been billed for.