Windrush 75: how to strengthen your Carnival grant application
Jo Sanders, Funding Manager, shares advice on how to strengthen your National Lottery Awards for All application for Carnival activities and events.
The 75th anniversary of Windrush this year is a moment to celebrate and reflect upon the incredible legacy created by the endeavours of Windrush pioneers. It’s a great opportunity to bring people together, and we, here at The National Lottery Community Fund want to help you and your community make the most of it.
We understand that some communities will commemorate this momentous occasion as part of their Carnival celebrations and this is something our funding may be able to support.
Thanks to National Lottery players, grants of up to £10,000 are available for one off events like Carnivals, festivals and celebration days. But these are often some of the unsuccessful applications we see here in the National Lottery Awards for All team. This is often because the applications fail to tell us clearly how they meet our aims.
Don’t worry though – we’re here to help you! With that in mind, here are my four top tips for a Windrush 75 carnival application.
- Tell us how your community has been involved in deciding that Windrush 75 should be commemorated as part of your Carnival and how they will be involved in planning and delivering the event.
This information can come from community meetings, online polls, social media discussions, or having community members on your board, as trustees or as volunteers.
Applications often assume that we will already know this, but we can only assess your application on the information you give us so make sure you tell us this clearly. - Show us that your event is more than ‘just’ a celebration. Many applications are unsuccessful because they appear to be a ‘flash in the pan’ event that is beneficial at only one moment in time. We need to see the longer-term difference your event is making to the community in its commemoration of Windrush 75.
This might be connecting people who wouldn’t otherwise meet. It could be providing activities that bring together people of different ages, backgrounds and cultures. It could be tackling isolation or loneliness. It could be many things, but we are looking for communities to be better connected as a result beyond the actual day. Your application should tell us clearly how it meets at least one of our aims. - Don’t be too ‘arts’ focussed in your application. We appreciate that Carnivals are a brilliant opportunity to showcase the varied and amazing artistry within communities and we appreciate the value of this. However, we need to see how artistry, such as dance, music, parades and exhibitions, is used as a vehicle to meet our aims and to make a difference in the community.
This could be connecting people to express and build on the values embodied by the Windrush generation. It could be helping to better connect and support local people who are isolated by engaging with community artistry at an event. It could be improving people’s mental health by using dance, music or cultural activities associated with the Windrush generation as a tool for this. - Use our website to help you with your application. We understand that putting together an application can be tedious and time consuming. Our application form is simple and straight forward, but I would encourage every applicant to visit their local National Lottery Awards for All webpage and thoroughly read our advice and guidance:
England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
It’s so tempting in the excitement to apply to skip over things, but the strongest applications are the ones that have read everything before they apply and clearly demonstrate what we are looking for. Read our short guide that will help you to avoid some common pitfalls. Also take a look at our series of Windrush 75 Awards for All advice videos, which talk you through various aspects of an application including eligibility criteria and what bank statements are required.
I would strongly encourage applicants to access useful resources from our recent Windrush 75 grant application clinics. Read our PowerPoint slides to find out more about applying for National Lottery Awards for All. We’ve also collated the most frequently asked questions and our answers – have a read through and your question may be answered!
If our application process seems daunting, then our friendly and approachable Advice Team are here to support you. Reach out to them on 0345 4 10 20 30.