West Lancashire Council for Voluntary Service

2^nd Round Funding – New Opportunity For Voluntary Youth Organisations

The Young People's Service in Lancashire are holding a second round of bidding to allocate the balance of funds from the first round of the Commissioned Outcomes Funding.  2nd Round funding is aimed at addressing gaps in geographical coverage of West Lancashire and South Ribble.  Deadline for return of completed Applications: 4.00 pm – Friday 26th March 2010.  Click here for more information.

Small Sparks

Small Sparks is a small amount of funding which can be used to kick start, inject life or enhance existing community based services or activity which can show a clear positive difference to adults within their local community. 

It is a local fund offered by Help Direct, funded by Lancashire County Council.  The aim of Small Sparks is to help the citizens of Lancashire to:

• Make a positive contribution to their local community
• Increase choice and control to help meet needs
• Support freedom from discrimination and harassment
• Support economic wellbeing
• Maintain dignity and respect

You can apply for between £50 and £500 for local people and communities.

Please contact the Help Direct providers or Small Sparks administrators for an application form or help or click here for more information.   Telephone Chorley West Lancashire on 01524 387855 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grassroots

Grassroots Grants of up to £5000 over 3 years can be used for anything that increases or develops the capacity of small voluntary and community groups (income less than £20000), enabling them to continue or expand their work including advocacy, community voice and service provision for local people.  The next deadline for applications is Thursday 27^th May 2010.  Click here for application forms and click here for guidelines or by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Please contact Martin Trengrove or Catherine Cosslett at West Lancs CVS for further details on 01695 733737 or for assistance in preparing your application.

Grants Available Through the Big Lottery Fund

Big Lottery Fund - Reaching Communities

Reaching Communities funds projects that help people and communities who are most in need, and can really make a difference.  Projects can be new or existing activities, or be the core work of your organisation.

The programme makes grants between £10,000 and £500,000 for up to five years.

Reaching Opportunities have identified the following outcomes that they want the programme to achieve.

1. People having better chances in life, with better access to training and development to improve their life skills.
2. Stronger communities, with more active citizens working together to tackle their problems.
3. Improved rural and urban environments, which communities are better able to access and enjoy.

• Healthier and more active people and communities

Awards for All

‘Awards for All’ is a small grants programme, which aims to help voluntary or community organisations, schools, parish or town councils and health bodies to improve local communities and the lives of people most in need.  You can apply for between £300 and £10,000.

There have been some changes over the last few months, for more information see the website. 

Sport England

The Sport England Small Grants Programme has been set up to support local community sport projects which seek to increase participation, sustain participation or develop opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.  It is open to any bona fide not-for-profit club or association, statutory body or educational establishments and provides small grants for sports ranging from £300 - £10,000 but the total project cost cannot exceed £50,000

Sportsmatch

Sport England’s Sportsmatch programme makes awards to not-for-profit organisations running projects at a community level which meet one or both of Sport England’s objectives of Grow or Sustain.  This is done through matching eligible sponsorship pound for pound, up to a maximum value of £100,000. 

Arts Council England

Big Lottery Fund are making some improvements to the Grants for the arts application process.  They will not therefore be accepting new applications between Monday 18 January 2010 and Friday 26 February.  They will start accepting applications again from Monday 1 March 2010.

Click the link for details of other Big Lottery small grants Lottery_Funding_small_grants1.pdf (opens a pdf file)

Grants Available Through LCDL (Lancashire Community Development Limited)

LCDL is Lancashire County Council's economic development company, providing all the economic development services of Lancashire County Council

1. Grants for Growth 2

Lancashire Grants for Growth II awards grants of between £1000 and £6000 to small frontline Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) organisations who are working at a local/neighbourhood level and who can engage with individuals from the priority groups and progress them on a journey towards work.

2. Lancashire Community Grants

Lancashire Community Grants will support small Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) organisations with a grant of up to £12000 to deliver innovative and engaging projects that address the barriers faced by deprived communities and individuals in gaining access to employment, skills and learning.

Click here for dates of funding deadlines up to March 2010