Purpose of the Fund:
The BC & P Fund exists to support small, locally based grassroots community projects in the Local Authority areas of Mid and East Antrim, and Antrim and Newtownabbey.
Criteria:
- Priority will be given to applications from small groups, typically with an annual income of less than £200,000, as evidenced in the most recent set of accounts.
- Projects must aim to directly support one of the following specific groups:
- Young people
- Older people
- People with disabilities
- The Fund will not support projects targeting all ages.
- Priority will be given to projects that are:
- addressing health and wellbeing issues
- targeting those facing disadvantage (e.g. rural isolation, low income, social exclusion, reduced access to services
- involving the beneficiaries in their development and delivery
Examples of types of projects that may be supported within Fund themes:
- Community education and training opportunities
- Communication and leadership skills
- Local initiatives to improve resources and community facilities
- Creativity and self-expression through drama, music or a range of arts.
- Inclusion and involvement of disadvantaged communities
- Out of school projects for young people
Who can apply:
- Constituted grass roots community and voluntary groups
- Have a committee of at least three unrelated Trustees/Directors (if there are more than three related, the majority must be unrelated individuals with no financial interest in the organisation.)
Grants available:
The grants are split into two elements:
- Small scale grants that are limited to £3,000 – £4,000
- Larger scale grants that are limited to £10,000 (only two of these grants will be available per round)
What we can’t Fund
The Foundation will not fund organisations or activities which promote causes that are contrary to our purposes. Causes and activities that are contrary to our purposes include, but may not be limited to, those outlined in our investment policy. We will not therefore fund organisations or activities which we determine are linked to the promotion of armaments, alcohol, human rights abuses, tobacco or pornography.
In addition the Fund will not support:
- Organisations with income greater than £200,000
- Individuals
- CIC Companies Limited by Shares, or CICs without an asset lock clause. Eligible CICs must have at least three unrelated committee members, and/or the majority of the committee unrelated.
- Salary Costs and ongoing running costs (unless the salary is related to the employment of a disadvantaged person, and that person will benefit from the employment longer term). Consideration may be given to salary and/or running costs for large scale grant applications.
- Capital projects and large equipment (generally over £1,000)
- Trips outside Northern Ireland, holidays away and one-off residentials are ineligible, however, trips may be eligible within Northern Ireland at the panel’s discretion as long as they are essential to a longer term project
- Sports activities (we will consider supporting sports activities that focus on people with disabilities that bring them into the community.)
- Promotion of religion or party politics, that includes organisations who have a purpose to advance religion, and any flags and emblems associated with politics
- Funding for projects that are already taking place and looking for retrospective funding
- Replacement for statutory funding
- Portable IT equipment (except in exceptional circumstances, and at panel’s discretion, for example IT equipment for disabled beneficiaries which is specialised and necessary for their development)
Guidance for Applicants
This round of funding will close at 1pm on Monday 3 October 2022.
Applicants are required to provide the following supporting documentation with their application (unless they have applied to the Foundation in the previous 12 months and received confirmation that their documents are acceptable):
- A copy of your governing document, e.g. constitution – this must be signed and dated in the name of the applicant organisation unless governed through an umbrella organisation.
- A copy of your most recent accounts or up to date income and expenditure.
- A copy of a current account bank statement for your organisation’s bank account – this must be in the same name as your constitution, dated within the past three months. If the bank statement is overdrawn, please provide an explanation as to why the account is overdrawn. The Foundation staff will then consider this explanation in line with our due diligence policies and procedures.
- A copy of your equality policy.
- A copy of your child safeguarding and adult safeguarding policies.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Grants and Donor Care Team for pre-application support by telephoning 028 9024 5927.
