- Area:
- Scotland
- Programme:
- Investing in Ideas
- Release date:
- 31 1 2007
The first anniversary of an innovative “seed money” scheme from the Big Lottery Fund has been marked by the first successful application for major funding.
The Moving On Employment Project on Shetland used a small grant of a few hundred pounds from the Big Lottery Fund’s Investing in Ideas scheme to help successfully bid for £78,589. Now Project Co-ordinator Kellie Naulls is urging others to apply for cash from the £4.6 million “ideas kitty”.
Moving On wanted to set up “Work Crews” to help people with disabilities, mental health problems and long-term health conditions to gain and maintain employment and training opportunities in their local area. The idea is that crews undertake a wide range of activities such as meals-on-wheels delivery, home help, beach cleaning, tree planting and bulb planting – with help and support.
Project Co-ordinator Kellie Naulls, said: “We knew it had worked well elsewhere, and there was experience we could benefit from. But being in Shetland we are a bit isolated. The Investing in Ideas grant paid for me to learn from seven projects all over Scotland by being able to find out first hand from people doing similar project. What I saw enabled us to put together our own plan and successfully bid for the lottery funding.
“Without that initial grant of £569, I don’t think we could have been able to make a successful full application. I would definitely encourage others to find out more about Investing in Ideas and get this money working for them. It made a huge difference to us and it’s really easy and straightforward to claim.”
BIG is keen to spread the word that this development money is available, and encourage more groups to take advantage of it.
Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Dharmendra Kanani, said: “We know from past experience that projects work better when they have been fully thought through and developed so that’s why Investing in Ideas is so vital to us. We want to support people and communities develop the right idea for them and be sure that it has a good chance of success.“
He continued: “Investing in Ideas is for groups to help them get that little bit of extra help at the start of the process so they that their project idea is right for them and will help deliver change locally – it is that little bit of help that makes all the difference in the long term to the success or otherwise of a project.”
The development programme aims to give potential applicants time and resources to develop stronger and more sustainable projects. It is an easy-to-access scheme with a quick turn around time which makes grants of between £500 and £10,000 to work up ideas and enable organisations to put them into practice.
Funding through Investing in Ideas could, for example, cover market research, feasibility studies, technical advice and guidance, consultation, training and development - and many other things that will enable organisations to submit better, stronger applications for funding. Investing in Ideas could also help if a group has an idea but needs to strengthen its organisation in order to make the idea a reality or wants to find out if a similar idea has worked elsewhere in the UK.
Dharmendra Kanani added: “The Big Lottery Fund wants to ensure that our funding provides lasting social change in communities across Scotland. We believe that this can only be achieved by having a longer term relationship with the organisations who come to us for funding and this means providing development support at an early stage. Investing in Ideas is here to meet that need and is part of our wider commitment to becoming a key investor in Scotland’s communities.”
Investing in Ideas is open to a range of organisations and agencies. Groups eligible to apply for funding include, voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, charities, public bodies such as local councils, health bodies and community councils, schools and companies limited by guarantee
Groups can apply to Investing in Ideas at any time and the application form is short and simple.
For more information regarding this release contact George Anderson at:Big Lottery Fund Press Office (Scotland): 0141 242 1415
Notes to Editors
Across the UK, the Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
SCOTLAND
The Big Lottery Fund has £257 million to invest in Scotland’s communities before 2009 as follows:
£231 million for the Fund’s Unified Investment Plan (Investing in Communities*)
£20 million for the Young People’s Fund
£24 million for Awards for All (until 2006)
The Fund’s future funding plans are detailed in the manifesto ‘Investing in Communities available online at http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/assets/pub_manifesto_scot.pdf
*Investing in Communities is the Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s new funding portfolio which consists of four investment areas:
Growing Community Assets, to help communities obtain, improve, develop, manage, sustain and protect assets that will help them become stronger and more sustainable.
Life Transitions to support people at times of change in their lives – at different life stages and in different circumstances.
Supporting 21st Century Life to provide support to people and communities to deal with the pace of change, enjoy positive relationships, improve quality of life, and establish connections across 21st century society.
Dynamic and Inclusive Communities (DINC) to fund improvements to the capacity and infrastructure of national, intermediary or second tier organisations, to allow communities to engage in civic society and influence civic processes so that they can build strong and more inclusive local communities.
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