Advance notice of small grant programme for up to £5,000 per project to improve community spaces and deliver sustainable activities for communities across the UK

On 22 June, we will open a new funding programme called Places Called Home which is a partnership between The National Lottery Community and the world’s largest home furnishing retailer.

Places Called Home will offer eligible groups funding awards of between £1,000 and £5,000 for activities and equipment that meet at least two of the following criteria:

  • Build on the relationships created during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase community activity and the number of people taking part.
  • Encourage people to work together, creating opportunities for communities to live in a sustainable and healthy way.
  • Raise awareness amongst the public of the importance of connected households, neighbourhoods and resilient communities.
  • Develop a new idea, activity or way to come together that has emerged in response to the pandemic.
  • Revive or redesign community and common spaces to encourage shared community activities.

Places Called Home opens for applications on 22 June 2021, and will close to applications when we have received 1,500 applications or on 6 July 2021, whichever comes first.

You can apply online from 22 June, following this link https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding or you can email placescalledhome@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk to request a pdf form to complete offline if you’d prefer.

If you’ve not applied for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund before, you’ll need to ensure that your group or organisation is eligible to apply to us. If your group or organisation is NOT eligible, even if we love your idea we cannot award a funding.

What is an eligible organisation?
You must be one of the following to submit an application:

  • voluntary and community organisation
  • constituted group or club
  • registered charity
  • charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
  • not-for-profit company
  • community interest company (CIC)
  • school (as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school)
  • statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish and community council)
  • community benefit society.

We cannot accept applications from:

  • individuals
  • sole traders
  • organisations that are aimed at generating profits primarily for private distribution
  • organisations based outside the UK
  • one individual or organisation applying on behalf of another
  • people under the age of 18

In addition:

  • You must have a UK bank account or building society account for your group or organisation. It needs to be in the legal name of your organisation, with at least two unconnected people who are able to manage the account.
  • It must be with a UK based bank or Building Society which is covered and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. They must also be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
  • The account must require at least two unconnected and unrelated signatories to authorise all withdrawals and transactions.
  • You will need to submit a bank statement that is less than 3 months old with your online application.
  • Your organisation should have at least two unconnected people on the board or committee. By unconnected, we mean not a relation by blood, marriage, in a long-term relationship, or people living together at the same address.
  • You will need to give the details of a main contact (usually the person completing the application form) and a senior contact (usually someone on your Board or equivalent) – their full names, date of birth and their home addresses (not the address of the organisation)
  • You will also need to consider how your project will keep people safe and confirm that you have an up to date safeguarding policy in place. For more info on safeguarding please take a look at our website.
  • You will also need to make sure your project is addressing any potential barriers for people to take part, including communities experiencing ethnic or racial inequity, discrimination or inequality, disabled people, Travellers, LGBTQ+ people, and people who are seeking asylum or who are refugees.

We can only contact those who we already know about and this is not an exhaustive list. In order to reach as many organisations as possible who may not have applied to the Fund before, please share this email with other groups and organisations who you think might benefit from this advanced notice.  However, we ask that you do not share this on public forums (such as social media, websites etc) before 22 June 2021.

For more information about the Fund’s commitment to equality of opportunity please see our website https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/customer-service/equalities

Best wishes,

The Places Called Home team