ESF Community Grants, deadline 17 February (5pm)

4 January 2012

"Grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 are available for small voluntary and community organisations in Yorkshire and The Humber to provide learning opportunities that help participants move closer to the labour market.   A small organisation is classed as one with no more than 9 full time employees with an annual turnover of £300,000 or less; and not in direct receipt of ESF funding.

Funded activities must be aimed at unemployed individuals aged 18 years and over from the hardest to reach communities.  Applications will be considered from any community that can evidence deprivation e.g.

  • Homelessness groups.
  • Deprived geographical areas
  • People with disabilities and health conditions
  • Lone parents
  • People aged 50 and over
  • People from ethnic minorities
  • Carers
  • Rural areas"

West Yorkshire deadlines for applications:

Friday 17 February 2012 5pm

Friday 22 June 2012 5pm

Friday 19 October 5pm

Find out more and download the application form and guidance notes

Thinking of applying? Here's an update from the funder, including common mistakes made by applicants:

There is a lot of competition for grants.  The success rate for the last round was 25% but this includes applications that were “sifted” (removed) before being assessed because they hadn’t provided all the necessary information.  Incomplete applications are not scored but groups can resubmit their application for the next round of funding with all the necessary information.

Before you apply:

  • Check your group’s annual accounts for the last financial year - was the income over £300,000? If it was, your group can’t apply.
  • Check how many people are employed by your group - is it more than 9 (full-time equivalent)? If it is, your group can’t apply.
  • Volunteer-led groups with no paid staff can apply but remember this is European Funding so there are strict reporting requirements that can be time consuming.  Your group will need to complete detailed records - are you prepared to do this?

Make the most of the time you spend on applying by making sure you:

  • Provide all the information needed - answer all questions and provide all supporting information requested.
  • Do not submit your application by email!
  • Describe your project and the benefits in detail
  • Demonstrate how the project will lead to progression for participants i.e. onto further training or distance travelled.  Answers to this question were relatively weak in the last round of applications.
  • Provide a detailed budget
  • Use the right monitoring system - groups need to use RARPA, not other systems for example the outcomes star. Successful applicants will be able to attend workshops about RARPA.

The next round of funding for West Yorkshire has a budget of around £64,000.  The average grant in the last round of funding (where 14 applications for West Yorkshire were funded) was £9,400.  An average of 30 to 33 beneficiaries were supported per grant.

(Notes from a presentation by HLC at the BIG Lottery Development Worker's briefing on 7 Dec 2011, Sarah Moss SBVS.)

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