In our regular feature in the Funding Information North East (FINE) ebulletin we ask funders to tell us about their grant giving over the next few months. Subscribe to our FINE Online ebulletin by getting in touch with jen.thompson@vonne.org.uk
Thanks to Kate Duffy at Heritage Lottery Fund for responses.
What are your current funding priorities?
Redcar and Cleveland and South Tyneside are our current priority areas and we are eager to encourage applications from not-for-profit organisations and groups. We are able to give extra support to applicants in our priority areas and will support you in the application process. Please get in touch with us if you have an idea for a project.
However, we support all kinds of projects from all areas of the North East as long as they aim to make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities. Funding is available to record community stories, breathe new life into local nature reserves, and engage young people with the past and much more.
Are there any applications that you are struggling to bring in that you would encourage?
We would encourage applicants to take a look at our range of small grants programmes as they have a straightforward application process and are appropriate for first time applicants as well more experienced organisations. These grants start from £3,000 and include the following programmes:
- Shared Heritage
- Our Heritage
- First World War: Then and Now: our programme commemorating the centenary of the First World War running until early 2019
- Young Roots: a programme focused on engaging young people (11-25) with themselves
These programmes are open year round and are assessed within eight weeks of submission.
Are there any key pieces of advice you would give groups to help them submit quality applications and increase their chances of being successful?
What to do before making an application:
- Ensure that the project has a clear heritage focus and meets the outcomes of the programme that is being applied to.
- To help demonstrate that there is sufficient need and demand for your project, we recommend you undertake some initial research and consultation. Speak to fellow groups and organisations in your community to make certain there is no overlap in your project plans and that they are keen to be involved.
- Please remember, the Heritage Lottery Fund is more than happy to give advice on a project before an application is made. You can submit a project enquiry or expression of interest form via our website. These go directly to our North East Grants and Development team who aim to give feedback to all enquiries in ten working days.
When is the next deadline and how do groups go about applying?
Our small grants work on a rolling programme basis. Any application that is sent to our First World War, Sharing Heritage, Our Heritage and Young Roots programmes are assessed within an eight week timeframe. Other programmes have set deadlines; for example our upcoming deadline for our Grants for Places of Worship programme is 31st October.
All application deadline information can be found on the grant programme pages of our website.