Deadline: 6-Jun-23
The National Express Foundation is currently accepting applications for its 2023 Funding Programme.
The Foundation was created following the public order disturbances, which highlighted the issues facing young people living in inner-city areas. The disturbances involved a disproportionate number of people in the 15-24 year age group, with unemployment, boredom and lack of motivation all cited as factors. More than ten years on, these factors are still as relevant now as they were when the Foundation launched.
Young people across the UK are also facing new challenges, particularly those associated with daily living. The cost of living has increased, key youth services, such as local community centres, continue to reduce in numbers, and the consequences of the pandemic and reduced social interaction and education are still being felt by young people, particularly from a wellbeing perspective.
They are aware that local community groups are working hard to combat these issues however, continual funding cuts and barriers to accessing grants can make it challenging to provide key community services to young people. With these issues in mind, they believe the National Express Foundation 2023 funding is best served supporting local community groups who conduct meaningful community activity and have an overarching focus on providing support to young people.
To help groups that support young people continue to build back from the pandemic, the trustees of the Foundation have chose to use its 2023 funding round to support initiatives which fit into one or more of the following funding themes:
- Diversionary Activities: Initiatives that specifically focus on engaging with young people, providing them support and detering anti-social behaviour.
- Environmental: Initiatives could include but are not limited to: encouraging young people to engage with the outdoors, initiatives that support the environment and involve youth groups
- Employability: Initiatives that directly or indirectly equip young people with skills, experience or qualifications that will support them gaining access to employment.
- Wellbeing: Initiatives that positively impact or provide support to young people through: physical activity, mental health and/ or social interaction.
Funding Information
- They are asking community groups to apply for specific sums of money, saying what they could deliver for either £1,000, £2,500 or £5,000.
Eligible Projects
- Applications which:
- Focus on young people aged between 15 and 24
- Meet the requirement to support young people as they continue to build out of the pandemic
- Involve or benefit a large number of young people – a minimum of ten
- Deliver a sustained programme of activity over a number of months
- Ensure that anyone employed on the projects is paid a minimum of the prevailing Real Living Wage rate
- Have specific key milestones or dates that allow the Foundation to get involved with the project
- Show how you will seek to minimise your impact on the environment
- Provide a clear plan on how they will use social media to promote the project
- Are unique to National Express Foundation and they are the sole funding source for the activity
- Provide a clear budget breakdown
- Set out a plan for measuring the impact of the activity
Eligibility Criteria
- The Funding Programme in 2023 is open to any of the below applicant types across the United Kingdom, providing they are able to meet the applicant requirements
- Applicant Types
- An Unincorporated Association
- Charity
- Community Interest Company (CIC)
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Voluntary Group
- Sport and Community Clubs
- Applicant Requirements
- Applicants have an annual turnover of less than £250,000
- Applicants are able to provide a reference from a local person or group who can provide supporting evidence of the community activity they do
- Funding applications from organisations who turnover more than £250,000 annually will be considered, providing they can guarantee match funding in-kind from another organisation or grant.
- Applicant Types
Ineligible Projects
- Applications which:
- Involve one-off activities – one day/weekend/week, and therefore lack key milestones for the project
- Don’t set out specific details of what you aim to do with participants
- Only benefit a small number of young people – less than ten
- Do not provide clear budget information – a breakdown of what will be spent
- Seek sponsorship for an event
- Offer little opportunity for stakeholder or Foundation engagement
- Projects that are unsustainable
- Do not provide evaluation or measurement for impact of the activity
For more information, visit National Express Foundation.