Deadline: 18 May 2020
The Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme forms part of a wider programme aimed at promoting civic pride within communities and improving environmental quality. The Small Grants Scheme is a partnership between Local Councils, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, McDonald’s UK and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
The Small Grants Scheme is about encouraging practical, local action towards building more sustainable communities. The scheme will support volunteers to:
- Contribute to the development of civic pride within a community with a focus on environmental improvement.
- Encourage actions and projects that enable Pollution Solutions, Biodiversity Recovery and Climate Action.
- Enhance the environmental management of a local area.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of communities whilst helping to improve and/or maintain public spaces.
- Improve the quality of their local environment by reducing littering and dog fouling through effective and innovative means.
In light of COVID-19, the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme will make available funding to community groups enabling them to respond according to local need for people impacted through reduced contact with society. Community groups understand the and fits with the ethos and spirit of the Live Here Love Here programme. Where people and organisations have solutions or ideas, they want to hear from them. An additional criterion has therefore been added to the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme this year:
- Support actions that help care for those in need as a result of COVID-19.
A range of much needed community help that could be supported under this new criterion including, but not limited to:
- Emerging issues in the community as a result of the continuing threat of COVID-19.
- Grow Your Own projects and materials (supplemented by online webinars/classes for e.g. on seed collection, seasonal food growing and maintenance, cookery, foraging etc.) to encourage new skills development, extend virtual environmental education opportunities to the wider community and to provide positive interventions to tackle loneliness and isolation in response to COVID-19.
- Applications welcome from newly formed COVID-19 action groups to act as a community hub and to distribute growing kits to families/individuals in the wider community.
Funding Information
Grants will be awarded between £500 and £5,000. Higher levels of funding are only likely to be awarded to outstanding projects.
What type of Projects will the Scheme Consider?
- Proposed projects must engage volunteers and community groups to deliver practical action and must meet one or more of the following objectives:
- Contribute to the development of civic pride within a community with a focus on environmental improvement.
- Encourage actions and projects that enable Pollution Solutions, Biodiversity Recovery and Climate Action.
- Enhance the environmental management of a local area.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of communities whilst helping to improve and/or maintain public spaces.
- Improve the quality of their local environment by reducing littering and dog fouling through effective and innovative means.
- Relate to environmental improvement in coastal areas or inland waterways.
- Support actions that help care for those in need as a result of the COVID-19
- The Small Grants Scheme is open to all groups including those which have previously received grants through the scheme. Partnership working is strongly encouraged. Workshops and/or training may be funded if it demonstrates that the project meets the Small Grants Scheme objectives and will benefit the wider community.
- Projects will be assessed in the following areas: environmental/community outcomes; meeting objectives; project goals; project need; volunteer involvement; community benefit; partnership working; long term impact; value for money and leverage. All items purchased through the Small Grants Scheme must benefit all members of the community.
- The primary focus of the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme is to equip and support volunteers and community groups to deliver practical environmental action in their locality.
- While the items below may be part of your project, the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme will not fund these items:
- Insurance
- Salaries/Staff time
- Vehicle mileage
- Match funding for other projects
- Holiday schemes
- Promotion of religion, this includes organisations whose main purpose includes advancement of religion
- Party political activity
Eligibility Criteria
- The Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme is open to:
- Unconstituted groups
- Volunteer, community groups and NGOs (most notably those providing support to vulnerable groups, families and individuals in the community)
- All schools and third level education organisations
- Youth groups and sports clubs
- Foodbanks
- Not for Profit Organisations
- Applications are particularly welcome from groups who have not previously received support through the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme.
- Newly formed community groups tackling issues relating to COVID-19.
- To be eligible groups:
- Should be embedded in their local community
- Primary aims and objectives focused on benefiting the community
- Should aim to reduce littering and dog fouling through effective and innovative means
- Should aim to create a positive legacy within their community.
- Grants are available to volunteer groups across Northern Ireland. However, limited funding is available in Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area and Causeway Coast and Glens Council area.
For more information, visit https://www.liveherelovehere.org/cgi-bin/generic?instanceID=30