Comic Relief Empowering Change Core Fund

Deadline: 22-Oct-21

The Community Foundation of Northern Ireland is seeking applications for its Comic Relief Empowering Change Core Fund to give priority to smaller, locally based and local run groups or organisations.

This could include core costs, and can include expenditure that may not be connected to delivering projects. They want to invest in organisations, enabling them to carry out this important work, without being too prescriptive around the costs that they will support to enable this.

They know securing flexible funding, and in particular core funding, can be tough, and they want to use this programme to help support those doing much needed work in their local communities, particularly given the challenges facing the sector, and those organisations that are addressing the issues that have been further exacerbated as a result of the covid pandemic.

Priorities

Depending on the quality and volume of applications received priority will be given to:

Those in geographically underfunded areas which currently include Mid and East Antrim, Antrim and Newtownabbey, and Ards and North Down Local Authority areas
Projects that might support more than one Comic Relief strategic area
Those with lived experience, where people directly affected by the issues are involved in all levels of the organisation
Those with innovative approaches, to respond to clearly defined need
Those demonstrating effective practice, with evidence that the methodology being used will be successful
Those who do not have a current live Comic Relief funded grant through the Community Foundation

Themes

Children Survive and Thrive
Global Mental Health Matters
Fighting for Gender Justice
A Safe Place to Be
They will focus on the following beneficiaries:
- Asylum Seekers
- LGBTQ+ Community with special emphasis on those living in rural areas
- Irish Travellers

Funding Information

Grants of between £15,000 to £30,000 will be available, to be spent over a period of 2 years.

Criteria

The funding shall be used to support groups that can evidence a sustained beneficial impact on at least one of the strategic areas.
Priority will be given to small, locally based groups or organisations in Northern Ireland, that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community, and are undertaking actions as a means of addressing these needs, in line with at least one of Comic relief’s strategic priority areas.

Eligibility Criteria

You must be a locally led and based organisation. This means that you are based within the area you are carrying out activities and have local people involved in the running of the organisation.
Your organisation will need to have been running activities for a minimum of 12 months.
- Constituted organisations with charitable purposes operating within Northern Ireland
- Organisations whose income is £500,000 or below
To be considered for funding you will need to:
- Clearly define the need you are addressing, and relate that to at least one of the Comic Relief priority areas, and how the funding will enable this
- Clearly demonstrate the benefit of your activities to local people, and how your work has both been, or will be, supported in terms of both design and delivery by those with lived experience of the particular issue you are addressing

For more information, visit https://communityfoundationni.org/grants/comic-relief-empowering-change-programme/