Comic Relief Empowering Change Micro Fund

Deadline: 22-Oct-21

The Community Foundation of Northern Ireland is seeking applications for its Comic Relief Empowering Change Micro Fund to recognize the value of small grants to grassroots community organisations.

The aim of the micro fund is therefore to offer smaller amounts of funding to locally led organisations with income levels of £30,000 or below, to begin to tackle issues that may have been further exacerbated as a result of the covid pandemic, and that align with at least one of Comic Relief’s strategic priority areas.

The fund will offer support for organisations to buy equipment that might be essential to enable support for their beneficiaries, or to deliver some activities, in line with government guidance, or support whatever small costs that the organisation feels they need to continue to support their beneficiaries as best they can. They will not be prescriptive, and will support any costs, providing that the application clearly shows how the funding will support addressing at least one of Comic Relief’s strategic priorities.

Themes

Children Survive and Thrive
Global Mental Health Matters
Fighting for Gender Justice
A Safe Place to Be

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

Funding Information

Grants of between £1,000 to £3,000 will be available, to be spent within a period of 12 months.

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-micro/