Deadline: 17-Feb-22
The Leeds Community Foundation is inviting applications for the Ideas that Change Lives – Kickstart and Development Grants Program.
The Ideas that Change Lives program offers business guidance and financial investment to help organizations and individuals develop socially enterprising ideas which support people in Leeds with care and support needs to improve their health, wellbeing and remain independent.
The Foundation wants to support ideas which made a real impact with:
- Older people
- People with a learning disability, physical disability or sensory impairment
- People with mental health needs
- People with alcohol or substance use issues
- People with long term health conditions
- Carers
- Young people with support needs in transition between children’s and adult services
Funding Information
The grant size for Kickstart grants is £ 500- £ 4,000 and for Development grants is £ 4,001- £ 15,000 for 12 months.
What can the Fund support?
Kick Start grants are for organizations with a socially enterprising idea that supports people to live independently in their own homes, but who need support to develop the idea into a full business plan. They are looking to fund new social enterprises / socially enterprising activities that can become financially sustainable beyond the end of the investment process, either through generating income, charging or being commissioned.
The Kick Start funding can be used to carry out research, set up a pilot or feasibility study, access expertise or consultancy, or any other activity that helps to develop your idea further. If available you will need to submit: a cashflow projection and a business plan with your application; or if not available, you will need to outlined when you will be developing them.
Types of Activities
They encourage all applications to consider:
- Alternatives to traditional day care and support services
- Brokerage, supporting people with care needs to manage their personal budget and / or access the services which meet their needs
- Health and wellbeing promoting activities
- Employment related opportunities
- Any other activities that enable people in Leeds with care and support needs to remain independent
- How they will evidence learning and demonstrate and evaluate outcomes from the project; applicants should consider including costs for external evaluation or additional internal capacity to ensure they can effectively report on this
- Covid-19 regulations and if projects need to be adapted to meet the guidance
- Full Cost Recovery, including a relevant portion of management costs and overheads
- Staff costs, which should wherever possible include paying staff at least the real Living Wage
- Costs which enable the project to be fully inclusive and accessible (EG transport, food, childcare)
- How they env isage a successful project could be sustained after this funding ends
Eligibility Criteria
- Incorporated community groups such as CIOs, CICs and charitable companies from the third sector that:
- Are registered with the Charity Commission, Companies House or Mutuals Public Register (FCA)
- Have a constitution or other relevant governance document
- Have a management committee / board of directors / trustees of at least three unrelated people, none of whom have significant control
- A copy of your most recent annual accounts or financial records showing your organization’s balance of funds, income and reserves
- Have a bank account under the name of the group with at least two unrelated signatories (if your organization doesn’t have its own bank account, but does meet all of the other criteria, please contact us to discuss how they can work around this)
- Are based in or supporting people living in the Leeds Metropolitan District Area
- Have a Children and Young People and / or a Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy and an Equal Opportunities Policy or similar
- If organizing or running public events, festivals etc groups will be expected to have relevant insurance and comply with all required health and safety, food handling / preparation and other local and national statutory regulations for such activity.
- Charities that are registered with the Charity Commission but are not an incorporated structure can also apply. They must also fulfil the bullet points. However, grants cannot be used to pay staff that are directly employed by the charity.
- Small unincorporated and unregistered community groups can apply for a maximum of £ 5,000. Unincorporated, unregistered groups can only apply if their annual income is less than £ 10,000, and if securing the grant does not take them this threshold for the year. You would be expected to have set up / or be in the process of setting up a formal legal structure with social and / or environmental aims using the support.
For more information, visit https://www.leedscf.org.uk/grants/ideas-that-change-lives/