Deadline: 20-Jul-20
The Leeds Community Foundation is currently accepting applications for the Ideas that Change Lives – Kickstart and Development Grants.
The Ideas that Change Lives programme offers business guidance and financial investment to help organisations and individuals develop socially enterprising ideas which support people in Leeds with care and support needs.
The programme is funded through Leeds City Council Adult Social Care’s “Better Lives” initiative, which aims to ensure services help people to live independently. The other key strand of Better Lives is the LeedsDirectory.org, which lists over 1,500 organisations and services including quality assured domestic services such as cleaning, gardening and personal care. The Directory also includes leisure, lifestyle, health and other general services, which can also support independence.
Ideas that Change Lives provides business support and development funding to individuals and organisations with socially enterprising ideas, because they think that social enterprise can be an important way of meeting the needs of adults with care and support needs, and helping them to live independently.
Focus of the fund
- The Foundation want to support the development of social enterprises which help adults in Leeds with care and support needs to improve their health, improve their wellbeing and remain independent.
- They are particularly welcoming innovate and creative ideas of working and engaging beneficiaries that are being developed as a result of social distancing measures being imposed due to Covid-19 as well as applications that benefit Black and Minority Ethnic populations.
- They want 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
The types of activity they seek to develop social enterprises to undertake include:
- 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, and
- Any other activities that enable people in Leeds with care and support needs to remain independent.
Support Available
- Business Support is provided by experienced social enterprise business advisors from SEE Ahead. It is available at any stage of the process from developing your idea, drafting a business plan or applying for investment, to implementing the idea, i.e. to all applicants.
- Financial Investment is provided in the form of grants. There are two levels of investment, which can fund capital items or revenue costs. Funding can support pilot projects and start-up costs, or contribute to expanding or developing your current trading or enterprising activity.
- Kick Start Investment (£500 – £4,000) for organisations 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. The Foundation is 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.
- Development Investment (£4,001 – £15,000): available for services/activities that support people with care and support needs to remain independent. If you apply for this, they would expect you to have a costed business plan and already be an incorporated body with social aims and profits used for social aims. The service must be capable of being delivered on a sustainable basis through income generated from trading e.g. through being contracted to deliver services or individuals paying for the service directly through personal budgets or self-funding.
Development funding recipients will be required to access the networking and training opportunities available through ItCL as a condition of the grant. If previously awarded a Kick Start Award, you must have spent the funding awarded and reported on impact before you can apply for Development Investment.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications are invited from community groups, charities, social enterprises or other charitable organisations from the third sector looking to develop and/or implement ideas and services to help people to live independently in their own homes. Projects must have a clear economic focus around generating income. The service itself does not have to be located in Leeds, but the beneficiaries must be Leeds residents.
- Organisations must:
- Have a constitution or other relevant governance document
- Have a management committee/board of directors/trustees of at least three unrelated people
- Have an up to date child/vulnerable adult safeguarding policy and an equal opportunities policy
- Have a bank account under the name of the group with at least two unrelated signatories.
- Have a Safeguarding Policy for Vulnerable Adults.
- Individuals in the final stages of setting up a constituted group or adopting a more formal legal structure (Community Interest Company, Charitable Incorporated Organisation, etc.) can apply for Kick Start Investment only but they must set up the organisation formally as a result of any grant offered. In addition, successful groups will need to produce a Covid-19 policy to ensure social distancing and the other guidelines are implemented.
Exclusions
Grants will not be awarded to or for:
- For-profit organisations, statutory organisations (e.g. schools and hospitals) or overseas organisations
- Retrospective funding (activity and costs that have already taken place)
- Grant-making to other organisations and/or individuals
- Activity targeted at a particular group (ethnic, gender, religious etc.) without a good justification for this
- Activity that promotes a particular political or religious point of view
- Activity primarily for the benefit of animals
For more information, visit https://leedscf.org.uk/grants/ideas-that-change-lives/