Deadline: 22-Oct-23
The Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation is seeking applications from not-for-profit groups who deliver projects or services in Luton.
The Luton Citizens’ Fund is administered by the Bedfordshire & Luton Community Foundation (BLCF), on behalf of Luton Council (LBC) who are committed to equitable funding through The Fairness Taskforce.
The fund observes the principles of Participatory Budgeting (PB) which is a form of citizen participation in which citizens are involved in the process of deciding how public money is spent. Community involvement is at the core of its design and this fund will enable local residents to decide which community organisations should receive funding.
Thematic Areas
- A town built on Fairness and Social Justice
- This theme is for projects supporting and promoting equality, diversity and social inclusion.
- Improving health inequalities
- This theme is to support groups who are working to improve health inequalities and the root causes of poverty across the town. This includes, but is not limited to, projects supporting people with their mental health and activities aimed at reducing obesity.
- Improving the lives of Children and Young People
- Projects which help children and young people have an improved quality of life through education, play and home life. Some funding for this area has also been provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire and projects which empower young people to seek positive change can also apply.
- Working towards carbon net-zero
- Funding will be made available to support groups in achieving net-zero carbon emissions and to support environmental projects.
- A town that works for everyone
- Funding will be made available to support groups working in the work and skills sector, to improve access to work and educational attainment.
Funding Information
- Grant Budget: awards of up to £4,000
Eligibility Criteria
They are only able to consider applications from not-for-profit constituted groups that have clear charitable aims. Applications from the following types of organisations/groups will be considered:
- Registered UK charities, including charitable incorporated organisations.
- Constituted Community groups and small non-registered charities.
- Companies Limited by Guarantee with clear charitable aims and without share capital.
- Community Interest Companies Limited by Guarantee without share capital, social enterprises and community benefit societies
- Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs/PTFAs) and schools and nurseries where the funding is for extracurricular activities and not replacing statutory funding.
- Churches and other religious organisations (if the funded activity is not for religious purposes)
- You are not applying for retrospective costs.
- You will be supporting residents in at least one of the wards in the area you are bidding for.
- You are not looking for a direct replacement for your statutory obligation and public funding.
- You do not hold a significant amount of free financial reserves.
- You are not using the funds for an appeal, sponsoring, or raising funds to redistribute to other causes.
- You are an organization with under £250,000 budget per year (excluding educational establishments)
Ineligible Work
- Projects that were funded last year through the Luton Citizen Fund / Community Recovery Fund that are not substantially different.
- General appeals or sponsorship
- Work normally funded from statutory sources or undertaken by or on behalf of statutory bodies.
- Work undertaken by/on behalf of schools, colleges or universities as part of their statutory curricular activities.
- Work where the main beneficiaries are animals, and the project does not benefit people (e.g., horse- riding schemes for disabled people might be considered)
- Work which does not directly benefit people living in the area of benefit.
- Holidays, trips, or expeditions in the UK or overseas
- Retrospective grants i.e., for items already purchased or activity that has already started.
- Medical research and equipment for statutory or private healthcare
- Applications that support the furtherance of any one religion or political party
- Projects that cannot prove the public benefit (for example a project in a school which won’t engage the wider public)
Ineligibility Criteria
This fund is not open for applications from:
- Applications where those benefiting do not live in the areas, as defined within this document above.
- National charities and their affiliates that are not providing clear local benefits.
- Individuals.
- Private Businesses, Commercial ventures, and ‘Community Interest Companies limited by Shares’.
- Organisations or activities that promote political parties or the propagation of religion or conduct of worship. (Religious organisations may apply for activities that demonstrate wider public benefit.)
- Organisations or activities which are inconsistent with public policy, i.e., the promotion of terrorism or of sectarian interests.
- Projects that should be funded from statutory sources.
- Applications from Local Authorities, Parish and Town Councils.
- Organisations that can’t fully complete all sections of the grant application form, provide all other requested information and documents or who do not answer any subsequent questions put to them.
- Organisations that do not have a building society or bank account in the name of the organisation
- Organisations not based in Luton.
- Organisations with over £250,000 budget per year, excluding educational establishments like schools and nurseries.
For more information, visit Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation.