Deadline: 4-Jul-22
The Leeds Community Foundation is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund.
Leeds Community Foundation are pleased to be opening a new fund in partnership with Leeds City Council 100% Digital Leeds; grants will fund the development and use of sustainable interventions which support digital inclusion in Leeds.
Successful Grant holders will also be offered support with their projects from 100% Digital Leeds and will be contacted about this when grants are awarded.
Funding is available for organisations who are working to create and improve digital access for digitally excluded people in their communities. Groups should demonstrate that as part of their standard work they can promote the benefits of being online, upskill people with essential digital skills and enable online access by providing equipment, software or training.
The fund will support proposals which build organisational capacity and proposals should form part of your everyday work in a sustainable manner meaning that people you support will have access to digital spaces and command of digital skills for the long-run. Grants will not be awarded to short-term, time limited projects, e.g., a course or 10 skills-building sessions on how to use the internet.
Funding Information
- Applicants can apply for a 1-year fixed grant of £10,000. The grant can be used to part-fund or fully-fund a wide range of activities.
- Decisions will be communicated in mid-August 2022 and payments will be made to successful applicants within 3 weeks of the required documentation being received and any conditions being met. Projects should begin in September 2022.
What can be funded?
Investing in digital equipment or connectivity that can be used across your services
- Staff capacity (e.g, increasing staff numbers or the hours they work) to develop and implement digital inclusion interventions (not the delivery of time-limited projects)
- A Test and Learn approach that informs the development of digital inclusion interventions tailored to the specific needs of a community
- Implementation of existing digital inclusion initiatives such as Digital Health Hubs
- Establishing self-sustaining digital skills support sessions e.g., staff capacity to set up peer support systems or training volunteers etc
They will encourage all applications to consider:
- How they will evidence learning and demonstrate and evaluate outcomes; applicants should consider including costs for internal evaluation
- 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 (E.G., transport, food, childcare)
- How they envisage the proposal implemented will 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 organisation’s balance of funds, income and reserves.
- Have a bank account under the name of the group with at least two unrelated signatories.
- Are based in or supporting people living in the Leeds Metropolitan District Area
- Have an income of £450,000 or under in the most recent financial year.
- Where applicable, have a relevant Safeguarding Policy and an Equal Opportunities Policy or similar
- If organising 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 above bullet points. However, grants cannot be used to pay staff that are directly employed by the charity.
For more information, visit https://www.leedscf.org.uk/grants/the-leeds-digital-inclusion-fund/