Community Grants Funding

The Neighbourhood Engagement Team work closely with the residents of Bury with a focus on empowering local people and enabling them to shape decisions, services and support in their local area. Our Neighbourhood Engagement model covers all six townships of Bury and has a three tiered approach. The first part of our approach involves borough wide digital engagement, using the Bury Directory, where you can access information on local services and activities and One Community, where residents can participate in questionnaires and surveys and share ideas and thoughts. Both of our digital offers are accessible 24hrs a day, 365 daysContinue reading

The second part is township level engagement, which includes Neighbourhood Networking events and our innovative new grant funding model known as 'The Pitch’, which puts communities at the heart of decision making, by giving local people a say and enabling people to make the decisions about how grant funding is applied locally within their community. Finally the third part is how we are engaging people at a ward or neighbourhood level, including our new actions groups, which bring local people, groups and organisations together to develop new idea and drive forward solutions to the issues that matter most to them. There are many action groups already established across Bury but you can work with us within your community and we would love to hear from residents who would like to get involved. For more information or to start an action group contact the at neighbourhood.engagement@bury.gov.uk or tel 01612537455.

Our innovative new approaches to allocating local community grants are empowering locally derived initiatives and ideas and devolving decision making to our people. This offers an asset based approach that recognises and builds on the strengths of our communities and the people living and working within them. This is achieved by using a place based approach that places individuals, families and communities at the heart of what we do.

We are enabling people in Bury to build independence, drive shared decision making and most importantly giving local people a voice, genuine opportunity for co-production and joint delivery of services. As part of the neighbourhood engagement framework, our grant funding allocation is an important way of ‘investing’ in projects delivered by local individuals, families and groups within their neighbourhood to make a difference in their local area.

The current Grant model includes a number of on-going grants and also one off type funding, which are explained below:

Funding At A Glance

13 Jun 2019

Throughout the Borough there are a range of funding opportunities available to be applied for by community groups and individuals. To find out more and how to get involved please see the available funding opportunities in more detail below
The Bury Covid-19 Community fund - Bury Council

23 Apr 2020
Bury Council has recently announced “The Bury Covid19 Community Fund” which has been established to address immediate need arising from the pandemic to support the health and wellbeing of local people. Voluntary and community groups which meet the following criteria will be eligible to apply.

Criteria:
- Funding to resource activity in relation to the Covid19 response specifically, as directed by the Community Hubs, to meet the needs of vulnerable residents.
- Grants will not be provided for general food provision through this fund as this activity is funded through other means as part of the Bury’s Covid response.
- Any grant funding must be spent before the end of September 2020
- Voluntary, community groups and social enterprises are eligible to apply
- Maximum grant available of up to £1,000 per group
- Specifically encouraging bids from the Radcliffe area
Applications will be considered by the Cabinet Portfolio holder for Communities, the Independent Chair of the Voluntary Community and Faith Alliance and GMP representative on a weekly basis. All applicants will be contacted by the Bury VCFA to notify them of the outcome of their bid.
Click here to download the application form
Get Radcliffe Moving

17 Feb 2020
Let's get Radcliffe moving

Apply for funding - Volunteers, community-groups and schools can apply for funding to run activites and events that encourage the people of Radcliffe to be more active, more often.
- Community groups and individuals can be awarded up to £500
- Groups working in partnership with others can be awarded up to £1500
- Schools can be awarded up to £1000
If it helps get Radcliffe people moving...that counts
It's simple and easy to apply. No forms to fill in, just tell us your ideas. Why not send us a short video?
For full details visit www.buryvcfa.org.uk/grants #getmoving or email Neil Gibson at Neil.Gibson@buryvcfa.org.uk or phone on 0161 518 5550

That counts is delivered by GM Moving with funds from Sport England - thatcounts.co.uk
Voluntary, Community & Faith Alliance (VCFA) Funding - NEW FUNDING...

by Lauren, 29 May 2019
Bury VCFA is delighted to announce that the 2020/21 Standing Together Fund is now open for applications.
The main focus of the Fund is to support Community Safety. Awards of up to £5,000 are available, with awards of up to £10,000 available for exceptional or partnership projects.
For guidelines and an application form, visit: https://www.buryvcfa.org.uk/grant

Voluntary, Community & Faith Alliance (VCFA) Funding

Aims
Bury VCFA provides a range of development support and advice to local voluntary, community and faith groups. This includes how to identify potential funders, interpreting funding criteria and how to prepare quality funding bids plus project monitoring and evaluation requirements.

If you have already written a funding bid Bury VCFA can act has the critical friend and read through your application prior to submission. If you are looking for funding we can do a funding search and help you match specific funders to your project. We can also help with how to set up a new community group or charity and support you with business planning, policy development and good governance.

Voice of VCFA
1. To maintain strong channels of communication between VCF groups, commissioners and statutory providers
2. To provide representation at a strategic level for the VCF sector
3. To represent the interests of the VCF members through exercising influence on strategic meeting/networks to influence local voluntary sector strategy
Enable

To enable smaller VCF groups to participate in tendering/contracting by acting as a prime contractor on their behalf

Administer funding on behalf of smaller VCF groups

To lead on or co-ordinate joint applications between groups to access funding

To manage projects and developmental work relevant to VCF work

Support

To provide advice and support to VCF organisations to apply for funding and deliver projects

To support the involvement of volunteers and promote good practice

To provide learning and personal development opportunities for VCF staff, trustees and volunteers

To facilitate and improve the co-operation between voluntary service organisations.

Information

To collate and disseminate information to and from the VCF Sector

To provide VCF organisations with opportunities to discuss and exchange experience and information

To ensure dissemination of strategic issues to the wider sector and thus local communities

To read the latest Volunteering Bulletin please click here

To read the latest funding bulletin please click here

Covid-19 Funding

Covid-19 Funding support programmes

For further information on Funding opportunities with the VCFA please contact:
admin@buryvcfa.org.uk

Or visit the website: www.buryvcfa.org.uk/contact/
Community Capital Fund (Previously Social Capital Fund)

by Lauren, 04 Jun 2020

Community Capital Fund (previously known as Social Capital Fund)

How much and what is the fund?
Bury Council in conjunction with the previous leader of the council, Rishi Shori has allocated £600,000 to communities to fund community capital projects (nominally £100,000 per Neighbourhood). This is a one off fund to be used over a three year period.
Criteria
The criteria is set around improving the lives, health and wellbeing of local people and via an application process. An applicant would have to clearly demonstrate how the Community Capital Fund (previously known as Social Capital Fund) would be used to enable delivery of a project or scheme to meet this criteria.
Who could apply for funding?
Any person, community group (constituted or none constituted) or voluntary community and faith organisation (not for religious purposes) in Bury could apply for the funding where it is demonstrated the needs of the criteria are met.

Please note - Important Information

Applicants for the Community Capital Fund can apply for up to £10,000 for their project or scheme.
The Community Capital Fund (previously known as the Social Capital Fund) will only fund individual groups up to £10,000. Therefore, if in year one your group was successful in securing £10,000, you will not be considered this year.
However, if you have received less than this, you will be able to apply for the balance in year two - for example, if your application last year was for £10,000 and you were awarded only £5000, you will be able to apply for £5,000 this year, for the same or a different project.
Application Process
The application process will be open on Tuesday 8th October 2019 and close on the 22nd November 2019 (12 noon) Those successful at the application stage will be put forward to a panel. Following the panel decision applicants would be notified if they were successful or not and if successful how much funding they are awarded. A Service Level Agreement would be drawn up outlining detail of the monies awarded and project deliverables. The neighbourhood engagement team will help support applicants to implement their project where possible and measure the impacts of the project on people’s lives.
When does the funding run:
The funding for 2019 is currently underway and application entries have closed.
How will our citizens know about what has been funded?
The Neighbourhood Engagement Team will update this dedicated page on One Community linked to the Bury Directory, council website and partner websites such as the VCFA. This will be titled community grant funding and will host information on grant funding opportunities in Bury that the Council are linked into and also details on those funding applications that were successful.

For further information contact the Neighbourhood engagement team on 0161 253 5127, email: neighbourhood.engagement@bury.gov.uk
The Pitch Funding

by Lauren, 04 Jun 2020
Pitch Community Fund 2019/20
Aims/priorities:
Bury Council’s ‘Pitch’ Community Funding was launched in 2017 and is available to constituted and non-constituted groups, special interest groups and residents who are undertaking projects that will contribute to improving the health and well being of local people within their community.
Projects must be delivered in the area identified for local residents and should be community led and demonstrate that they help people to help themselves and others live a good life. The grant must be spent within 6 months at the very latest but the activities can continue afterwards.
Who can apply?
Groups do not need to be constituted, but will need their own group account or nominate a recognised organisation e.g. (Church, Community Centre, School) to act as a banker.
The Process
If you have an idea for a project you will be asked to complete an application form with all the relevant information about your project, including how it will benefit the health & well being of local people. If applicable you will then be asked to come and present your project idea to members of the local community at the relevant Pitch event.
New for Summer 2019 is the inclusion of an online vote, where you will have the opportunity to submit a short 3 minute video about your project, and or a side of A4 describing/showcasing your project, before people are given the opportunity to vote through One Community for their favourite projects ahead of the public Pitch event. By voting online it means you will be unable to vote on the day of The Pitch but will still be more than welcome to attend and network with other groups and members of the public. On the closing day of each event, the chance to cast your vote will be removed as of 12 noon and if you still wish to vote you must attend the event, please check below for more details
What happens at The Pitch?
- Applicants present a 3 minute pitch about their project
- Attendees are asked to mark FIVE projects on the ballot paper (Vote for three in Radcliffe)
- Votes are counted and results announced at the event
Who can vote?
Anyone who lives, works or has an interest in each of our six neighbourhoods are eligible to vote at their respective Pitch event or through the preceding online vote. All groups applying for Pitch funding should actively promote their project idea within their community, to encourage support from local people at the event and the public vote.
By promoting your project idea you will help the community to better understand what potential local projects are being planned for their areas and encourage support for your project at the Pitch event and online vote.
By voting online it means you will be unable to vote on the day of The Pitch but will still be more than welcome to attend and network with other groups and members of the public.
Grant amount:
Applicants can apply for up to a maximum of £1,500.
When does the funding run?
The Pitch funding runs twice each year, one of which taking part around February/March and the other later in the year around September time, dates will be announced here on the community grants funding page.

To view winners for The Pitch September 2019 click here - LATEST!
To view winners for The Pitch - Bury East 2017-2019
To view winners for The Pitch - Bury West 2017-2019
To view winners for The Pitch - Prestwich 2017-2019
To view winners for The Pitch - Radcliffe 2017-2019
To view winners for The Pitch - Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor 2017-2019
To view winners for The Pitch - Whitefield and Unsworth 2017-2019

Pitch 2020 Funding events will be posted here
Contact Information:
For further information please contact your respective Neighbourhood Engagement Coordinator:
Bury East, Ramsbottom, Tottington, North Manor: Kim Griffiths 0161 253 6531 K.Griffiths@bury.gov.uk
Bury West, Radcliffe:Christine Maksymowski 0161 253 7941 C.Maksymowski@bury.gov.uk
Prestwich, Whitefield Unsworth: Kathy Hoyle 0161 253 7931 K.Hoyle@bury.gov.uk
Elected Member Discretionary Budget

04 Jun 2020

Elected Member Discretionary Budgets were introduced in 2017 to enhance the ability of our Ward Members, as democratically elected representatives, to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of their local communities. Each Elected Member has an annual budget of £1000 which they can use to support local community led projects and initiatives within their Ward or Township.
To enquire about the possibility of accessing this funding for your project please either make contact with your respective Ward Members or contact the Neighbourhood Engagement Team at neighbourhood.engagement@bury.gov.uk for further information.
You can find a list of your respective ward members by clicking here
Funding Top Tips

29 May 2019
Golden Rules
Make a call
- Before making a start on your application, call the funder to make sure your project meets their criteria.
Take time
- Don’t rush your application. Take time to complete the application carefully, making sure you answer all the questions. A rushed application is likely to be a rejected application.
Take advice
- Often funders will provide advice and resources to help you complete the application form. Make sure you read any guidance notes before you start your application. Ask friends or colleagues who may have been involved with similar projects.
Take care
- Quality counts when it comes to writing your bid. Ask someone to proof read your application to check for any errors. You could also ask a ‘critical friend’ to take an independent view of your bid – would they give you the money?
Think 'outcomes'
- Most funders will want to know about ‘outcomes’ – what difference will your project make? Don’t confuse this with ‘output’ or what you will actually deliver.
Evidence 'need'
- Funders will want to see evidence that there is a need for your project. What statistics and other information can you use to support your case? Is your project in a deprived area? Can you identify a gap in local services for your community?
Why us?
- Funders are looking for the biggest possible impact and so will often look favourably on projects that can demonstrate that no other source of funding is available to them. You need to show why your project is the one for them.
Partnership working
- Funders will look to see if your project supports or compliments other projects. Demonstrating that you are working in partnership with others will be to your advantage.
Make milestones
- Funders will want to see the timescale for your project. Include the key milestones for development in your application so they can see how you intend to deliver it.
Think 'future'
- You will be expected to show that you’ve thought about how you will fund the project in the future. They will not be interested in funding a project that folds as soon as the funding ends. Draw up plans to make your project sustainable.
Good Luck!