National Lottery Awards for All Northern Ireland
- Project location: Northern Ireland
- Amount: £300 to £20,000
- A decision in: 12 weeks
- Programme status: Open to applications
We provide funding for projects that bring people together and improve communities across Northern Ireland. You can apply for a grant of between £300 and £20,000 for projects lasting up to 2 years.
What we can fund
Your project should do at least one of the following:
bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
help people reach their potential by offering support at an early stage
support people, communities or organisations facing challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis
You can apply if your organisation is a:
- constituted voluntary or community organisation
- constituted group or club
- registered charity
- not-for-profit company
- community interest company (CIC) limited by guarantee or limited by shares (if limited by shares, you must follow the Regulator of Community Interest Companies’ guidance on sharing profits)
- school, if the project helps the local community, not just the school
- statutory body, such as a council or health trust, but only if the project is not a statutory responsibility
Your income
We prioritise funding for organisations with lower incomes.
Requirements for board or committee members
You must have at least 2 board or committee members who are not related.
We consider people to be related if they:
- are married or in a civil partnership
- are in a long-term relationship or live together
- are part of the same family
If you are a company, you must have at least 2 directors who are not related in any of these ways. This rule also applies to companies that are registered as charities.
We fund a variety of costs to help your project succeed. These must be directly related to your project and can include:
- running costs for your project
- project activity costs
- equipment
- one off events
- staff costs
- training and facilitator costs
- transport
- utilities
- volunteer expenses
- small land or refurbishment projects
We encourage you to think about any costs that help your organisation and community cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
Political activity and campaigning
We can fund some political activity and campaigning. But only if:
- the activity is not party political. This means that it must be about policy, practice, or legislation rather than opposing or supporting a political party
- the activity is meant to help the cause of your organisation and benefit the public or society
We will not fund projects where political activities are the main purpose. But we can fund projects that are mainly about campaigning.
Full Details: National Lottery Awards for All Northern Ireland | The National Lottery Community Fund
