Links to Organisations
As well as the dedicated 'funding organisations', the majority of the organisations below are able to provide grant funding for projects. The list is not exhaustive and does not include the huge range of local and national charitable trusts who also play a significant role in the funding field.
Online Grant Finding
As the individual conditions on grant and the range of funders out there is so great, many people use online grant finding tools to help them identify the right funders for their particular project. Listed below are several of the more well known of these. Many do require you to register (for a fee), but these can provide an invaluable resource to a project when it comes to compiling the all important funding package. It is worthwhile having a look at more than one site as they have strengths and weaknesses in relation to different project types.
Statutory
Department of Business Innovation and Skills
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly ODPM)
Department of Media, Culture and Sport
Department for Children, Schools and Families
European Commission - Agriculture and Rural Development
Regional & Local Government
Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership
Dedicated Funding Organisations
The BIG Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out half the money for good causes raised by the National Lottery, giving them a budget of about £630 million a year. The funding covers a huge range of projects, with their stated commitment being to bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need.
The large number of funding schemes and scale of the resources within the BIG Lottery fund itself mean that most projects should certainly look at the lottery as a funding source in the first instance.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was set up by Parliament in 1994 to give grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, regional and national heritage of the United Kingdom. They distribute a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes.
This year, they will allocate around £290 million to projects in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Since 1994, the HLF has awarded £3 billion to more than 15,000 projects across the UK.
They are officially known as a ‘non-departmental public body’. This means that, although they are not a government department, they report to Parliament. Their decisions about individual applications and policies are, however, entirely independent.
Business Advice, Support & Training
The Business Information Point is the Local Enterprise Agency for much of Devon and has been operating as a source of information and advice for businesses since September 1993.
The function of BIP is to assist businesses with their development and sustainability, helping to improve their competitiveness, which, in turn, leads to increased profitability and employment.
BIP holds the contract for the delivery of the Small Business Service (SBS) in West Devon, which enables them to support business start-ups with one-to-one counselling and on-going mentoring.
Other activities include training, grant sourcing, market research, feedback to the Local Authorities and public agencies on the needs of the rural business community, promotion of Devon as an area to live and work and supporting various business and community groups in the region.
South West Lifelong Learning Network has been established to develop and pilot common curriculum frameworks (focussing on Small Businesses / Public Services / Heritage / Tourism / Retail and Hospitality); progression agreements between awarding institutions and an enhanced information, advice, guidance and learner support system. The Network will provide opportunities for further engagement with employers, work based learners and currently hard to reach rural and coastal communities.
The partners engaged in the Network include the University of Plymouth, the Open University, University of Exeter, Arts Institute at Bournemouth and all SW Further Education partner networks as well as a wide range of other organisations such as local authorities, sector skills councils and training providers. Full coverage spanning the whole of the South West region will be achieved through close collaboration with the Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network (WVLLN) led by the University of Bath.
Federation of Small Businesses
Voluntary & Community Sector
South West Regional Infrastructure for Social Enterprise (RISE)
RISE aims to support the development of a sustainable social enterprise sector in the South West of England by the following objectives:
- Ensuring SW social enterprises have access to effective high quality business support
- Facilitating the delivery of social enterprise business support at the most appropriate level throughout the region
- Sharing and providing information and good practice on social enterprise development
- Lobbying and promotion on behalf of social enterprises and support agencies at appropriate levels
The Community Council of Devon (CCD) is an independent charitable company set up to benefit rural communities in 1961. CCD is one of a network of 38 Rural Community Councils (RCCs) organised on a county basis. The CCD team focuses on helping Devon’s towns and villages sustain their local organisations, such as Parish Councils and Village Halls; helping communities plan their own futures; and supporting rural regeneration. They also have cross-cutting work areas of social inclusion and influencing local and national policy and programmes. At any one time CCD is providing a range of general services and a portfolio of projects on specific themes, as well as working in close partnership with organisations who share its aims.
Devon Association of Councils for Voluntary Service
The Devon Association of Councils for Voluntary Service formed as an organisation in 2004. It brings together the Councils for Voluntary Service which operate in the 8 districts of Devon.
Councils for Voluntary Service promote and develop local voluntary and community action and provide support for voluntary and community groups, individual volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations.
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