Grants and other funding

There are some great local resources available if you are looking to set up or expand a community group or project.

On the council website there is a regular update on community funding which lists the national, regional and local funding that is currently available. It won’t capture each and every available fund, but is fairly comprehensive. It is split into four sections – key opportunities, capacity building, main small funds and lucky dip.

Also useful is the Capital Community Foundation’s (CCF) grants list for Lambeth. CCF both administer a number of grants, such as the various strands of the Lambeth Community Fund, and also signposting others.

Social Enterprise London have a long list of organisations that fund and support social enterprises. This covers start-up finance as well as other loans and grants and is well worth a look.

Lambeth Voluntary Action Council have Funderfinder and GrantsFinder which are computer software programmes that help organisations find trusts and funders that might support their work.

Lambeth Voluntary Action Council also has a Funding Advice Project to provide information, advice and support on all matters associated with fundraising to voluntary and community sector organisations based in Lambeth. Support is only available to small – medium organisations (i.e. those with 140 or less paid staff hours per week) and to organisations that are formally set up (i.e. a management committee and governing document in place). For support contact Aleya Chowdhury, Capacity Building Officer (Funding Advice), on 020 7737 9477 (Tuesday and Wednesday only) or email fa@lambethvac.org.uk.

Have you applied for any grants to support your projects? If so, please share your experience and tips for success in the comments below. It would also be good to hear if there are any other external funding sources that people know are available.

Government support for mutuals

The Open Public Services White Paper, published in July 2011, sets out the government’s support for the delivery of public services and initiatives that will be available. This article provides a useful summary of the white paper, with a particular focus on the support it announces for mutuals and alternative delivery options.

Mutuals Information Service – In November 2010, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, announced that Local Partnerships, Co-operatives UK and the Employee Ownership Association had come together in partnership to provide a signposting service for staff in the public sector interested in setting up a social or mutual enterprise. This is the Mutuals Information Service (MIS). MIS can be contacted by emailing mutuals@local.gov.uk or by telephone on 020 7187 7377 (if you want to talk in confidence, they recommend telephoning).

Mutual Support Programme – This will be a £10million programme to “support for some of the most promising and innovative mutuals in order that they reach the point of investment readiness”, according to the Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd. At the time of writing there are no further details on the Mutual Support Programme, and it is unclear whether this will be a fund that people can apply to or whether the funding will be used to support initiatives such as the Mutual Information Service.

Investment and Contract Readiness Fund – Again this is a £10million fund, which was announced in July 2011. The fund will be open to applications from April 2012 and aims to help civil society organisations “to develop the right skills, the right systems and the right attitude so that they are ready for investment, and in a stronger position to win public sector contracts.”

Right to Provide – The Government is set to roll out new ‘Rights to Provide’ across public services so that employers will be expected to accept suitable proposals from front line staff who want to take over and run their services as mutual organisations. This will enable public sector workers to form independent, or joint venture based mutual and co-operative social enterprises. This was announced by Francis Maude in November 2010 and referred to in the Open Public Services white paper. The Right to Provide is currently available to NHS employees, who have to express their interest to their Board by the end of the year. It is unclear how the Right to Provide will work for council services, keep an eye on this toolkit for news.

Mutuals Task Force – Professor Julian Le Grand, one of the UK’s leading thinkers on public service reform, has been appointed to lead a Task Force to push employee ownership across the public sector. The task force was established in February 2011 but as yet has not announced any findings.

Mutual pathfinders – the first wave of employee-led mutual pathfinders was launched in August 2010 with a second wave announced in February 2011. These pathfinders are being mentored by expert organisations as well as leading figures in social enterprise and public service to support their growth and share best practice. The pathfinders will provide learning that can be applied to other public service spin-outs. The Lambeth Resource Centre, one of the cooperative council early adopters, is also a mutual pathfinder.

Thinking about communications and marketing?

If you’re thinking about setting up a mutual or cooperative organisation, you will need to think about your communications and marketing. You’re likely to need to attract business (either customers or contracts), plus you’ll want the local community to be aware of you are and what you do.

Here are some places you might be able to get help and advice about communications and marketing:

• Business Link, the government funded business support agency, have some comprehensive information on marketing on their website. It covers everything from writing a marketing plan, design and branding, advertising, public relations and online marketing. Some of the information is more focused on businesses but much of the information could apply equally to cooperatives and community groups.
• Social Enterprise London have produced a guide to Marketing Your Social Enterprise which has some really useful information. It’s free to download, but they ask for you to pay what you can afford and what you think the information is worth – an interesting business model itself!
• Some staff at Ogilvy, a large advertising and marketing agency, set up Idea Shop as a staff volunteering initiative that provides free ideas to businesses and charities.
• The School of Communication Arts 2.0 are based in Kennington. They receive funding and support from some of the country’s top advertising agencies. Their students have done some work for projects in the past so they may be open to similar requests in the future. Similarly the London College of Communication at Elephant and Castle might be another potential source of expertise.

Finally, a tip from someone in the know – social enterprises with a good website, logo etc. get by though finding a good tech savvy volunteer.