Grants for groups interested in taking over local services

From Monday 16 July 2012, community groups can apply for funding to help them use the new Community Right to Challenge in the Localism Act. The Right came into force on 27 June and will empower local community organisations to take over a local service that they can run more effectively.

Pre-feasibility grants between £5,000 and £10,000 are on offer to help organisations build internal capacity. Organisations that can demonstrate a strong potential to compete for public service delivery contracts can apply for feasibility grants of up to £100,000 to help prepare an Expression of Interest or compete in a procurement process.

The Grant Programme is part of the Community Right to Challenge Support Programme and will offer advice and funding to support organisations through the process of competing for local services and is particularly keen to help small local organisations build capacity to deliver public service contracts.

If you are interested in the grant programme you should contact the Community Rights Advice Service through their website or on 0845 345 4564 for more information.

Working in neighbourhoods

A new report out today (29th March) from Joseph Rowntree Foundation has some really interesting findings on working at a neighbourhood level.

‘Working in neighbourhoods, active citizenship and localism’ draws on the experience of working to support a neighbourhood based approach in Bradford. The report was written by Liz Richardson from the University of Manchester.

Well worth a read for anyone interested in how we can establish effective relationships between citizens and state at a neighbourhood level!

Summary report (pdf)

Full report (pdf)