Rural Programme –

Community Development Support

Project Plan Guidance

This guidance is for organisations applying to deliver the Community Development Support Grant.

1

About the Big Lottery Fund

Our mission – helping communities and people most in need

We believe that the following three approaches are vital to help us achieve our mission and address inequality in Wales and we want all activity we fund to embrace these.

• People-led – we want the people who will benefit from, or be affected by,your project to be meaningfully involved in the development, design and delivery of your activity.

• Strengths-based – we want to encourage organisations to make the most of, and build on, the skills and experiences of people and strengths within communities.

• Connected – we want to know that you have a good understanding of what others are doing locally, that what you’re doing complements and adds to this and that you have working relationships with other relevant groups.

Accessibility

Please contact us to discuss any particular communication needs you may have. Contact information is at the end of this guidance.

Our equality principles

Promoting accessibility; valuing cultural diversity; promoting participation; promoting equality of opportunity; promoting inclusive communities; reducing disadvantage and exclusion. Please visit our website for more

Information:

We care about the environment

The Big Lottery Fund seeks to minimise its negative environmental impact and only uses proper sustainable resources.

© Big Lottery Fund, August 2016


ContentsPage

What’s it all about?4

Overview of Rural Programme timescales5

Eligibility & what success could look like6

Money available & who can apply8

Application process9

Useful information10

Guidance for your project plan11

Beneficiary monitoring17

Annex One – your project budget template21

Annex Two – draft external delegation agreement25

Annex Three – risk management32

What’s it all about?

Over the next few years, the Big Lottery Fund will invest £13.5 million to help make great things happen in rural communities. This funding aims to empower people and communities living in rural Wales to ‘create solutions to address rural poverty’. In doing this, we want to build on communities’ strengths and allow them to identify what matters most to them in relation to addressing poverty.

We recognise that poverty is multi-faceted and affects individuals and communities in different ways; therefore we would like to see projects that really meet the needs of communities.We will not prescribe any specific activitiesbutexpect communities to develop their own solutions to addressing poverty in the following areas:

  • Improve well-being
  • Raise aspirations
  • Build social capital
  • Increase resilience to challenging circumstances.

What are we looking for?

We feel it is necessary to fund a small number of community development support grants to empower people and communities to make a positive change in addressing poverty. We also aim to support and enable communities and organisations that may not have traditionally received fundingfrom us.

We anticipate the community development supportwill follow the six key components outlined in the National Strategic Framework for Community Development:

  • Community led
  • Includes all parts of the community
  • Changes the balance of power
  • Recognises the length of time needed to achieve change
  • A learning process
  • A holistic process.

Overview of the Rural Programme timelines


Which areas are eligible?

Thefollowing areas are eligible for funding:

  • Anglesey
  • Carmarthenshire
  • Ceredigion
  • Conwy
  • Gwynedd
  • Monmouthshire
  • Pembrokeshire
  • Powys
  • Denbighshire.

These areas are eligible as they are defined as the most rural by the Welsh Government’sRural Development Plan.

We are keen for this programme to support the more rural communities, some of which may never have benefitted from our funding in the past. In light of this, we will only support communities with a population of 10,000 or less.

If there are projects which operateoutside these areas, or have a larger population, but have an idea, please contact us on 0300 123 0735 to discuss what funding options may be available.

What could success look like?

We expect the Community Development support projects to meet the following outcomes:

  • Rural communities are brought together to map the strengths and opportunities within their community
  • Rural communities are empowered to develop their own solutions to address poverty
  • Learning is captured and shared to inform future community development in rural areas

In working towards these outcomes we expect projects to undertake the following activities:

Engagement and communications

  • Target communities and individuals in poverty in need of community development support, especially those that are hidden and isolated. One of our aims for this programme is to reach those groups that have not previously applied to us before.
  • Work with other established local and regional organisations and networks to prevent duplication of community development work
  • All communications must meet the Big Lottery Fund’s Welsh Language standards
  • Gain an understanding of the local context of an area including language, culture and history, and apply this knowledge to reduce barriers to engagement.

Community Development

  • Entire communities are supported and involved in undertaking a mapping exercise to identify the strengths and opportunities that exist within their community to identify what will improve their lives
  • Communities are supported to engage the whole community to identify what they want to do
  • Complement the work of other agencies in the area such as County Voluntary Councils (CVCs) and LEADER Action groups.
  • Ensure activities remain poverty focussed
  • Communities are empowered via a strengths based approach to design and deliver their own responses to rural poverty.By strengths based approach we mean in line with our philosophy of ‘people in the lead’ and helping communities do what they want focussing on their strengths rather than weaknesses.
  • Communities receive support in identifying the most appropriate revenue streams for their proposed activities
  • Administer a “micro grants” budget to facilitate initial capacity building work and engagement activities(see page eight for further details).
  • Provide initial advice and support for community projects, including signposting to specialist agencies
  • Communities are supported to maintain early momentum behind ideas to ensure positive change can be achieved
  • Communities are supported to build their capacity to support themselves and become more self-resilient over time
  • Support is tapered over time so that the community does not become reliant on the support provided and becomes more sustainable.

Evaluation and knowledge sharing

  • Evaluate the impact of the approach to community development in tackling rural poverty and disseminate learning from this
  • Share learning and knowledge of community development work undertaken
  • Communities are supported to learn from activities and approach to better plan and deliver their work in the future.

Working with the Fund

  • Organisations are expected to work in partnership with the Fund to ensure that a consistent message is shared
  • Maintain regular dialogue with the Fund through quarterly reports and meetings
  • Report on which communities they will be working in and why
  • Report on the time spent supporting each community
  • Report on the impact of the support provided, this could include the number of communities supported, progress of each community initiative, value and source of funding secured
  • Report on number of micro grants awarded and for what purpose
  • Participate in a network co-ordinated by the Big Lottery Fund of Community Development providers.

How much money is available?

There is approximately £2 million available and we will fund a maximum of four grants covering all nine Local Authority areas. We will not fund grants only covering one area and we expect organisations to work in partnership. Funding is available for projects lasting up to seven years, although we expect support to be tapered throughout the length of the grant to ensure that communities become self-reliant over the lifetime of the grant.

Micro Grants

In order to assist successful applicants, we will allocate up to £5,000 per Local Authority area.Up to £750 can be awarded to eachcommunityyou are working with as part of their initial engagement, and to help communities come together.This may be increased if it proves popular.

The process to follow and the authority to award the Micro Grants will lie with the successful grant holders, but you will be expected to comply with the requirements detailed within an External Delegation Agreement, signed upto by both parties. See Annex two for a sample of this document.

Who can apply?

To apply, you need to be:

• A formally constituted voluntary / community sector organisation, such as a charity, community group, cooperative or social enterprise

• Working with your community and local organisations, which could include public, private and third sector organisations, either as formal or informal partners.

  • Have a track recordof providing community development support,ideally working within the area(s) for which you are applying.

We won’t accept applications from:

•Branches where you don’t control how you are run and how your money is spent

•Organisations applying on behalf of another.

The application process

If you do not already have an Organisation Details form, please contact our Advice Line on 0300 123 0735 to discuss your project, and have one sent to you.

If you have any queries, or wish to discuss your project further before you submit your application, please contact us at the above number.

All completed submissions are to be received no later than 1:00pm on Tuesday 15th November 2016 at the following address:

Big Lottery Fund, 10th Floor, Helmont House, Cardiff, CF10 2DY

Or by email to:

Your application will consist of the following:

  • completed Organisation Details form
  • completed project plan and supporting documents, i.e. job adverts.
  • draft partnership agreement.

When we receive your application we will check that you have sent everything we asked for. If not, we will contact you and give you five working days from the date of the letter to send us any missing information. If you cannot meet this deadline, please contact us immediately.

On receipt of your completed application it will be allocated to a funding officer to assess. The assessment process will consist of either a telephone conversation or visit to ensure a thorough understanding of your proposed project.

What else do I need to know?

Working in partnership

Applications will only be considered if they are working in partnership with other organisations to cover a number of the eligible Local Authority areas.

Applications must be submitted by the lead organisation which must be a formally constituted third sector organisation. Public, private and other third sector organisations can make up the partnership.

As part of your application, please send us a draft partnership agreement. If you are awarded funding, it will be a term and condition of your grant offer that you have a formal signed partnership agreement with your partner organisations. If you are successful, the draft partnership agreement must be approved by us and finalised prior to any funding being released. We may request changes to the draft agreement before it is finalised.

You can find guidance on what a partnership agreement should include at

Annual accounts

You don’t need to send us your annual accounts with your application, but we may ask to see them during the assessment of your application.

How do I find out more?

Before you apply please contact us to talk through what you want to do, so we can discuss with you whether or not it’s something we may support.

Phone 0300 123 0735 between 9am and 5pm weekdays, or email . If you have a hearing impairment you can contact us by text relay on 18001 plus 029 2067 8200.

Guidance for your project plan

As part of your application for funding you have been asked to submit a project plan. The document must be typed, with pages numbered and include the following:

a)Executive Summary

This should give a snapshot of what your project is about. It should include:

  • A summary of what you are going to achieve through the project and how you are going to deliver it
  • Where you will deliver your project
  • Other organisations and stakeholders you will work with to deliver the project.

b)Lead organisation summary

This section should outline your organisation’s aims, skills and experiences, and structure. Please provide a summary of:

  • Your aims, objectives and legal status
  • the services or activities you provide, including how these are delivered and who benefits from them
  • Your experience of providing community development support, the success of these similar projects, and any learning you can draw from them which will feed into this project
  • What makes you the best placed organisation to deliver this project within your proposed area
  • Roles and responsibilities of the board members or trustees and senior management team, with reference to their relevant skills and experience and expertise
  • Management structure, including decision making processes and key lines of communication or reporting
  • Any existing partnerships that are in place between you and organisations delivering similar work to this project.

c)Partnership organisations’ summary

Tell us about the other organisations who will be involved in delivering this project:

  • Who are they, what is their legal status, and what types of activities or services do they deliver
  • How / why did you select these as partners, what do they bring to the project, what role will they fulfil
  • What are their experiences of providing community development support
  • Partnership working and management arrangements, accountability, financial arrangements, monitoring and reporting. Explain / provide chart identifying key roles / areas of responsibility.

Project

This section should describe the project’s aims and objectives and services to users including:

  • What your project aims to do, and how
  • How many people and organisations are affected by rural poverty, what their needs are, how you have consulted and involved them, and how you will support them to address these needs
  • What you intend to achieve; outcomes milestones and targets for the duration
  • The success or learnings from previous work you have done that will feed into this project

d)Project delivery

This section should include detailed information about the project and describe the services and activities it will provide. Other areas that are addressed in this section may include:

  • Where the project will be delivered, communities and area postcodes
  • How your project will be open and accessible to anyone.How any barriers to participation will be addressed, including means of communicating that the support is available when it is needed, i.e. evenings, weekends, and other factors.
  • How will you ensure that you reach the “hardest to reach” communities?
  • If and how you will support communities of interest.
  • Explain the process that you will take from first engagement with these groups, the level of support you will provide, the approach you will take, the time spent with each group, to when you will start to reduce the support available to them.
  • How many groups you plan to work with, how will you manage demand for your services. How will you prioritise who you will work with.

e)Micro Grants

In this section we want you to explain the processes you will follow in the delivering, awarding and monitoring of the micro-grants.

  • Who will be responsible for delivering the micro-grants element of the project, and what are their experiences in this area
  • What will be the eligibility criteria for these grants, and how will you ensure these are met
  • What will be the application process, what material / forms will you require as part of the process
  • Who (which employees) will be carrying out the assessment of these applications and what are their experience in this area
  • How you will ensure value for money across the grants awarded
  • What will be the awarding process, and the frequency of decision making. Who will be accountable for each stage. What will be the Terms of Reference for the decision making panel, and who will make up this panel
  • What will be the monitoring processes, activities, frequency for these awards
  • To what extent, and how will you publicise both the availability of the grant scheme, and the grants awarded
  • How will you manage demand, agree priorities for awarding, and / or deal with any issues associated with these grants not being available to the wider community
  • Who will be responsible for the management and reporting of this process
  • Who will be working with and reporting to us about the micro grants, and what level and frequency of information will be available.

f)Project resources

To deliver the project there will be a range of resources that are needed. In this section describe how each aspect of the project will be delivered and managed.

Please include the numbers and experiences of staff who will be involved with this project, and what the Funds’ contribution to their posts will be.

Give details of:

  • The staff who will lead on delivering this project and their roles and experience
  • The number of staff posts requiredfor this project, their experience and qualifications. Please also include a staffing structure diagram that clearly shows existing and new posts, as well as where the project staff will fit into your organisation and the reporting lines for the project
  • Any recruitment or training plans including timescales and costs.

You should also tell us:

  • About the job descriptions
  • How many hours in total per week that you are asking us to fund
  • What their salary will be (before and after employers National Insurance contributions, pension and redundancy costs).
  • If you will incur redundancy costs for the post, tell us the amount you will have to pay
  • Whether the post holder will need to be welsh speaking.
  • Volunteers, the numbers involved, if any, and their role.

You should include all this information for each post that you want us to fund. If you want us to contribute towards any line management as part of your overheads, you should provide the information for these positions as well.