Awards for All grants increased to £10,000

The National Lottery’s Awards for All small grants scheme just got bigger. The ceiling for funding awards for local communities in the East Midlands has been raised to £10,000 and a new lower threshold level of £300 is also being introduced.

The bigger Awards for All funding band provides more scope for communities to benefit from Lottery good cause funding for inspirational local projects in the East Midlands.

Small scale projects that promote arts and education, encourage healthier living, develop local sports, support heritage initiatives and boost community activities are invited to put their bids in for their share of £60 million of lottery funding that will be rolled out by Awards for All to community projects this year (2006-7).

The increase to £10,000 will allow projects traditionally supported by Awards for All to extend their services further without compromising on quick turn-around, accessibility and customer friendly approach associated with this funding scheme.

The new lower £300 entry point for applications follows successful pilots of these micro grants, recognising the value that smaller grants can bring to grass roots community groups and voluntary organisations.

Awards for All England is the small grants programme run by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders - the Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. More than £287 million has been rolled out to over 78,000 projects since the scheme began eight years ago.

Projects in the East Midlands alone have received over £27.5 million through close to 8,000 awards. A range of not for profit organisations (including parish or town councils, schools or health bodies) can apply but must have a governing document such as a consultation, a bank or building society account and a set of accounts and must be completed within 12 months.

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region in the East Midlands, speaking on behalf of the Awards for All funders, said  
“Today’s announcement will mean so much to so many people across the region. Awards for All is a great way to channel Lottery good causes money to local projects, that make huge improvements to people’s lives with comparatively modest amounts of money. The new funding brackets will help even more projects to grow and extend their services and thousands of people will continue to see the benefits that lottery grants can bring, when they are put straight into the hands of hard-working community groups.”

Awards for All application packs are available on Tel: 0845 600 20 40 or by visiting the Awards for All web site.