Grassroots Grants

As a result of the ‘Third Sector Review’ that took place last year the Grassroots Grants Programme was created to build stronger and more active communities. VAL and Leicestershire Leicester and Rutland Community Foundation (LLRCF) in partnership, successfully secured this funding for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

There are two elements to the Grassroots Grants Programme these are a Small Grants programme and an Endowment Match Challenge. The details for each element are as follows.

Small Grants

The small grants element of the programme is worth over £1.2m to the Voluntary and Community Sector in the City, County and Rutland over three years between 2008 – 2011. The amount of funding available per area has been pre-determined by the Government.

The key points to note regarding this programme are as follows:

• Available to VCS groups in the City, County and Rutland
• Once a group has received up to £5,000 of funding from this programme they are unable to apply again
• Groups have to have been active in their local community for at least 12 months
• Groups are encouraged to request projects based on full cost recovery
• Maximum award £5,000 minimum award £250
• Groups have to have an average income of less than £20k over the last 3 years
• Groups can apply for a total of £5,000 this can be for a one off project or £5,000 over three years

For Further Information please see the Application Form, Guidance Notes and Frequently Asked Questions. Click here to download the Application Form.

All applications received for funding will be scored against set criteria. For more information about the scoring of successful applications see the Scoring Matrix document listed below.

Should you require a hard copy of the form or would like to speak to someone regarding this programme please contact Dave Sharpe on 0116 2575047 or Angela Riley on 0116 2575052.

Endowment Match Challenge

The Endowment Match Challenge element of this programme involves attracting donations from private individuals and businesses which will be banked to form an Endowment Fund. The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) will provide match funding and the interest accrued will provide a permanent grants fund for local community groups. The endowment targets can be seen below:

Area OTS Contribution To be Raised
Leicester £285,301.61 £285,301.61
Leicestershire £625,589.20 £625,589.20
Rutland £37,701.71 £37,701.71

If the endowment targets are met, this will mean that a total of £2,411,111 is provided by the OTS. The donations along with the Match Challenge provided by OTS will provide a sustainable funding stream post 2011.

If you would like to make a donation to the Match Challenge element of this programme or would like further information on this then please contact Kate Green on 0116 229 3088, admin@llrcommunityfoundation.org.uk.