Awards for All funding

Important changes to the scheme

By Louise Ray

England

It was announced on 4 November that the lottery funded Awards for All programme in England will cease at the end of March 2009.  At this point the lottery distributors,who have jointly funded the scheme (Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England) will make their own provision for small grants.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will continue to provide small grants through the existing 'Your Heritage' (£3,000 to £50,000) and 'Young Roots (£3,000 to £25,000) schemes.

The Big Lottery Fund will launch a new small grants programme on 1 April 2009 awarding grants of £300 to £10,000 to local communities in 2009-2010. The main change will be to the approach to Heritage, Arts and Sports projects. Because funding for these projects will be made available via the other lottery distributors, BIG will no longer look to directly support these sectors, unless they also focus on supporting community projects that meet our four outcomes:

• People have better chances in life, with better access to training and development to improve their life skills
• Stronger communities, with more active citizens, working together to tackle their problems
• Improved rural and urban environments, which communities are better able to enjoy
• Healthier and more active people and communities

For further information see the Awards for All Frequently Asked Questions document

Applications can still be made to Awards for All in England up to 31 March 2009.

Northern Ireland

Applications can still be made to Awards for All in Northern Ireland up to 15 December 2008.

Scotland

Awards for All will continue in Scotland but not with HLF support.  Further announcements will be made in 2009.

Wales

Awards for All will continue in Wales but not with HLF support. If you are applying for a heritage project you need to submit your application by 31 December 2008.