UNITED: The next big thing for our growing CIC?
More positive news from the Civil Society Consulting Team!
We are delighted to have been shortlisted by the National Lottery to deliver a pilot programme that will work with civil society organisations across the poorest neighbourhoods of the country to better understand their needs and capability as current or prospective Lottery Grant Holders. We are one of just four lead organisations from an initial 85 stage one EOI submissions that have been invited to submit a final partnership bid to deliver the one year development pilot which would begin in January 2026.
We believe that grassroots organisations and groups are vital to support the communities most in need with the potential to deliver real social impact and yet are often chronically underfunded and facing a significant range of barriers in terms of digital inclusion, equity and resilience. Our proposed partnership approach will provide the National Lottery with invaluable grassroots intelligence and shared learning about how they can best support these organisations and groups to access the support they need to deliver more of the great work they are currently doing.
We are working closely with some fabulous partners (15 in total) in some of the most deprived and challenging areas of the country to ensure that people with lived experience working at the front line of our communities are at the very heart of our proposal;
North West: Rochdale Community Centre Consortium, Inclusive North, Capacity, Caring & Sharing Rochdale, Awakening Minds CIC
North East: Middlesbrough VDA, Connected Voice, Ubuntu MultiCultural Centre CIC
East Anglia: Community Action Norfolk, Community Action Suffolk, Peterborough CVS, Arts Branches CIC
North East London: North-east London VCFSE Collaborative led by Tower Hamlets CVS (includes BD Collective, Community Action Redbridge, Hackney CVS, Havering Volunteer Centre and One Newham), Excel Women's Centre, Havering BME Forum
UK Wide: Protection Approaches
The programme - which we have called UNITED - fits in perfectly with our existing funded initiatives; Steps to Togetherness - a movement to build connections within and between communities and Nurturing Grassroots which provides free capacity-building support to small organisations and groups led by marginalised communities.
If the pilot proves successful, there is potential for it to become a much bigger, longer term programme so it could be a real game changer for us……wish us luck!
