The National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £700m a year to communities across the UK, raised by players of The National Lottery 

 

Thinking of applying for funding? 

Please visit our website for further information Thinking of applying for funding? | The National Lottery Community Fund 

We award money raised by National Lottery players to fund great ideas that help communities to thrive. 

Groups can apply to us for funding under £20,000, or over £20,001, depending on what they want to do. 

 

Through our standard, open funding programmes Awards for All and Reaching Communities, groups can apply to us for costs to deliver activities, or to develop land or buildings. You can also apply to develop your organisation or keep your organisation running (sometimes called ‘core costs’). We’ll fund both existing work and new projects or ideas. 

 

We can fund: 

  • direct costs to deliver activities in your community. Such as: 

  • costs for project staff or volunteers 

  • equipment or materials 

  • room hire 

  • evaluations of your project. 

 

  • organisational development. Such as: 

  • business planning 

  • testing new ways of working 

  • staff training and development 

  • developing your governance and leadership 

  • buying or upgrading tech or IT equipment 

  • developing and sharing information about your impact and learning 

  • increasing your capacity to work with others, like collaboration and working in partnership 

  • becoming more environmentally sustainable. 

 

  • costs that reduce negative impacts on the environment. You do not need to be a climate or environment focused organisation to do this 

 

  • costs for the normal running of your organisation. These are sometimes known as ‘core costs’ or ‘fixed costs’. Such as: 

  • core salaries 

  • rent 

  • utilities, like gas or electricity 

  • equipment. 

 

  • land or building costs. These are sometimes known as ‘capital’ costs. Such as funding to: 

  • build, buy or improve a building 

  • make a building more environmentally sustainable 

  • buy or develop an outside space, like a community garden. 

 

If you are interested in applying for the Reaching Communities Programme (Over £20,001) and you would like to speak to a member of the team, please email northwestteam@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk  

 

If you are interested in talking to us about any of our other funding programmes including Awards for All, please contact: 

(Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) 0345 4 10 20 30 or general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk