The National Lottery Community Fund launches their £3.5million Platinum Jubilee Fund

To mark Her Majesty the Queen’s 70th (Platinum) Jubilee, The National Lottery Community Fund will provide grants of up to £50,000 to 70 impactful community projects across the UK. The Platinum Jubilee Fund is now open for applications.

Funding programme key facts:

• Area: Available UK wide but projects do not need to be operating across the UK
• Suitable for: Small local voluntary or community organisations and groups
• £3.5m is available and they’ll be offering grants of between £30,000 – £50,000
• 70 projects will receive funding
• Funded projects will have up to 2 years to deliver their activities from award
• Will not cover capital costs.

They want to fund projects aligned to one or more of their three areas of focus:

1. Across Generations – Strengthening relationships between generations and creating a legacy for future generations
2. Community Renewal – Supporting new opportunities for people to develop skills and experiences in their local community, as well as opportunities to bring people together in new ways, and in new or different places and spaces
3. Our Shared Natural World – Deepening our care and action locally for the natural world.

Funded projects will need to be up and running by Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend on 5 June 2022. They plan to make their final decisions on which projects to fund in Spring 2022. So, they would expect the projects they fund under this programme to start in Spring 2022 onwards.

The Platinum Jubilee Fund will offer eligible groups funding for activities that meet at least two of the following criteria:

• connects people across generations through doing activities together
• makes use of significant local sites or spaces – parks, heritage buildings, community spaces etc.
• considers future generations and how the Jubilee can leave a legacy for them in the community
• creates new opportunities for the people that live locally to contribute and/or to build skills and experience
• starts something new (a set of activities, a group, a community space, a service, a network) that marks the Jubilee as a turning point in the community
• is designed and led by young people who want to be more active in shaping the future of their communities
• starts collective action in relation to the natural world locally – giving more people the opportunity to care for the planet at a local level

They’ll prioritise applications from groups who:

• have not received funding from them before
• do not have a current award with them
• are smaller or medium-sized organisations or groups with an annual turnover of under £100,000
• or are organisations that can demonstrate to them that they have significant reach into communities and are able to engage a large number of people to get involved
• work in communities where there is a history of fewer funding opportunities
• work in areas where they know communities face challenging economic circumstances.

You’ll need to ensure that your group or organisation is eligible to apply. If your group or organisation is NOT eligible, even if they love your idea they cannot award funding.

What is an eligible organisation? You can apply if you are a:

• voluntary or community organisation
• registered charity
• constituted group or club
• not-for-profit company or Community Interest Company
• school (as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school)
• statutory body (including town, parish, community council or local council).

For help and advice regarding this fund, please contact platinumjubilee@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.