Big Lottery Fund

Funding programmes open to your constituents

You can use our Funding Finder to search for funding programmes that are available for your constituents, while our grants search will allow you to find projects that have been funded in your constituency.

See a list of funding programmes open to your constituents

BIG Lottery funding in the East Midlands

In 2011 the Big Lottery Fund awarded 699 grants totalling £20,393,933 to communities across the East Midlands. This includes 610 grants totalling £4,788,020 from the Awards for All programme and 45 grants totalling £11,574,870 from the Reaching Communities Programme.

We’re particularly proud to have supported 27 local veterans of World War Two to travel to the sites in which they saw action over 60 years ago, totalling £43,450.

As Big Fund we also distributed 21 grants totalling £1,227,643 under the Office for Civil Society’s Transition Fund programme.

Measuring our impact in the East Midlands

At BIG we want to ensure that projects are successful, long after their funding from BIG ends. So we constantly work with funded groups to ensure that they have the skills, information and evidence, that is needed. Many groups in the region told us that they found it particularly hard to measure “soft outcomes”, so in November we organised an event as part of an ad hoc series focussing on long term sustainability. This event was designed to help them understand impact measurement, which is fast becoming a buzz word in the third sector and aimed to equip grantholders with as much information as possible.

We invited a number of speakers such as Roger Moors, CEO of Social Enterprise East Midlands, who spoke about life after grant funding and competing in the marketplace. Nicky Stevenson from The Guild ran through steps that groups can take to evaluate their projects and local social entrepreneur Graham Gardiner spoke to groups about how they should “love their monitoring” and then “celebrate their success.”

We also ran a number of workshops, which examined a range of ideas including Social Return on Investment, Social Enterprise and staff from BIG gave a workshop on tools to measure soft outcomes.

The day was appreciated by attendees and workshop speakers alike. “Thank you for this event,” said one attendee. “It was thought provoking and very practical, with accessible tools.”

“This is the most useful event I have attended in a very long time,” said another.

The East Midlands team have prepared a follow up resource document about the event which contains summaries and details of all the presentations and workshops. If you’d be interested in seeing a copy, please contact us.

Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid - Hands are not for Hurting

• Three women a week are murdered from domestic abuse.
• Five Nottinghamshire women have been murdered in the last six months.
• The police receive a phone call every minute about domestic abuse.
• 750,000 children witness domestic abuse every year.
• The majority of 999 calls about domestic abuse are made by children.

Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid received £113,892 from the Big Lottery Fund in January 2011 to run the “hands are not for hurting” project.

“Women often try and minimise the effects of the abuse on their children,” says Christie, Children’s Services coordinator of Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid.  “They’ll think ‘It’s ok, they’re in bed’ but first-hand evidence proves that children often witness more than expected. The effects can be devastating. Imagine how terrifying it is for a child when the shouting stops and it all goes quiet. They’re asking ‘Is Mum dead?’ They’ve got to deal with feelings of guilt and have divided loyalties to both Mum and Dad. Many of them struggle at school, get bullied or lose confidence. Some slip into anti-social behaviour and face exclusion.”

The Hands are not for Hurting offers an intense course of treatment that focuses on the children. This can then lead to longer term support for both mothers and children.

A mother who uses the project said:

“The project has really helped us. The children can see that other children have been through the same thing. They can say how they feel and not be wrong. No-one judges them. The project helps you put your life back in order and go where you want. I’ve got great plans for the future now. It had got me down, but not anymore. My girls have given me my fight back. If they can do it, so can I.”

For more information about the project visit www.nottswa.org

How can we help you?

The regional team can arrange bespoke events for you and your constituents, from funding advice surgeries to constituency tours of lottery funded projects.

Also, every month we email all MPs with the details of awards that have been made in their constituencies.

To arrange a constituency tour or to find out how we can help support your constituents please contact us.

Further information

Contact: Mick McGrath, Head of the East Midlands Region

Email: mick.mcgrath@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Telephone: 0115 8722960