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Investing In Ideas

For areas: Scotland
Open for applications: 31 January 2006
Application closing date: See below for details
Minimum grant: £500
Maximum grant: £10,000
Total available: £4.6 Million

What's the big idea?

The Big Lottery Fund wants to invest in Scotland’s communities – but we want communities to come to us with ideas we can invest in.

We have £4.6 million to test and develop ideas that could eventually become fully-fledged projects. We may be able to fund your project too, but first we want to help you develop your idea and make sure your project will work.

The final deadline for applications is Friday 30 January 2009. However, if you think you might use Investing in Ideas to strengthen a future application to Investing in Communities, it’s crucial you plan ahead. You can’t wait until January 2009 as you need to take into account the final deadlines we've set for Investing in Communities. These are:

Investing in Communities Deadlines

Outline proposal form - Friday 1 August 2008
Full application form - Monday 1 December 2008

Our advice is don’t hang around but send us your Investing in Ideas application over the next few months.

With grants ranging between £500 and £10,000 available, Investing in Ideas could pay for the things that can turn your basic idea into a well-planned project including:

market research
feasibility studies
business planning
training for your committee
exchange visits in the UK to see how other projects work
community consultation
professional advice
technical reports and scheme design studies

It is important that your idea has the potential to fit with one of our four areas of investment. More information on these can be found in the Investing in Communities section.

Got the idea?

If you’d like to discuss your idea to see if we’re likely to help you develop it, phone us on 0870 240 2391.

If you’d like to apply to Investing in Ideas and need a hardcopy of the application materials call 0845 606 1199.

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