Reaching Communities: England

Summary of the programme

Reaching Communities programme will remain open to applications.

The budget for Reaching Communities is £130 million.

Reaching Communities funds projects that help people and communities who are most in need, and can really make a difference. Projects can be new or existing activities, or be the core work of your organisation.

We want to fund projects that respond to needs identified by communities, and those that fund projects that help those most in need including those people or groups who are hard to reach.

We want to encourage the following changes to communities as a result of our funding:

• people having better chances in life, including being able to get better access to training and development to improve their life skills
• strong communities, with more active citizens, working together to tackle their problems
• improved rural and urban environments, which communities are better able to access and enjoy
• healthier and more active people and communities.

Times have changed. BIG has recognised the difficulties experienced by projects and communities during the current economic downturn, be it increased call on the services offered, greater need for assistance or help in accessing other services, and accepts that we should be supporting communities and people most in need where possible during this difficult time. In light of the current economic circumstances BIG has decided to relax the eligibility criteria for Reaching Communities to enable these projects to apply for funding.

The Reaching Communities programme will now accept applications for projects that were previously eligible for other BIG programmes. A full list is available in the Updated Signposting guidance Updated Signposting guidance for - 26KB

Are you eligible?

You can apply to Reaching Communities if you are:

• a registered charity
• a voluntary or community group
• a statutory body, (including schools)
• a charitable or not-for-profit company
• a social enterprise – a business that is chiefly run for social objectives, whose profits are reinvested in the business rather than going to shareholders and owners.

What to do next

Questions about Reaching Communities? Find out more

Reaching Communities has proven to be a popular and highly competitive programme. Sadly, we have had to turn down some very good projects. You should note the high levels of interest in this programme and consider whether your project would be better suited to another Big Lottery Fund programme.

Contact

• Call our national helpline for advice on 0845 410 20 30.
• Email us at general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk
• Call our Lottery Funding Helpline on 0845 275 00 00 or go to www.lotteryfunding.org.uk