Help: Lottery Grant UK

Subject: Lottery Grant UK
From: Herge
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 10:38 AM

Has anyone successfully applied for an Arts Council grant? How do I go about having a constitution or making our band a company? Any help or advise would be appreciated. Herge

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 12:51 PM

Sorry to sound cynical, Herge, but you'd probably have more luck with McDonalds, as long as they get their name in the title.

Skipjack

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: okthen
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 01:57 PM

i'm sorry too, herge, the forms and requirements for u.k. lottery grants are daunting to say the least.your best bet is to find someone who has succesfully applied for a grant and ask them how they did it.

or, get the forms and find a friendly solicitor to help you slalom your way through.

if you DO succede please let us know how you did it!

cheers

bill

(who could do with a grant to reopen the local swimming pool and stop the kids jumping in the local river)

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: GUEST,selby
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 02:07 PM

This is a true story. A work mate's wife is a girl guide leader in the guide hut there was a cooker the cooker blew up. They applied to the lottery for a new cooker and it was not thought by the lottery that this was a not a worthy cause. One of the guides father got a bee in his bonnet and filled another set of forms for a new guide hut even though they where happy with the one they had. The lottery thought this was a worthwhile cause and they got a lot of money to build a new guide hut with a new cooker when all they realy wanted was a new cooker. My advice is go big. Keith

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 03:26 PM

Yeah, pretend you are the other half of the Royal opera house that should be worht £46.000.000. Go big!! Think big and grand. Small playgroups needing a desparate few thousands get nothing.

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: oggie
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 06:34 PM

Before you start check the various criteria carefully, you must tailor your grant to these. Although it's changing there is a bias towards capital projects (the system's big weakness) and so you will need to think it through carefully. Do not get hung up on a lottery grant, depending what you want to do there may well be other avenues open. If you want to send me a PM I'll have a lookn and see if I can help or point you in other directions.

All the best

Steve

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: Grab
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 06:10 AM

I think you usually need to go 50-50, so you have to match whatever they're going to give you. Of course, you do have to get the grant first! Don't know about Arts, but the Sports Council gave our sailing club a grant towards some new training boats - my mum was one of the folks involved in that, so I could ask her what they did if you like.

Also, you're more likely to get money if it's of general use to the community. If it's just to support you and your mates, you're unlikely to get anything. If it's to help you go round schools teaching music, then you're in with a chance.

Grab.

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 07:51 AM

Swinton Folk Festival is funded by both the local council (Salford) and North West Arts. Council fund us as an ongoing benefit to the community. North West Arts give funding for anything new. There is a specific policy related to funding folk music in place now. It is biased towards diversifying folk related arts so they are happiest with spending on things not normaly done. This year for instance we have a Ukrainian dance troupe, a Guyanan storyteller, a Scots piper, an event aimed specificaly at childen and so on.

Previous comments about lottery money being available for capital projects are correct.

500k to build a folk roots arts centre - OK. 500 quid to help pay struggling artists - no chance.

Bit weird but there it is!

PM me if you need more info.

D the G

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: Lady McMoo
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 08:56 AM

If those guides need a big tent I believe there's one going spare that the Lottery has already paid for but that nobody else wants.

Peace

mcmoo

Subject: RE: Help: Lottery Grant UK
From: GeorgeH
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 09:56 AM

oggie . . thank heavens for some sense in this rather sadly predictable outpouring of angst . .

Yes, we've obtained Arts Council funding (and withdrew a second application which would probably have succeeded, when I decided we didn't have enough organisational help to see the proposal through). It is VERY MUCH a case of finding a scheme whose terms cover what you want to do - and, certainly, it's a matter of chance whether there's any such scheme available when you want it.

Your first contact should be the Arts Officer (or whatever they happen to be called) of your local council; they should be able to give you an idea of what's available at the moment, and in any case their support is ALMOST essential to the success of your application. The other source of info. is the Arts Council regional office for where you live . . My experience of such offices is that they are very ready to advise even if their advice amounts to "no chance, matey!". (Remember they don't make the rules, they only try to apply them as best they can - and a thankless task that is, as the Dome swallows up more and more of the Lottery funding which has become a major part of their income).

Not all Arts Council schemes have required a Constitution, or for you to be a Company (indeed, if you're looking at a scheme which has those requirements then it's probably not the scheme for you); something less formal than a Constitution may be enough. And certainly one of the A4E-type schemes (possibly the Millenium Awards for All) included guidance on what should be covered by the "Rules"/Constitution.

It's not the case that all schemes require 50/50 funding, but the "rules" do change very rapidly. As far as I'm aware the prospects for a BAND to get funding are minimal; you stand much more chance with a PROJECT which happens to involve your band.

If you happen to be based in the East of England then I may have some further ideas/useful contacts. . Feel free to email me (gdothawesatsandotcom . . look for the dots and the at in that address).

G.