Liverpool City Council are looking to award unrestricted funding to Liverpool-based voluntary, charity and social enterprise (VCFSE) partnerships and organisations. The youth and community grant replaces the youth and play and community resources grants, which both end on 31st August 2024.
Amount of funding available
There is a total estimated budget of £1.6 million per year, over 5 years. £950,000 per year is ringfenced to support organisations and partnerships that provide at least some youth and/or play provision that meets the following definitionYouth and play definition
Education (especially youth work) and recreational leisure-time (for example, outside of school hours) activities and facilities which are for the improvement of the wellbeing of children and young people age 8 to 19, and those with learning difficulties or disabilities aged 20 to 24.
Wellbeing relates to:
- physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing
- protection from harm and neglect
- education, training and recreation
- the contribution made by young people to society
- social and economic wellbeing
Organisation objectives
Your partnership or organisation must have at least one of the following objectives:
- Greener and cleaner neighbourhoods
- Increase in active travel
- Improvement in physical health
- Improvement in mental health
- Reduction in social isolation and loneliness
- Children, young people and adults feel safe
- Improvement in education and training
- Increase in civic participation
- Improvement in financial wellbeing
- Children, young people and adults have access to justice
- A modern, independent, sustainable VCFSE sector
Who can apply?
You must be able to answer yes to all of the following to be eligible to apply:
- Is your organisation based in Liverpool?
- Is your organisation a voluntary, charity, faith or social enterprise sector organisation?
- Does your organisation have all relevant policies and procedures in place?
- Do all the staff and volunteers in your organisation who are in contact with children and young people have enhanced DBS checks?
- Does your organisation have all relevant insurances in place?
- Does your organisation have an up-to-date governing document?
- Does your organisation have an active business bank account in the name of the organisation?
You must also be able to answer no to the following:
- Does your organisation intend to use this funding to promote political parties?
- Does your organisation intend to use this funding to either practise or promote religion or religious beliefs?
If you meet the criteria above and can provide the relevant proof you can submit an application.
Before you apply
They advise you to read the guidance and scoring documents, and other information below before submitting your application online:
How to apply
Apply online for the youth and community grant
Read their privacy notice which tells you how they use your data.
All applications must be received by Sunday 30th June 2024.
What happens next?
They will review all eligible stage 1 applications and carry out the due diligence as outlined in the guidance and scoring document.
They will share applications with councillors to gain their insight, so that their knowledge can be considered when funding decisions are made.
The Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Communities and Streetscene, will decide whether to make applicants conditional offers or not.
Unsuccessful applicants will not have the right of appeal.
If you receive a conditional offer, you will proceed to stage 2, where they will collect more detailed information and any supporting documentation.
They will notify you of the stage 1 decision at the end of July/start of August.
Based on evidence from previous grant programmes, they estimate that 1 in 10 of applicants may be offered full funding, whilst 3 in 10 may be offered part of the funding applied for.
Further information
If you have a query that is not included in the guidance and scoring document please email youthandcommunitygrants@liverpool.gov.uk
Access payments
If you have an accessibility issue with any part of our application process and need additional support, you can ask for an access payment of up to £500 to help you apply. You can use this for a range of support including a scribe, BSL interpreter, translator, screen reader, additional staff time, access to work support or other support tailored to your needs.
To ask for this support, email youthandcommunitygrants@liverpool.gov.uk and enter ‘Access Payments for youth and community grant’ in the subject field. They will contact you to ask for the following information:
- Organisation name
- Accessibility issue
- Bank details
- What you require an access payment for
- How much you need (maximum of £500)
If approved, they aim to make the access payment within a week or receiving all the relevant details. They will make the payment directly to your organisation.