Foundation Future for London application powerpoint.pdf - Foundation for Future London

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WESTFIELD EAST BANK CREATIVE FUTURES FUND LOOKING AT THE APPLICATION SMALL GRANTS SCHEME – UP TO £5,000 HOSTED BY LISA STEPANOVIC, ASHTON MULLINS & MOSES ADEYEMI ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Lisa Stepanovic Lisa is a working-class, award-winning social entrepreneur, experienced businesswoman, activist, and mentor who was born and raised in London’s East End. She is best known as the founder of Social Ark; Social Ark builds on Lisa's many years of experience in running her own businesses and supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs on their journey. Ashton Mullins Ashton is the Grants & Programme Manager at Foundation for Future London. Ashton is passionate about ensuring funding and support opportunities go directly to local East London changemakers. Moses Adeyemi Moses is an East London based, award-winning entrepreneur, and expert facilitator. He founded the Silverline Project, a specialist wellbeing programme. Moses is a Lived Experience expert and serial entrepreneur, his most recent venture, FlickFirst Ltd, launched in 2020 bringing a fresh perspective to the world of eCommerce. AGENDA During this session, you’ll: ¡ Go through the actual application, with examples ¡ Look at how to structure your Expression of Interest (EOI) ¡ Read through an example EOI ¡ Have the chance to ask any questions you may have We’ll then open up to a Q & A where Ashton and Lisa will be on hand to answer any questions. ABOUT THE FUND GUIDANCE & CRITERIA ABOUT THE FUND In 2020, Foundation for Future London, through funding from Westfield Stratford City, created the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund – over 5 years, the fund aims to invest £10 million into local East London communities. The Fund aims to support exceptional individuals, local organisations and businesses in their drive to create new jobs, learning, training, and educational programmes through entrepreneurship, enterprise, arts, culture, and innovation. In short, the Fund aims to put funding, resources and support straight into local people’s hands. The Small Grant Scheme has a pot of £180k and will award 30-35 small grants. Small Grants – up to £5,000 ¡ EOI opens 23rd August ¡ EOI closes 24th September FUNDING THEMES For all three of the community grants schemes, at the heart of your project there must be a core commitment to one or more of the following: Employment opportunities ¡ Will your project provide employment opportunities for local people, including access to paid work experience / internships, access to apprenticeships or gaining access to jobs? Learning opportunities ¡ Will your project provide ladders of opportunity for local people? E.g including lifelong opportunities from early learning, schools through to late career and post retirement and/or will your project offer bespoke career and higher education support, training, and secondment? Young people ¡ Will your project have a young person led approach with particular provision for local young people to access broader skills development opportunities, careers workshops and related learning and/or one to one coaching and mentoring? Business and entrepreneur support ¡ Will your project provide local people with the opportunity to have business and/or entrepreneur support including freelance, business and entrepreneur set up, development and training? PROJECT ACTIVITIES Our Fund is about creating inclusive and sustainable opportunity — we are keen to back a range of activities and innovative ideas that drive the proposed outcomes. The Foundation for Future London is a strong advocate for the ability of creativity to enable levelling up opportunities and to be a strong contributor to the London economy. Therefore, we are keen to fund project activity that has origins in: Arts, Culture, Heritage Business & Start Up Collaboration Creative Ideas Community Covid-19 recovery Diversity & Inclusion Creative, Inclusive Public Realm and/or Placemaking Education Intergenerational Digital Health, Wellbeing & Environment OUTCOMES Outcomes are the project’s Short Term Outcomes Medium / Long Term Outcomes short, medium or long-term Participants gain technical/sector-specific goals that will lead to a and/or creative skills Increased employability of participants meaningful impact for Participants gain essential skills Increased capacity for innovation and communities in the local entrepreneurship boroughs. Applicants will be Participants grow their networks and Increased diversity in the asked to identify a set number awareness of local opportunities creative/entrepreneurial sector in the of outcomes that their project boroughs will achieve. The number of Participants gain confidence in their More diverse audiences engage with the outcomes expected will be potential and self-initiative cultural sector and benefit from community based on which strand you are assets/available services applying for. Participants are better equipped to process Participants act as agents of change within difficult emotions the local community We have provided a list of 13 short, medium and long-term Participants are equipped to act as agent of Organisations and schools integrate creative outcomes to be selected. change in their boroughs approaches within their projects Number of outcomes expected Organisations and schools are exposed to will be based on which strand creative approaches to wellbeing you are applying for. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCING ‘NEED’ & LOCAL ENGAGEMENT We need to understand what the need is for your project, how this has been identified and how local people have been involved in the planning and development of the proposed activities. You should be able to demonstrate that you have: ¡ Considered community engagement and consultation- how have your beneficiaries been involved in shaping and steering your project? ¡ Strong links/networks in the community to deliver the activities. Are you working with partners? Who are they and what is their role in your work? ¡ Have you considered ‘longevity’? Will your project provide longer-term opportunities for participants? The points in orange will be considered more favourable for being awarded funding! GRANT PROCESS Value: £1,000 to £5,000 Project Duration: 6 – 12-month projects Outcomes: Minimum of two short to medium outcomes must be demonstrated Eligibility: individuals; schools; small to medium not for profit organisations with less than £500k turnover (priority will be given to grassroots organisations) Timeline of Process: Taking on board feedback from Year 1, we have simplified the process for the Small Grant scheme with an understanding that application processes can be overwhelming for small organisations and individuals. We have broken the process into two simple stages this year. Stage 1: Expression of Interest Form opens 24 August and closes 24 September 2021. This stage will ask basic organisation/individual key details and request a one-page summary of your project’s aims and objectives. Stage 2: Shortlisted proposals will be notified on 11 October and will have four weeks to develop and submit additional information. This stage will delve a little further into expected outcomes and more detailed budgetary information. Awarded: Late November 2021 Commencement of Projects: December 2021/January 2022 Review Process: Stage 1 applications will be internally shortlisted by three team members. Project overviews will be matched against the four key core foundation themes and suggested activity outcomes. Stage 2 applications and those to be awarded will be assessed internally by three team members and the Foundation’s CEO. We expect to shortlist approximately 100 applications at this stage, which will be matched against the assessment criteria. Feedback will be given to those unsuccessful in Stage 2 only. Additional criteria: If you are applying for the maximum fund amount, you must evidence why the full amount is needed. If you have previously been awarded funding from the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund or any other Foundation grant programme, you are still welcome to apply for Year 2 funds. However, you must be clear if this application is for a new project or an extension to the already funded project. Need for the new project or additional funding must be evidenced. GOING THROUGH THE APPLICATION SMALL GRANTS SCHEME – FUNDING UP TO £5,000 ELIGIBILITY CHECKLIST ¡ I am aged over 18 and based (live, work or study) in one of the four boroughs (Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest) ¡ Project takes place in one of the four boroughs (Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest) ¡ I can commit to completing project in 12 months ¡ I am an individual or organisation with an annual income of less than £500,000 ¡ I have a commitment to, or are working towards, London Living Wage where possible ¡ By the time of project delivery, I will have relevant insurance, risk assessments and a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place if working with children and young people under the age of 18 or vulnerable adults ¡ If an organisation, you are a not-for-profit organisation that is formally constituted i.e. has a signed governing document in the group’s name ¡ If an individual, you must have two relevant named organisations willing to act your referee Please Note: Further documents (e.g. governance documents, insurance, risk assessments etc.) may be requested at later stages of the application process. SECTION 1 – ABOUT YOU ¡ Name ¡ Email ¡ Phone number ¡ Organization role/position ¡ Please indicate if English is not your first language If you need additional support to complete your application, please get in touch at grants@future.london ¡ Borough ¡ Are you applying as an organization or individual? SECTION 1 – ABOUT YOU ¡ Does your organisation or project team identify as 'diverse-led' based on key people involved in the development and delivery of the project? ¡ If yes, in which category does your organisation or project team primarily identify as 'diverse- led'? Example - Senior management, board or individual project team identify is higher than 51% ¡ Disabled, Deaf or Neurodiverse ¡ Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse ¡ Social Economic ¡ Female ¡ LGBTQ+ ¡ Young People ¡ Other: If you tick this box, you will be able to add details of any intersecting diverse backgrounds of your team members or anyone involved in the development & delivery of this project. SECTION 1 – ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION ¡ Name ¡ Legal Status: ¡ Address ¡ If you have selected ‘Other’ please describe further ¡ Borough ¡ Registered Charity ¡ Postcode ¡ Company Limited by Guarantee ¡ Email ¡ Unincorporated club or Association ¡ Website ¡ Community Interest Company (CIC) ¡ Social Enterprise ¡ School ¡ Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) ¡ Informal or Non-constituted Group ¡ Other: SECTION 2 – YOUR PROJECT ¡ What is the title of your project or idea? ¡ Where will it take place? ¡ Please provide a short summary of your project ¡ We may use this on our website and elsewhere if your application is successful. Please use a maximum of 300 characters. ¡ The Elders Rock ‘Last Forever’ project is an intergenerational over 60s 8- month programme that uses photography, creative arts and digital media to showcase, remember and celebrate the life experiences of Newham’s diverse elder community. ‘Leaving the East End legacy for generations to come.’ ¡ Project start/end date ¡ How much would you be applying for? (You can apply for up to £5,000) SECTION 2 – YOUR PROJECT THE ACTUAL EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) This is your time to shine! You will be asked for some basic details and given the opportunity to outline your project’s creative vision. Please use no more than 6,000 characters (approx 2 sides of A4) in Arial font size 12. Please do not use formatting features such as tabs, emboldening and underlining as these do not easily transfer to our database. a) What is the project activity? ¡ Where will it take place/when/how often? b) Why is the project needed? Why is it important to you? How has your community been involved in developing it? ¡ This part may include details of your lived experience and how it has shaped and inspired your project c) Who will benefit? ¡ What difference/impact will it make? ¡ What will we see/feel? d) Who else is involved? ¡ Do you have any partnerships in place? e) What will the funding be used for? (A) WHAT IS THE PROJECT ACTIVITY? Elders Rock, based in Newham’s Rathbone Centre, is a user led creative community project Important to include a brief introduction, that uses arts and wellbeing activities to address health/wellbeing, long term illness, don’t assume the person reading this loneliness and isolation of Elders, aged 60+ across Newham. Elders, representative of our knows who you are and what you do! working-class community, from all backgrounds come together, share experiences, make friends, and emotionally uplift each other. Be specific! The question is broken down Over 8 months, in the Newham’s Rathbone Centre, we want to run a photography project into smaller chunks, make sure you cover: for up to 12 of our beneficiaries consisting of weekly 2-hour workshops. Facilitated by a who, what, where, when and how often. voluntary professional photographer, and supported by local university student volunteers, the group will work in small teams, learning the basics of digital photography, creating life albums and portraits of each other. Part of the programme also includes an introduction to Photoshop, participants will be encouraged to use the photos they’ve collected throughout their lives to create digital albums that will ‘last forever’. Make the aim of your project clear, how By the end of the project, our aim is for all participants to have an album that showcases does your activity achieve the aim? their lives and what’s been important to them, it will also include the professional looking portrait that they worked in each of their small teams to create. Our plans also involve showcasing our work in a one-month open exhibition at the Projects that can demonstrate longevity or University of East London. We will then create a permanent pace, open to the public in our follow-up/longer-term opportunities will centre, where the exhibition will be on show for all to enjoy, we hope this will encourage longer-term projects and learning opportunities. be considered more favourably for funding. (B) WHY IS THIS PROJECT NEEDED? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU? HOW HAS YOUR COMMUNITY BEEN INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING IT? Demonstrating you are user-led with lived The Elders Rock centre is the only place in Newham that is ‘user led’. We have a board of 10, of experience will strengthen your application. which 5 are service users, 2 are carers/family members, the other 3 are from NHS/Local Can you demonstrate your board is at least 51% Authority backgrounds. diverse led? Make sure your answers match up to what you said and the boxes you ticked Our project is supporting people who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty earlier in the application! because of COVID19. Our working-class beneficiaries are significantly affected, they all struggle with disadvantages and poverty; the majority are from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, many living in isolation. They do not have access to relatable, creative, social opportunities that Directly answers ‘why is this project needed?’. It allow them to reflect on their long, full, lives or what they want to pass down to younger relates to key funding priorities: COVID19 generations. Our beneficiaries are more vulnerable and in greater need right now. We have an recovery. It also aligns with many project increased demand for creative wellbeing support and social opportunities as a direct result of the activities the fund is keen to support. COVID19 crisis. We also lost valued beneficiaries due to COVID19. They told us this sudden onset of bereavement Co-design with your beneficiaries is important, and unexpected loss made them feel ‘helpless’. This is where the need for this project came from. it lets them tell you what they need, showing Over 2 weeks of coffee mornings, a group of 15 of us explored ideas around trying to find ways we that you understand what your community could celebrate each other’s ‘forever’, challenging the pain and grief we were currently feeling, wants. using our culture and heritage to try and recover from Covid creatively. Our beneficiaries also talked about regeneration and gentrification; all expressed concerns around the quickly changing East End and some told us how they’re struggling to see where they ‘fit in’ in these new spaces of luxury developments. We explored ideas around cultural cooking classes, drama workshops, Bring creativity and show us where your idea digital literacy and photography. Beneficiaries expressed sadness that they had very little to came from. Show us how your project fits the remember those who had passed, and very little to pass on. The ‘Last Forever’ photography project idea was born from those conversations, it would showcase their lives and the Creative Futures Fund, it’s all in the name! backgrounds they’re from and the now unrecognisable East End streets they grew up in. This powerful work, regardless of social/financial standing would ensure that each one of them is able to leave a legacy for generations to come. (C) WHO WILL BENEFIT? WHAT DIFFERENCE/IMPACT WILL IT MAKE? WHAT WILL WE SEE/FEEL? BE SPECIFIC! Don’t be afraid to use the funder’s language in your answer. If the question is ‘who will benefit?’, your answer could start with ‘[group] Will benefit….' The beneficiaries for this project will be Elders and their friends & Exact outcomes from the Westfield East Bank families across Newham’s working-class communities. We know Creative Futures Fund Guidance. Use their sharing cultural stories and documenting them for all to share benefits language, it shows them you understand what they want and that your project can give it to and enriches us all. Using digital cameras and software, our them! Always refer to the outcomes! (Slide 4) beneficiaries will gain technical and creative skills, they’ll be better Short term outcome equipped to process the difficult emotions around bereavement, loss and isolation - especially around Covid related matters. In the longer Short term outcome term, this intergenerational project will result in more diverse Long term outcome audiences engaging with the cultural sector, increasing diversity in creativity in our borough. Younger people and the wider community REMEMBER! will also benefit from learning about the history, culture, and heritage For the Small Grants scheme, you need a combination of: of the Elders that came before them. At least 2 short-term outcomes At least 1 medium/longer-term outcome See how we’ve incorporated them into this application? (D) WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED? DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTNERSHIPS IN PLACE? Our partners include the University of East London, 6 students from their Digital Photography course will be assisting us with this project in a voluntary capacity. We have also partnered with the Newham Carers centre who will be supporting us by providing transport for carers to assist our beneficiaries who may need extra support. You and your organisation should be able to demonstrate that you have strong links and networks in the community to deliver your project, and work together to meet the outcomes you’ve said you’ll achieve. Being specific and clearly stating who you’ve collaborated with and what their involvement will be will strengthen your application. (E) WHAT WILL THE FUNDING BE USED FOR? BE SPECIFIC! If your application goes through to We will use this funding for: the 2nd stage, you will be expected to provide more details around your budget. ¡ 6x Digital Camera with lens - £400 * 6 = £2,400 ¡ 3 Photoshop licenses – 3x £9.99/month, needed for 6 months = £179.82 ¡ Printing & Framing - £1,700 ¡ Volunteer Expenses & Training (vulnerable adults) - £400 ¡ Refreshments - £170 ¡ Promotional materials (tshirts and coffee mugs) - £150 Total = £4,999.82 NOW WHAT? Now we’ve taken you through an actual Expression of Interest, covering all the important things you need to consider when writing your own. If you remember earlier in our slides, we had to pick a funding theme. The themes to choose from were: Employment opportunities We believe this is the most applicable theme for the Elders Rock example ¡ Will your project provide employment opportunities for local people, including access to project. It’s important that you keep paid work experience / internships, access to apprenticeships or gaining access to jobs? these themes in mind no matter Learning opportunities what project you are developing for ¡ Will your project provide ladders of opportunity for local people? E.g including lifelong this fund. opportunities from early learning, schools through to late career and post retirement and/or will your project offer bespoke career and higher education support, training, and secondment? We only used 5,252 out of 6,000 characters for this EOI. If you wanted Young people to, especially for the individuals who ¡ Will your project have a young person led approach with particular provision for local may be applying, you could include young people to access broader skills development opportunities, careers workshops and related learning and/or one to one coaching and mentoring? an additional paragraph talking about your lived experience and why Business and entrepreneur support you are the best person to lead on ¡ Will your project provide local people with the opportunity to have business and/or this work. entrepreneur support including freelance, business and entrepreneur set up, development and training? CHECKLIST Before you submit your EOI, we think it’d be helpful to go through a checklist to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Before you submit, have you: ¡ Checked your eligibility? ¡ Made sure your activities are aligned with the fund? ¡ Made sure your project meets one of the funding themes? ¡ Matched your outcomes against the specific fund outcomes? ¡ Structured your EOI according to the guidance? GET INVOLVED – CAPACITY BUILDING We’d love to stay connected with you. This workshop is part of a Capacity Building programme we are leading on. We’ll be hosting sessions for all existing and future potential grantees, giving them the opportunity to develop skills and ideas for present or future projects and funding applications. These sessions will also involve guidance and opportunities with other funders and programmes, networking events, business development sessions – such as business planning, marketing, finance, impact measurement, and many more. We’re about to launch our WhatsApp group chat, so if you’d like to stay connected, just drop your name and phone number into the chat and we’ll add you to the Capacity Building group chat. We look forward to staying connected with you all! Q&A THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A SILLY QUESTION, ASK AWAY!