ACT launches new £40,000 grant fund for community projects in North East Essex

Anglian Community Trust has launched an exciting new grants programme to support community projects with new ideas to improve the lives of people in the local area – THIS PROGRAMME IS NOW CLOSED – but we will have more updates on the results soon.

Community groups were invited to submit their proposals to ACT for consideration for funding.

Please find below some examples of project subject areas relevant to our criteria, which we would consider:

  • Mental health challenges, especially those experienced by young people
  • Suicide prevention
  • Frailties of older people, especially those on long-waiting lists
  • People suffering from health inequalities in remote regions
  • Promoting inclusivity and diversity, relating to people’s ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, gender, the environment and niche lifestyle choices
  • Support for people flying under the radar with health conditions, such as people with learning disabilities; people recovering from brain injuries and those who have had strokes
  • Carers who are struggling on their own at home
  • Supporting people to exercise more, to reduce health issues caused by obesity and diabetes
  • Supporting people to eat better, to improve their health

These are just some suggestions for inspiration, but we were also interested in any original ideas you might have that could make a big impact on people’s lives.

The process was as follows:

Application:

Stage 1: Assessment:

  • We will conduct an initial assessment of your application, to determine how well it fits our criteria. We will contact you to notify you if your application is progressing on to stage 2. Feedback will be available at this stage, regardless of whether or not your application is progressing.


Stage 2: Follow Up Conversation:

  • For applicants that pass the initial assessment, they will move through to stage two, consisting of follow-up questions and 1-1 interviews/sessions, including face-to-face meetings.


Stage 3: Short-listing by Trustees:

  • Each application will be submitted to the Trustees for comments in advance of the main funding meeting, so that the strongest project ideas can be short-listed.


Stage 4: Face to Face Pitches:

  • Once the short-listed projects have been scrutinised even further, the successful projects will go through to the final round, which will involve a face-to-face pitch to the Trustees in February/March 2025.

We will provide comprehensive feedback to all applicants and suggest other relevant funding partners to apply to. We will support all good ideas as much as we can.

Tips for scoring highly when you apply to us – we are looking for projects that can do some of the following:

  • Create socially impact change to improve people’s lives long-term
  • Improve mental health and well-being
  • Improve physical well-being
  • Improve social and welfare situation
  • Support minority and hard to reach groups
  • Elevate grassroot values
  • Drive social change
  • Promote kindness, honesty and compassion
  • Encourage planet-friendly activities
  • Show imagination and innovation with improving lives
  • Demonstrate the ability to have a long-term impact
  • Provide strong evidence based on need
  • Connect strongly with other local projects and statutory services
  • Offer good value for money
  • Support a large number of people
  • Demonstrate the potential for long-term sustainability, and the ability to unlock other funds
  • Have the ability to generate its own funds
  • Provide a good track record for producing good results
  • Have a strong financial background


Examples of projects we have supported in the past:

Good luck with your application and please contact us: [email protected] for more information.