Improving Lives Through Advice Grant
We are delighted to announce the launch of “Improving Lives Through Advice” – a new multi-year core costs grants programme being delivered in partnership with the Community Justice Fund.
Improving Lives Through Advice is supported by £30 million from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, to provide access to specialist social welfare legal advice. Thanks to National Lottery players, the funding will enable expert organisations to support some of the most marginalised communities in England – including people with disabilities, women fleeing abuse and families facing eviction.
The aim is to improve access to high-quality specialist advice for the people who need it most. We will make multi -year core cost grants to organisations who can help us achieve the following outcomes:
1. Advice to people from marginalised communities is sustained and improved.
We recognise that certain areas of England and certain communities have poorer access to specialist legal advice than others. We want to make grants to organisations working to improve access to advice for people, places and communities who experience the greatest need dues to poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination.
2. More people from marginalised communities are empowered to identify, understand and resolve their legal problems.
We recognise that specialist advice organisations are powerfully placed across community, statutory services and the wider advice sector to enable connection and collaborative relationship building. We want to make grants so that specialist advice organisations can connect with communities through greater sharing and advice coordination, so that people are empowered in their legal matters and supported through the process.
3. Organisations have more capacity to engage in influencing, partnerships and fundraising work, which helps them meet the needs of their communities.
We want to make grants that enable specialist advice organisations to have the capacity and resource to engage with their communities and continue to offer vital advice and support where it’s needed most. We recognise that longer term funding means that organisations can develop partnerships, work to leverage further funding and influence policy and/or practice (but will not use this funding for lobbying, or to influence Government or political parties).
4. Organisations are better able to demonstrate the difference they make to people’s lives.
We understand that organisations that sit at the heart of their communities (and communities of interest) and which have been developed for and by those communities are often better placed to demonstrate their impact and the difference they make to people’s lives. We want to make grants to organisations with a track record and commitment to learning, evaluation and using advice as a tool for community wide impact.
Funding Available
The funding available will depend on the size of your organisation. When applying please indicate how much funding you are applying for based on your annual income as per the information below:
* Annual income above £250k: Can apply for funding up to £100k per annum – maximum of £500,000 over 5 years
* Annual income between £150 – £250k: Can apply for funding up to £75K per annum – maximum of £375,000 over 5 years
* Annual income below £150k: Can apply for funding up to £50k per annum – maximum of £250,000 over 5 years
Grants will run for 5 years from 2024 to 2029.
We will make grants across England but cannot guarantee that the funding will include every region. Exact locations will depend on the nature of applications received.