Funding Opportunities

Community Champions Fund

Source of funding: the scheme is funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES)

How much is it worth? The fund provides grants of up to £2,000 and has an allocation of £3 million a year up to 2008.

What’s it for? The fund aims to increase individuals’ skill levels to enable them to act as community leaders and increase the involvement of communities in learning and regeneration activities. The fund targets people with little or no experience of community activity who recognise a local need and have an idea of how to address it. It was set up to help deprived neighbourhoods and socially excluded communities. Communities are defined by the common needs and circumstances of people within them, not just by their location. The Government hopes that recipients will develop personally as a result of receiving funding.

Who is eligible? The fund is intended to support people who may have missed out on chances offered through mainstream funding. Anyone in England can apply, but their application must clearly demonstrate that the project is of a scale that can be funded with the maximum grant of £2,000 and that other sources of funding would not be more appropriate. Recipients must agree to account for how the grant is spent.

Who runs it? The scheme is administered by the DfES.

How to apply? For further information contact the DfES on 0114 259 4113 or email community.champions@dfes.gsi.gov.uk or visit www.dfes.gov.uk/communitychampions

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