Anyone need £50 Million?

Launched on 15 June, Big Lottery Fund want Living Landmarks to capture the imagination of communities, and inspire them to transform, revitalise and regenerate the places where they live.

The Living Landmarks programme is the name of the BLF transformational grants programme. It will fund a small number of large-scale national and regional projects across the UK, which will transform, revitalise and regenerate communities.

Individuals may send in an application form, though they must demonstrate a commitment to become appropriately constituted and regulated as an organisation. Every project needs to involve a range of partners, which they would expect to include voluntary and community organisations, public bodies, charities and individuals.

You can apply to this programme if you are:

• a charity
• a statutory authority
• a charity formed as a trust
• a charitable or not for profit company, or
• a public or private limited company.

Big Lottery fund state that at the heart of this funding programme is their intention that local communities and the public have opportunities to be involved in developing ideas and projects, and decision-making.

It is made up of two streams of funding:

• a single grant of between £25-50 million
• a small number of grants of between £10 million and 25 million.

Living Landmarks will provide £140 million in total to communities across the UK.

They don’t want to restrict ideas. They want to fund a wide range of projects, from woodlands to waterways, bridges to cycle ways, buildings, amenities, open public spaces, and projects that enhance the natural environment. All of these will be fundable.

There is an identical process for both streams until the decision making.

There will be a two stage application process:

• the first stage is the submission of an application form
• the second stage involves the offer of a development grant for long listed projects.

They will try to ensure that there is a fair spread of projects throughout the UK.

The public will decide who wins the single grant of up to £50 million. This will be done by voting by phone, text and on-line through ITV’s People’s Millions television programme.

For the second stream a panel, which will include experts in architecture, regeneration and the environment, will award a small number of grants between £10million and £25million.

This will be a one-off programme. There are no plans to have a further large scale capital grants programme.

If you are applying for the single grant of up to £50 million, and your project reaches the shortlist stage of the process, you will be required to make representatives available to take part in the making of a short film for TV which will be broadcast as part of the final selection process.

The Big Lottery Fund will only award 75 per cent of the total capital costs of the project. The remaining 25 per cent must be provided through partnership funding.

How to Apply

To obtain an application pack and guidance notes please call
0845 0 10 11 12.