The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is one of the four major Lottery distributors in the UK, responsible for distributing 40% of funds raised by the National Lottery for good causes. BIG aims to fund projects that achieve measurable improvements in communities and people's lives, especially those most in need. It focuses on strategic outcomes like better life chances, stronger communities, improved environments, and healthier people. BIG offers two main funding programs - Awards for All provides smaller grants up to £10,000, while Reaching Communities provides larger grants over £10,000 for up to 5 years. Both require applicants to demonstrate need, intended outcomes of improved lives, and activities to achieve those outcomes.

1. Big Lottery Fund
November 2013

2. What is the Big Lottery Fund?
The Big Lottery Fund is one of the four major Lottery
distributors – the others are Arts Council England, Heritage
Lottery Fund and Sport England
BIG is responsible for distributing 40% of the money that
the National Lottery raises for good causes

3. What is the Big Lottery Fund?
Our mission is to bring real improvements to
communities and the lives of people most in need
BIG is an ‘outcomes’ funder – we want to fund projects
that can make measurable changes for the better in the
lives of people and communities experiencing
disadvantage

4. Our strategic outcomes
BIG wants to fund projects whose main aim will help to
achieve at least one or more of BIG’s strategic
outcomes:
• people having better chances in life with better access
to training and development to improve their life skills
• stronger communities with more active citizens
working together to tackle their problems
• improved rural and urban environments which
communities are better able to access and enjoy
• healthier and more active people and communities

5. What does this mean?
You need to think about:
- What are the needs of the people you want to
help?
- What changes do you want to make to the lives
of the people you want to help?
- Are those changes the main aim of your
project?
- How will those changes help achieve one or
more of the four Big Lottery Fund outcomes?

6. Two open demand-led programmes:
Awards for All
Reaching Communities

8. Who can apply to Awards for All?:
You can apply if you are a:
• voluntary and community organisation
• school
• parish or town council
• health body
• social enterprises

9. Who can apply to Awards for All?:
You must have:
• at least 3 unrelated people on your governing body
• a UK bank account in the name of your organisation with at least two
unrelated signatories
You can:
• send BIG an application at least three months before your project is
planned to start
• complete your project within one year of when BIG confirms your
award
You are:
• looking for funding to undertake new activities or extend your
facilities (except for organisations with annual income of less than
£30,000)

10. Awards for All how much you can apply for?:
• Between £300 and £10,000
• Only one application at a time
• One organisation cannot receive more than
£10,000 of Awards for All grants in any one year
period
• You can apply at any time
• No match funding requirements within grant limit

11. What Awards for All can pay for:
Examples of what a grant could pay for:
• equipment hire or purchase
• information technology equipment
• small-scale building and refurbishment work
• sessional workers
• updating equipment and premises for health and safety reasons
• training
• volunteer expenses
• transport costs
• venue hire

12. What Awards for All cannot pay for:
• Activities that happen or start before BIG confirms the grant
• Existing activities and repeat or regular events that are less
than 3 years old (except for organisations with an annual income
< £30,000)
• Salaries of permanent or fixed term staff
• Routine repairs, maintenance and replacement
• Building work with a total cost of more than £25,000 (inc. VAT)
• Fundraising activities
Other excluded items detailed in the guidance

13. or All application process:
You send us your application
Online or by
post
We let you know our decision
30 working
days
You send the documents we ask for
20 working
days
We confirm the grant
10 working
days
You start your project

14. Reaching
Communities

15. Reaching Communities
- who can apply:
•
Voluntary and community organisations
•
Statutory bodies (schools, councils, health)
•
Social enterprises
Reaching Communities can fund existing as well as new
projects – existing projects will need to provide an
evaluation of their work

16. Reaching Communities
- revenue and small capital strand
You can ask for grants of more than £10,000 for projects
lasting up to five years
Limit of £100,000 for capital costs such as buildings, land or
refurbishment
If you want more than £500,000, you must speak to us first
Projects seeking more than £300,000 will need to show that
they are exceptional

17. Reaching Communities buildings
strand
We can fund land and buildings projects costing more than
£100,000
Projects should be replacing or improving existing buildings
where a wide range of community activities take place
Only available in certain areas based on deprivation and
rurality
Postcode checker on BIG website

18. Reaching Communities
- what can be funded
Revenue
• Salaries of project workers
• Recruitment, training costs and staff expenses (travel, phones,
stationery etc.)
• Rent, heating, lighting, maintenance and insurance
• Monitoring and evaluation of project
Capital
•
Building and engineering works required for delivery of project
• Plant and equipment necessary for running the project
• Purchase of land, buildings, equipment or fixtures
• Transport necessary for delivering the project

19. Reaching Communities revenue
and small capital strand
- application process
You can apply at any time
Stage 1 – Submit an outline proposal form
Response within 6 weeks
Responses: ‘Maybe’ or ‘unlikely’ or ‘outside funding policy’
If ‘maybe’, you will be invited to submit a full application
Stage 2 – Submit a full application within 4 months
Decision within two to four months

20. Essentials of an application to
the Big Lottery Fund

21. The most essential!
Read our guidance!

22. Remember BIG’s mission is:
- to bring real improvements to communities and
the lives of people most in need
We need your application to explain to us:
- why the people and communities you want to help are in need
and how you know this
- how your project will change people’s lives for the better
- how your project activities will achieve those changes

24. Need
-Tell us about the needs the people who will use your
project have
- Explain how you know that they have these need and
what you have learned from discussing your plans with
them
Don’t assume that we will automatically see that there is a
need. It is up to you to convince us.

25. Evidencing the need
Community consultation through meetings and surveys (essential)
Talking to other agencies who can confirm the need
External research e.g. academic papers
Statistical research (but keep it local)
Looking at local, regional or national strategies
Waiting lists and attendance records
Evaluation of previous work
Try and use a variety of sources to confirm the need – don’t just rely
on one
If no evidence is available, tell us

26. Outcomes
Think about what difference will the project make for the
beneficiaries?
Don’t just tell us what you are going to do, tell us how what
you are going to do will change peoples lives
Use ‘change’ words like: increased, improved, reduced...
Ask yourself what changes in the lives of your clients
would make you think:
‘We’ve been successful and made a difference’?
Think about your clients ‘before’ and ‘after’

27. Outcomes
Examples
- older people report improved psychological and physical
wellbeing through taking part in exercise classes
- young people with learning disabilities will have increased
self-confidence through working in the community café
- carers will report reduced levels of stress through the
provision of 7 hours respite care a week

28. Outcomes exercise
Look at the 12 examples and decide whether it is an
outcome
Can you see a clear change for the better in the life of the
individual?

29. Activities
Activities are the tasks, actions or services that
take place in your project to achieve its outcomes
Activities should:
- specify what will be done, how it will be done, who will
do it and when in order to achieve your outcomes
- form the main content of your project planning
- determine the resources and budget that you need to
run your project
Make sure that the linkage between each of your
outcomes and your range of activities is clear

30. A word on beneficiary involvement
BIG wants to see project beneficiaries involved both in
the planning and delivery of projects so think about:
- how you can fully consult beneficiaries on planning
- how you can fully involve beneficiaries in delivery
through:
- volunteering on the project
- project management
- peer mentoring other beneficiaries
- surveys and feedback
If you can’t involve your beneficiaries, tell us why

31. Further information and advice
Websites:
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Phone:
BIG Advice Line 0845 4 10 20 30
Text phone: 0845 6 02 16 59
Edward Hickman: 01223 449032
ed.hickman@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Other Lottery distributors:
Arts Council England:
www.artscouncil.org.uk
Heritage Lottery Fund:
www.hlf.org.uk
Sport England:
www.sportengland.org