GrantRadar

The National Lottery Community Fund

Young Start - Main Grants

Young Start - Main Grants give voluntary and community organisations in Scotland £20,001 to £150,000 for projects of up to 3 years that involve children and young people aged 8 to 24, who must be able to choose how they take part and influence decisions. Projects must help them build positive relationships, learn about themselves or others, take action on issues that matter to them, or learn skills for the future. It is funded by the Dormant Assets Scheme with priorities set by the Scottish Government, and distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund. You start by contacting the Scotland advice team, and the Fund decides within 12 weeks.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£20,001 – £150,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Organisations in Scotland that are a constituted voluntary or community organisation, constituted group or club, registered charity, SCIO, not-for-profit company, community interest company or community benefit society
  • You need at least 3 board or committee members who are not related (companies need at least 3 unrelated directors), and two contacts (a main contact and a senior person legally responsible for the funding) who live in the UK, have separate email addresses and are not related
  • Statutory or public bodies, schools, colleges and universities, individuals, sole traders, organisations based outside the UK, profit-distributing companies (including companies limited by shares) and one organisation applying on behalf of another cannot apply
  • You cannot hold Young Start Main and Small Grants at the same time, and past Small Grants holders must wait until that funding has ended
  • Existing Main Grants holders can reapply, ideally contacting the Fund 6 months before their funding ends

What it funds

Projects working with people aged 8 to 24 who can choose when and how they're involved and influence decisions, meeting at least one outcome (build positive relationships that improve their wellbeing; learn more about themselves or other people; take action on issues that matter to them; learn skills that help them feel more confident for the future):

  • Equipment
  • One-off events
  • Staff costs
  • Training
  • Transport
  • Utilities
  • Volunteer expenses
  • Marketing and communication costs
  • Evaluation costs
  • Professional and legal fees
  • Some indirect project costs (overheads), such as rent, insurance or part of a senior manager's or admin worker's salary, in proportion to the project (full cost recovery)
  • Some non-party political activity or campaigning that supports your organisation's purpose and benefits the public

What it will not fund

  • Retrospective costs
  • Alcohol
  • Contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest
  • Paying someone to write your application
  • Fundraising or activities where you make a profit
  • VAT you can reclaim
  • Religious activities (religious organisations can be funded if the project benefits the wider community and has no religious content)
  • Activities that statutory or public bodies are legally required to do
  • Activities that help children or young people with schoolwork during school hours
  • Travel outside the UK
  • Projects that take place outside of the UK
  • Activities that make profits for private gain
  • Cash given directly to individuals

How to apply

  1. Contact the Scotland advice team to chat about your idea (advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or 0300 123 7110, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)
  2. You are put in contact with a funding officer in your area within 10 days
  3. If eligible, you are sent a link to the online application form; complete it, optionally involving the children and young people you work with
  4. The Fund confirms receipt by email to the main and senior contacts and assesses the application, contacting you if it needs more information
  5. You are told by email within 12 weeks whether you are successful, and if so what you need to do before spending the funding

other ways to apply, such as offline forms, are available if applying online is difficult. Unsuccessful applicants are told why.

Have ready

  • Your most recent accounts
  • Draft accounts, if your accounts are older than 10 months
  • 12-month projections, if your organisation is less than 15 months old
  • Names, contact details, home addresses and dates of birth of a main contact and a senior contact
  • A safeguarding policy for working with children, young people and adults at risk

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