Communitybuilders - a new programme for community organisations

We launched Stage 1 of the new Communitybuilders website this week. Communitybuilders is a £70 programme for multi-purpose, inclusive community-led organisations and provides loans, grants and business support to help them become more sustainable and resilient.

Multi-purpose, inclusive and community-led? What does that mean?

Well, through Communitybuilders we want to support community organisations that provide services to as large part of the community as possible. Sometimes these organisations are called community anchors.

By multi-purpose we mean that organisations should provide a range of services. Examples might include managed workspace, childcare provision, a café for local people, sport or dance, elders’ groups, evening classes, training and conference facilities.

By inclusive we mean that organisations’ services should be available to everyone in their neighbourhood. They should work with other community organisations and have an open attitude to people from diverse background. It’s no good to only provide services to one part of the community. If organisations are only providing their services to, for example, one ethnic group, they have to show us how they are planning to open up the services to the wider community.

Finally, by community-led, we mean that organisations need to be run by the local community. They cannot be controlled by the public or private sectors and they need to have a clear majority of local people on their boards or otherwise controlling the direction of the organisation.

There are three elements to Fund: Development, Feasibility and Investment. The Development package will consist of bespoke business support based on an initial needs assessment and leadership grants of £2,000 for staff development and training.

The Feasibility package will consist of further business support of up to 5 days and grants of up to £20,000 to use towards project development of a growth plan. Grants of up to £75,000 and 30 days of support will be available for larger projects.

The Investment package will be tailored for organistions who are ready to develop, grow and expand their role within the community. Investment will consist primarily of loans between £50,000 and £2,000,000 offered at 5% for an initial three year period of a ten year loan term.

The Communitybuilders programme will be open for applications in early September. In the meantime, you can register your interest by visiting www.communitybuildersfund.org.uk.

Enjoyed this? Why not vote or leave a comment?