**Applications to this fund have now closed**

About the Fund

The LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Fund is funded by Comic Relief, and METRO is the lead intermediary partner distributing these funds to the sector, with Equality Network as the Scottish delivery partner.

The Fund will operate in every nation of the UK, and its delivery will be supported by delivery partners in each nation.

Other delivery partners are:

• NAZ
• The Rainbow Project
• Umbrella Cymru
• Yorkshire MESMAC
• Birmingham LGBT

The Fund is for LGBTQ+ community-led organisations and groups to support their vital role in supporting LGBTQ+ communities through the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. Five regional panels will assess and allocate the funds.

The five Panels will be for the following areas:

• Scotland
• Northern Ireland
• Wales
• North and Midlands of England
• South of England

Are we eligible to apply?

Applications are open to groups and organisations with an annual turnover under £100,000.

Your group or organisation must also:

• Consist of 3 or more people
• Be led by LGBTQ+ staff or volunteers (if you are a group within a larger organisation, then the staff/volunteers leading on this proposed project should identify as LGBTQ+)
• Be not-for-profit
• Be committed to equality and dignity for all LGBTQ+ people, including trans people

What types of projects will be funded?

The fund is intended to support grassroots, local groups and organisations who can support LGBTQ+ communities through the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

• Awards will be between £500 – £15,000 (Award levels: micro up to £500 or £1,000, small up to £5,000, medium up to £10,000, and large up to £15,000) 
• Each organisation/group can only apply for one grant, not multiple grants adding up to £15,000
• Funding must be used by July 2021
• Public sector organisations cannot apply for funding, nor can they hold any of the funding on behalf of other organisations
• Projects should address the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector

The programme will not fund:

• Individuals
• Items which are due to be paid for by other public or private sector grants
• Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties
• Liabilities incurred prior to the date of this agreement
• All paid for events, conferences and exhibitions, including hire of venues for ‘purely’ promotional events
• Projects that are purely based around marketing/communications such as newsletter projects or advertising campaigns
• Projects that are purely making payments to statutory organisations, such as Local Authorities, schools, the Police Force and arm’s length public sector organisations. This includes organisations that are in any way controlled by, for example, a Local Authority, a Clinical Commissioning Group or agencies of these
• Any party-political activity
• Activity where the key purpose is to promote a religious doctrine or the beliefs of a particular faith
• Commercial ventures
• Funding of organisations which support or promote extremist views or which do not support human rights; equality before the law, democracy and full participation in UK society

How do we apply?

Small grants applications will close on 22nd September 2020.

Medium/Large grants applications will close on 30th September 2020.

You must submit your completed application by emailing it to niazy.hazeldine@metrocharity.org.uk by 5pm on the relevant closing date.

There are two separate application forms:

• The Micro and small grants application form, for grants under £5,000
• The Medium and large grants applications form, for grants £5,000-£15,000

Please ensure you submit using the correct application form.

For small grants applications (under £5,000), you may choose to submit a video application. If you choose to submit in this way, you will need to ensure that all questions in the application form are covered in your video. If there is another format you would like to use to present your proposal, please do get in contact with us.

How will funding be awarded?

METRO will do an initial sift of applications to sift out applications which have not been completed or are not eligible. The remaining applications will then be sent to the relevant regional Panel.

Alongside assessing for quality, we are also aiming to ensure that, as far as possible, the whole geography of the UK and the intersections of the LGBTQ+ community are represented in the funding. This will guide the panels’ assessment process.

For small grants (under £5,000)

For small grants:

1. the relevant regional Panel will first assess your application form/video
2. The Panel will then shortlist applications
3. Shortlisted applications will be invited to a short, Dragons Den style interview.
4. The panel will then recommend successful applicants to the Partnership Board, who will award the funding.

All applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Project design is of high quality
• Feasible project delivery
• Excellent value for money*
• Clear need for the project in the community*
• Excellent monitoring and evidence sharing plans*
• Reasonable governance of the project is in place*

For small grants, you will be assessed on the first two criteria with your application form/video, and then the starred criteria at interview stage.

For medium/large grants (over £5,000)

If you are applying for a grant of over £5,000, you will cover all criteria in your written application. The Panels will award successful grants based solely on your written application.

All applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Project design is of high quality
• Feasible project delivery
• Excellent value for money
• Clear need for the project in the community
• Excellent monitoring and evidence sharing plans
• Reasonable governance of the project is in place

What will happen at the interview stage?

Medium/Large applications will not be interviewed, they will be decided by application only.  

Shortlisted small grants applicants will be invited to a Dragons Den style interview with the relevant regional Panel.

The interview will be:

• 30 minutes long
• Held via Zoom
• Attended by 3-4 regional Panel members

At the interview you will need to:

• Present your idea in 5 minutes or under (PowerPoint presentations are not necessary, but could be used if you wish)
• Answer follow-up questions about your project
• Answer questions about why your project is needed in the community
• Answer questions about how you plan to capture data and share stories from your project
• Answer questions about how you plan to keep those you work with safe (Safeguarding)
• Answer questions about how you plan to keep information about those you work with secure (data protection)
• If you plan to have paid staff, or volunteers, you will be asked about how you will make sure you have safe and legal working practices
• How you will manage the finances
• There may also be other questions that come up, depending on your application

If you are not sure about any of these questions, METRO will be offering training on these areas. If you are a small group/organisation who has not thought about these things before, please get in contact with METRO so that they can support you.

Can we get help with our application?

Please do get in contact with us if you would like some support with your application. We are happy to support you, especially if you do not frequently engage with funding and grants processes. You can email scott@equality-network.org. You can also email contact METRO either by emailing niazy.hazeldine@metrocharity.org.uk or call them at 020 8305 5000.

In other parts of the UK you can also contact your local partner for support:

• NAZ
• The Rainbow Project
• Umbrella Cymru
• Yorkshire MESMAC
• Birmingham LGBT

Most local areas of the UK will also have a Community Voluntary Services who can support you. To see if your area has one, you can check on the following sites:

• SCVO, for Scotland
• NAVCA for England 
• NICVA for Northern Ireland
• WCVA, for Wales

What will we need to do if successful?

METRO Charity will send you a grant acceptance email, which includes a declaration that you accept the terms and conditions of the grant, and will also ask for your bank details so that we can pay you (if relevant). You will need to complete this and send back to niazy.hazeldine@metrocharity.org.uk.

We will have several scheduled phone calls with you during the delivery of your project, during which you will need to update METRO with details about how your project is running. We will provide further support at this stage where needed.

We will ask for some case studies from your work, half way through and at the end. This may not be applicable, depending on the size and scope of your project.

METRO will also be collating video evidence of projects supported by the fund. You may be asked to provide some video footage of aspects of your project delivery, if this is appropriate to the project you are running.

Once your project is finished you must submit a monitoring form that details how your project went, and the money you actually spent. METRO will provide a template for this report. You will need to return any unspent funds to METRO.

Downloads

• Guidance – everything on this page plus top tips for submitting a successful application
• Micro and small grants application form, for grants up to £500, £1,000 and £5,000
• Medium and large grants application form, for grants up £10,000 and £15,000