Big Lottery Fund Energy Efficient Venues

Overview

BIG will support voluntary and community organisations to carry out works to their venue with a focus on environmental and energy efficient improvements. They want this programme to have a positive effect on the environment and help voluntary and community organisations make savings on their recurring heating and lighting costs.

Examples of projects:

• installing double glazing, installing or upgrading the insulation of the venue or installing a more energy efficient heating system.
• a grant of £2,000-£10,000 can be used to complete an energy audit to identify how to make the venue more energy efficient or to develop an application for a grant of £15,000-£50,000 (by ensuring an Energy Audit has been conducted or to pay for the costs associated with any necessary statutory approvals).
• micro-generation technology - such as solar panels (photo-voltaic and passive) , wind turbines or biomass technologies.

If you are considering producing energy as part of your project, please contact their Information team to discuss state aid requirements.

They can fund:

• Voluntary or community organisations
• Organisations recognised by HM Revenue and Customs as exempt for tax purposes
• Charitable not-for-profit companies
• An organisation set up as a social enterprise – businesses that are chiefly run for social objectives, whose profits are reinvested in the business rather than going to shareholders and owners.

There are two grant sizes.

• £2,000 to £10,000 grants
• £15,000 to £50,000 grants.

You can apply for just one grant or a maximum of two grants (the total of which cannot be more than £60,000). If you decide to apply for two grants, they can be a combination of two grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 or one grant of between £2,000 and £10,000 and one grant of between £15,000 and £50,000. You cannot apply for two grants of between £15,000 and £50,000.

There is more detailed information about what an applicant will need to provide in the programme guidance notes and application form about. This includes:

• Ownership of your community venue: This can be either freehold or a lease. If freehold you must provide evidence of ownership, whether registered or unregistered. If a lease, it must be an unbreakable lease for a minimum of five years, calculated as the remaining years on the lease from the date of practical completion of the building work) and you must send us a copy of the lease with written consent from the property owner or landlord for the proposed work.
• Statutory approvals(such as planning permission or building regulation approval), if required for your project, must be in place before you apply for a grant to carry out your energy efficiency work and/or a grant of £15,000 to £50,000. Remember, you can apply for a grant of between £2,000 and £10,000 to obtain statutory approvals

If you apply for a grant of £15,000 to £50,000 an Energy Audit must be carried out by a recognised expert. Community Places will be able to advise you on this. They also have an Energy Audit template which should be completed by the Energy Auditor you appoint.

If you are proposing changes to the building footprint, internal arrangements or structural alterations and are applying for a grant of between £15,000 and £50,000, you will have to confirm on your application form, that, where relevant, competent professionals have made site investigations; including ground conditions, drainage and services, and/or surveyed existing buildings.

If you apply for a grant of between £2,000 and £10,000, we will tell you our decision within three months of sending us your completed application.

If applying for a grant of between £15,000 and £50,000 , we will tell you our decision within six months of sending us your completed application.

How to Apply

Full guidelines and application forms are available from the Big Lottery Fund website

This programme launched on 19 May 2010. You can send in your application any time after the programme launches. The programme will remain open for about two years. For general enquiries contact Big Lottery Fund’s Information Team in the Belfast office on 028 9055 1455.

BIG have contracted Community Places and partners to provide technical information, guidance, support and good practice to potential applicants in the following areas:

• Energy efficiency issues including micro-generation technologies
• Planning permission and building control processes
• Sustainable development principles and practices
• Accessibility issues
• Tendering, contracting arrangements and contract management on small scale capital projects.

You can contact Community Places by telephone on 028 9023 9444 or by email at info@communityplaces.info