Comic Relief: Sport for Change

Overview

Comic Relief receive many more applications than they are able to fund and usually only support work which fits our current priorities, so before you apply for funding, please read through all the Essential Information carefully.

Comic Relief accept applications from the voluntary and community sector throughout the UK including: constituted voluntary and community groups, charities, social enterprises, co-operatives, faith organisations, and community interest companies.

Comic Relief make grants in the programme areas outlined. You can make only one application to one programme at a time.

Comic Relief fund work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and are very keen to make sure that Comic Relief reach all parts of the UK, especially areas which often miss out, such as rural communities. Comic Relief usually make grants for between one and three years.

Comic Relief can give grants for running costs and capital costs. However, they give building costs a very low priority, and only fund these in exceptional circumstances. Comic Relief do not fund capital costs where they are part of a much larger appeal.

They usually make grants to cover project costs, but Comic Relief recognise that you may wish to include a contribution towards your organisational costs so that it reflects the true cost of running your project. This is sometimes known as full cost recovery.

Comic Relief can pay for all or some of your project costs, but they encourage you to get some of your funding from other sources if you can. There is no minimum or maximum grant in most of their programmes, but where there are limits, these are clearly stated in the programme guidelines. Their grants on average vary between £25,000 and £40,000 per year, and rarely exceed this upper limit.

Comic Relief are unlikely to make large grants to very small organisations, and they will not usually fund all the costs of an application made by charities with an annual income over £10 million. These charities will be expected to make a contribution themselves or secure other income towards the costs of the project.

If your work is regional, national or provides a model that could be widely replicated, they may be able to fund at a higher level. Please call Comic Relief to discuss this before you submit an application.

The aim of this Comic Relief: programme is to understand more about how sport can play a part in delivering positive change within the lives of individuals and communities.

These are examples only and they welcome applications for work tackling any social issue so long as the need for the work is clearly explained.

Outcomes

• The organisations they fund will need to show how their work will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes
• Increased sense of inclusion and well-being by marginalised and disadvantaged people
• Greater community involvement
• An increased understanding of how sport can help bring about positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities
• Greater knowledge across the community and sports sectors about effective work which uses sport as a tool for social change

Comic Relief welcome applications from community groups and organisations using sport as part of a broader programme of work to bring about change at an individual and /or community level.

They will fund across all age ranges and within a broad range of communities. They are happy to receive applications from consortia of agencies as long as there is a lead community-based organisation.

Applicants will also need to:

• demonstrate how they are using sport as part of a broader programme to achieve a measurable social change or impact
• show how the work is based in community development principles
• have monitoring and evaluation systems in place to track the impact of the work.

The maximum grant size in this programme is £100,000 in total.

If you would like to talk to them about whether your work meets the criteria please ring them for a chat.

How to Apply

An application to Sport for Change begins with an initial ‘Letter of Interest’ and then, if invited, a full proposal.

The Letter of Interest should be no more than 2 sides of A4 (minimum font size Arial, 11pt) and should cover:

• A clear analysis of the issue or concern to be addressed in the area
• A description of the organisation and an indication of competence in the area of the proposal
• A description of the project including:
  • Who it will benefit
  • A description of the activities you will run (and their fit into a broader programme of work)
  • An outline of the positive changes you want to bring about for the people you are working with
• How the project will lead to new ways of thinking and acting
• A brief overview of your budget, income sources and costings for the project

Deadlines: Letters of Interest may be submitted at any time and may take up to eight weeks to be reviewed.

Full Proposal: If an application is chosen for further consideration, you will be invited to submit a full proposal. Invited organisations have up to four months to submit a full proposal and need to allow at least 12 weeks for a funding decision once the proposal has been submitted.