Community Foundation NI: Thriving Futures Fund

Overview

The Fund

The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland is delighted to work with the Henry Smith Charity to launch the new Northern Ireland Thriving Futures Fund.

The fund aims to support:

• refugees and people seeking asylum
• people experiencing domestic abuse
• people leaving the criminal justice system

These periods of challenge and change are often high-need points, where negative experiences can lead to economic disadvantage, poverty and exclusion, or worse. However, they are also high-leverage points where clusters of need can be addressed by effective interventions to break cycles of disadvantage and achieve lasting transformation.

Funded areas

Applications are welcome from organisations providing support in one or more of these three areas.

People leaving the criminal justice system:

The Fund seeks to support organisations in their work to improve life outcomes for people leaving the criminal justice system; enabling them to transition into the community and so reduce reoffending.

What they would like the funding to help achieve:

• Impact on services, so that:
  • People are better prepared for prison release and better supported in the community.
  • There is an increase in high quality, trauma informed support so people can build on their strengths and make positive transitions.
  • There are reduced recall and reoffending rates.
• Systems and Policy Change, so that:
  • Community based sentencing and support are better resourced and utilised which leads to fewer people going to prison.
  • Policies are more responsive to lived experience and tackle the systemic discrimination within the criminal justice system.
  • Organisations working in this area have increased resilience, voice, support and are better able to sharing knowledge and insight.

Refugees and people seeking asylum:

The Fund seeks to support organisations in their work to help improve the lives of refugees and those leaving the asylum system, enabling people to resettle and lead safe, dignified and fulfilling lives.

What they would like the funding to help achieve:

• Impact on services, so that:
  • People in the asylum system are better prepared for leaving the system and better supported in the community
  • Refugees and people leaving the asylum system are equipped and empowered to make positive transitions.
  • People are safe from destitution, homelessness, exploitation or abuse
  • People are able to realise socio-economic opportunities.
• Systems and Policy Change, so that:
  • Systems and policies enable people to make positive transitions.
  • Organisations working in this area have increased resilience, voice, support and better able to sharing knowledge and insight.

People experiencing domestic abuse:

The Fund seeks to support organisations in their work to help people with experience of domestic abuse can recover and live safe lives free from abuse.

The Fund seeks to enable work that focuses on providing specialist support for individuals experiencing domestic abuse, especially those from minoritised communities. They want to help ensure that people experiencing domestic abuse can rebuild their lives, process trauma and improve their social, physical and financial situations, free from cycles of abuse and able to live safe, independent lives.

What they would like the funding to help achieve:

• Impact on services, so that:
  • People live free from abuse and the threat of violence.
  • People overcome the trauma, financial and social impacts of abuse and can improve their lives.
• Systems and Policy Change, so that:
  • Systems are better equipped to support people effectively.
  • Policies are supportive of survivors.
  • Organisations working in this area have increased resilience, voice, support and better able to sharing knowledge and insight.

Grant size:

Grants will be available for up to three years and will range from £30,000 to £50,000 per annum. The maximum available for a three-year grant will be £150,000.

They want this fund to be flexible and to support the costs needed to deliver on your work. They will therefore consider any costs associated, including core costs, with your application, providing the application clearly outlines how these costs support work that meets the fund criteria and priorities.

They envisage making 8 to 10 awards.

Priorities:

Service delivery – they will prioritise services that are:

• Informed by Lived Experience & Evidence – where the voice of lived experience is embedded within the organisations we support, and services are informed by people with first-hand experience of the issues.
• Holistic – where services consider the “whole person” and provide support across multiple areas to enable people to overcome challenges and to live healthy lives.
• Person Centred – where services work with people to provide the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their situation more effectively and to advocate for themselves, treating individuals as a partner in their own improvement and acknowledging their capabilities.
• Relational – services that work in a relational way with people to develop their capabilities and resilience, improve opportunity and connect to others.
• Lasting Impact – services that create creating enduring, sustainable improvement in circumstances. Services will have a long-term perspective aiming for sustainable development of individuals’ social inclusion, capacities, resilience, empowerment, and community connections.
• Improving systems – In addition to supporting service delivery, they want to play their part to improve the systems in which organisations operate, and which people must navigate to receive support. They will provide funding for activities that address the structures, standards and practices that influence service provision.
  • Some of the ways they will look to improve systems may include:
    • Place based systems improvement- work to improve the performance of systems at a local level – through joined up working, sharing of data/ insight, encouraging groups to work together effectively, bringing leadership together.
    • Harnessing collective effort-bringing organisations working in the same areas together to work on a joint agenda to drive change.
    • Scaling existing models-adapting/scaling existing models.
    • Shaping sector practice-changing how people work by sharing ideas and tools.
    • Building the evidence base using evidence to unlock scale by making the case for wider change.
    • Using Data for Transparency and Insight-strategies that use data to shine a new light on problems, change how people understand issues or galvanise action.
    • Influencing the allocation of Wider Funding-strategies that seek to change or redirect the way funding is allocated.
    • Challenging the status quo-questioning the status quo from outside, alongside or within the systems.