OFCOM Community Radio Fund:Emergency Funding due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Outbreak (Round 3)

Overview

The total amount available in Rounds 1 and 2 of 2020-21 was £406,810. In the first funding round, the Panel awarded grants totalling £333,152. The second round awarded grants totalling £73,658. Statements on the award of grants in Round 1 and Round 2 are published on Ofcom’s website. An additional £200,000 has been made available by DCMS for a third funding round in 2020-21, with the same purpose as Rounds 1 and 2 to provide emergency funding to support stations in light of Covid-19

The max amount is £7,500.

The Fund has been established to give grants to help fund the core costs of running Ofcomlicensed community radio stations. For 2020-21, grants will be given as emergency cash funding to support stations facing severe financial difficulty due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Grants will be made as a single lump sum and are to cover a one-year period only for analogue community radio services that are currently broadcasting.

Applicants that have already received funding from any of the £750million Covid-19 Charities Package, including through other government departments, the Community Match Challenge, the Covid-19 Community Support Fund or the Big Night In, will not be eligible to receive this funding.

Application eligibility criteria

• Grants can only be made to community radio licensees (“Licensee”). (Stations licensed under The Community Radio (Guernsey) Order 2013 are not eligible for funding).
• Payment can only be made when a station has launched (and becomes an Ofcom Licensee).
• Applicants must be on air by 31 January 2021.
• For 2020-21, applicants can apply even if they are nearing their licence end date. However, where the licence expires before 31 August 2021, the licence holding company must have submitted an extension application to Ofcom.
• Applications can only be submitted by, and awarded to, the licence holding company.

Licensees that have already applied for a grant in 2020-21

• Licensees that applied for a grant in 2020-21 may apply in this round. Applicants should complete the new form for the third round; any applications submitted on the wrong form will not be considered by the Panel.
• Licensees that did not receive a grant in the first or second round in 2020-21 should review the statements on the award of grants in Round 1 and Round 2. If you have further queries relating to an application from the second round, these should be sent to the Community Radio Fund team by email as soon as possible. Queries received close to or on the closing date may not be responded to until after the round has closed.
• Licensees that have received a grant in 2020-21 may apply for additional emergency funding. However, the Panel will prioritise applicants that did not receive a grant in the first two rounds

Licensees that have received a grant in 2019-20

• Licensees that have received a grant in 2019-20 may apply for emergency funding but should note that they will be considered after those that are not in receipt of emergency funding.
• If these licensees have already spent their grant as originally planned, or intend to do so, they must submit an interim or final report along with their application by the closing date for applications. The grant report form is on our website. An updated interim (or final) report must be submitted as part of this application process even if this has already been submitted to Ofcom, including during a previous round. If you have not started spending your grant, you should still submit an interim report explaining this.
• Unsuccessful applicants from the first or second round should take note of the published statement and amend their application accordingly using the new application form for this round.
• If licensees have not finished spending their current grant and wish to repurpose this, in addition to applying for emergency funding, they must complete an interim report on the spending of the current grant to date and confirm the amount that they wish to repurpose. The grant report form is on the website.
• Please note that the guidance in the grant report has not been updated to reflect the emergency nature of the fund in 2020-21. Licensees applying for emergency funding who fall into either of the above two categories should simply complete the report and include it alongside their application.
• Where licensees do not wish to apply for emergency funding, we will consider repurposing grants or extending the grant tenure for grants awarded in the 2019-20 funding rounds where a station requests this, outside of this emergency fund application process. Such requests should be made directly to Ofcom via email at communityradiofund@ofcom.org.uk.

For further information, please contact Ofcom's Community Radio team at communityradiofund@ofcom.org.uk