Welcome to the new blog space for the Government Grants Community
Over the weeks and months to come we will be blogging about all things to do with grants and keeping you up to date with what we are doing and why - asking for your support in making it much simpler, faster and fairer to find and apply for government grants, and much more.
In this blog post, we wanted to introduce you to some of the team:
Lucia Webster - Grants Applicant Programme (GAP), Delivery Director
Right now there is no single go-to place to find or apply for government grants. Then, once you have found the grant you want to apply for, the application process can be complicated, time-consuming and costly, especially when you have very stretched resources.
I am determined that life can be simpler, faster and fairer for people and organisations to access government grants. The team and I have until March 2023 to prove we can. You can read all about what we are doing and why in my blog post.
Thomas Hezlett - GAP Lead Business Analyst
I am working to understand what the challenges are for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisation colleagues when they apply for grants - or perhaps why they have never applied. My first blog post covers the challenges that have already been flagged plus our plans for the next phase of our user research. Hopefully, you will want to join us.
Amie Wilsdon-Tagg - GAP Engagement Lead
I am starting to meet ‘virtually’ with VCSE organisations to listen and learn more. Over the weeks to come we will be setting up more virtual events, including masterclasses and workshops. If you would like to sign up for the community of interest or to suggest a topic for one of these sessions, drop me a line.
Tariq York - Grants Expert Support Team
I will get the chance to share a blog post in the new year, where I’ll cover the work we do with departments, including giving expert advice on design and delivery, paying out in emergencies, mitigation against fraud or error, and ongoing monitoring for schemes right across government. Until then, please do join our community of interest.
Ivana Gordon - Grants Expert Services, Deputy Director
In my blog post, I will give you the backstory of how we got to here, including our work on Spotlight, which we are very proud to say was shortlisted for a Digital Leaders 100 award in November 2021.
Introduce yourself to us
It would be great if you now felt able to introduce yourself to us. Do feel free to use the comment section below. You can also subscribe to the blog so that you can receive notifications whenever we post on the blog.
13 comments
Comment by Ian Richardson posted on
Very interested to be able to spread the word to hundreds of charities http://www.charitysaver.org Best Wishes Ian
Comment by Lisa White posted on
Thanks, Ian. Welcome to the Government Grants Community!
Comment by Ian Richardson posted on
It would be good to chat with someone.
Comment by Lisa White posted on
Hi @Ian. We will be in touch via email (govtgrantscommunity@cabinetoffice.gov.uk). Thanks again.
Comment by Leah Swain posted on
An interesting development. When I was a VCSE CEO seeking funding I would be frustrated at the fact Government Teams did not send information direct to local infrastructure organisations who already send out regular funding bulletins to the wider VCSE sector. It would be good to think about how you push out alerts using existing routes to market. As a funder I am interested more in how Government thinks about matching or aligning with existing funding sources to create a better impact and to support smaller or partnerships of VCSE organisations feel better placed to access Government funding.
Comment by Lisa White posted on
Hi @Leah, Welcome to the Govt Grants Community. We have just started to run roundtable discussions with funders to listen and learn from you. We will get in touch via email.
Comment by Jen McKevitt posted on
Very refreshing for government to be seeking to listen and work collaboratively with our sector. I'm so looking forward to hearing more and helping shape future programme delivery.
Well done!
Comment by Lisa White posted on
Thanks, @Jen. Welcome to the Govt Grants Community too. We will be in touch via email.
Comment by Bettina Leslie posted on
Great to see someone is going to listen to small charities and organisations. It would be great to be able to have longer funding streams not just 1 year or 2 but 3 to 5 as as always a fantastic project just gets off the ground and has to stop because of the length of time the funding lasts.
Another issue is why have to make up new ideas for projects each time when if it is proven a project works why is there no way to ask to reapply with the same project.
Thanks looking forward to engaging
Comment by Sam Thomson posted on
Hello - this is an interesting & hopefully will also be a very useful development. I've received the email & look forwards to seeing how this develops - anything that can save us time & resource applying for grants & ensure that we don't miss out on those that we might be eligible for because of lack of familiarity with the processes/understanding of particular silos etc used will be very welcome. Thank you.
Comment by Carolyn Clarke posted on
Thank you for this opportunity to hear about planning and feed into the development of programmes.
Comment by Lisa White posted on
Hi Carolyn, Thank you! It would be great if you could sign up to the Government Grants Community - so that we can keep you updated and invite you to join our use research sessions. Here is the link - https://forms.gle/Xu1AXWmqNvtJ7EyV7 Feel free to share the link with others, if you feel able to too.
Comment by Elliott posted on
Thank guys for the email - I think this is a very constructive way to go about it all and I look forward to seeing further developments on this!