Ask a Regional Manager – March 2019
Our Ask a Regional Manager column lets you ask questions anonymously. Ask us about what we fund, who we fund, and why
21 March 2019
Our Ask a Regional Manager column lets you ask questions anonymously. Ask us about what we fund, who we fund, and why
21 March 2019
Peter Cunnison is our Regional Manager for the West Midlands. He joined us in 2008 from the Big Lottery Fund where he managed grants programmes of all sizes from small grants to multimillion-pound grant portfolios.
Prior to that, Peter worked in the further education sector, establishing educational programmes in communities. He also spent many years engaging in voluntary youth work.
“I like to translate jargon and demystify the grant application process. I especially enjoy helping charities who find grant applications a bit overwhelming, showing them they can have a positive experience and learn in a constructive way, even if we are not able to fund them.”
Peter is married and the proud father of two (now grown) children.
Q: When are your grants open?
We have two main strands of funding: one for core costs and one for developing your charity.
Enable, our development grants, are always open so you can apply at any time.
Invest, our core cost grants, are currently closed but will be reopening in September, with a simplified application process. Keep checking our Funding Timetable for the latest updates.
If you’d like to learn more about what our Enable grants can help your charity to do, speak to your Grant Manager. If you don’t already know your local Grant Manager, call our Service Delivery Team on 0370 411 1223 and they will put you in touch.
Q: Would love to know if a grant panel would favour a project or core funding?
In fact, we have two separate streams of funding, one for projects and development, and the other for core costs.
As part of our grant application process, we will work with you to think through how we can best help your charity and if you need core or project funding or other types of support. We welcome both types of grant application – neither is preferred.
To qualify for core funding you’ll need to demonstrate that more than 50% of your work supports people experiencing our complex social issues. Otherwise, you’re welcome to apply for project funding. Don’t worry if that sounds complicated, as Grant Managers it’s our job to help you work through that!
We will also be announcing some exciting changes to our funding later this year, designed to make the grant application process much simpler for charities. Watch this space!
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