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Closed for applications Macc is pleased to announce that the Spirit of Manchester Fund 2020 is now open for mini-grant applications. This year’s funding pot contains £4,500 which we are offering as nine £500 mini-grants aimed at helping local people to feel connected to each other and more active in their communities. The deadline for bid submissions is midday on Thursday 5 March. To be eligible to apply for a £500 mini-grant, organisations must be voluntary, community or social enterprise groups based and working in the city of Manchester with a yearly income less than £100,000. To ensure your application is considered by the selection panel, please read the eligibility criteria which contains information on both applicant and activity eligibility. We are particularly keen to receive applications from groups for whom this would be their first grant and / or from organisations representing minority communities of interest / identity. This year, mini-grants can only be used to fund activities that are delivered strictly within a four to five-months period beginning in early April ending no later than 31 August 2020. After the independent grants selection panel has chosen which bids it will fund and before mini-grants can be paid, Macc will need successful applicants to comply promptly with our usual basic due diligence checks. |
Background to this funding
Macc supports the city of Manchester’s voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. We have fundraised annually since 2015 so that the following year we can give out mini-grants as part of the Spirit of Manchester, our annual celebration of the city’s thousands of VCSE organisations and their work.
Between 2016 and 2019, Macc awarded nearly twenty mini-grants of up to £500, distributing a total of £8,650. We believe it is important to recognise, support and encourage volunteers and local voluntary action. For more information on what the programme funded in previous years, please go to the Spirit of Manchester Fund webpage.
The grants process
The grants process has five parts:
1. Submit a grant application form
By no later than midday on Thursday 5 March, you will need to complete the short, simple grant application form either by using the Microsoft Word version and emailing it to [email protected] or via the online bid form
Once you have submitted an application form, you should receive an acknowledgement via email within two working days. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, it means we have not received your form and you should contact us immediately on 0161 834 9823.
As mentioned above, you can find information about applicant and activity eligibility here and you can find examples of mini-grants awarded in previous years here. The following is a link to the Macc Data Protection Policy that details how we will handle any information you submit - Data Protection Policy
2. Grants selection panel
After the deadline on 5 March, an independent panel will then review the applications and identify which have been successful. We will inform all applicants of the outcome of their bids by Monday 30 March.
3. Due diligence checks
If by 30 March Macc has informed you that your group’s application was successful then, before we can pay out the £500 mini-grant, we will ask you to provide promptly the following information:
i) a copy of your group’s governing document / constitution
ii) a copy of your most recent bank statement, dated no earlier than February 2020
iii) the names and home addresses of two committee members / trustees
We need to review the above information as part of our due diligence checks on successful applicants to ensure that you are based and active in the city of Manchester, have a local bank account and management structure and are financially solvent. PLEASE NOTE: you may not need to provide due diligence documentation if your organisation has received funding through Macc since 1 April 2019.
Macc will pay out mini-grants individually, immediately after the checks on each successful applicant are completed.
4. Activity delivery
These mini-grants can only fund activities that are deliverable within an approximate 4-5 month period that we hope to start around the beginning of April (dependent upon prompt successful compliance with due diligence checks) and ends strictly by 31 August. Macc is unable to offer flexibility on this, so please do not apply for a mini-grant if you are unable to fit with the timetable.
5. Zine submission
Instead of submitting the usual end of activity report, Macc will ask grant holders to prepare a one-sided A4 zine-page about their activity. For those not familiar with them, a zine is a 'homemade' magazine. You can see the ones produced in last year’s mini-grants round by going here and clicking any of the seven top-most picture-links on the page. At the end of your project, with photos and/or other materials about your activity to hand, you should be able to put your zine-page together in under an hour. The inspiration for your zine-page is 'the thing about our activity that I am most proud of'.
Programme dates
To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be able to comply with the timetable below. If you are unable to meet any of the deadlines listed below, please do not submit a mini-grant application form.
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Grants programme opens |
Monday 3 February 2020 |
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The funding application deadline is |
Midday on Thursday 5 March |
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Macc will notify applicants as to whether or not their bid was successful by |
Monday 30 March |
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Mini-grants will be paid out by (dependent on successful applicants promptly completing our standard due diligence checks) |
Early to mid-April |
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Delivery of funded activities begins |
Early to mid-April |
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Activities need to complete and funding be spent by (strict deadline) |
Friday 31 August |
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End of activity zine pages submitted by grant holders to Macc by (strict deadline) |
Friday 11 September |
Support with your grant application form
Should you require support to complete an application form, Macc’s Capacity Building Team can provide assistance through their usual referral process. Groups are free to request support on the 0333 321 3021 support line or via [email protected]. The team will manage requests subject to their capacity.
Please get in touch with the team sooner rather than later to have a better chance of getting support. Our Capacity Building Team provides this support separately to Macc’s administration of the Spirit of Manchester Fund. Whilst Macc administers the Fund, an independent grants selection panel makes all decisions.
Good luck!