How we applied for a winning grant

As well as funding grants offered regionally by Girlguiding LaSER and nationally by Girlguiding HQ, there are often opportunities for units to apply for grant funding from third-party sources too. When we become aware of such opportunities we tend to share them on our social media channels, so keep an eye out!

Girlguiding Worthing Cissbury and Highdown divisions have had recent success in securing grants. Read about their experiences and how they did it here – then think about having a go yourself!

Women’s Vote Centenary Grant Scheme

Back in January 2018, when it was cold and wet, Girlguiding Worthing Cissbury division Senior Section was made aware of the Women’s Vote Centenary Grant Scheme via Girlguiding LaSER.

This scheme is a £1.5 million government fund to support local and community groups across England in celebrating the centenary of women gaining the right to vote.

The grant scheme had two types of funds:

1. Approximately 150 small grants of between £300 to £2,000 for grassroots projects to run small-scale events and activities to celebrate the centenary of women gaining the vote. There were three bidding rounds during 2018.
2. Up to 30 large grants of between £2,000 and £125,000. These will fund projects to increase the understanding of, and engagement with, democracy, and encourage women to participate in public life. There were two bidding rounds during 2018.

The first bidding round had closed for the small grants, but the second round was set to open on 15 March 2018, so we decided to be ready when it did.

We reviewed the application form and had to decide what we, as a unit, wanted to do to celebrate Vote 100. We decided to ask for £1,480 to:

1. Hold a Q&A session with our local MPs, female Worthing Borough councillors and female West Sussex councillors.
2. Take a trip to London to see the Houses of Parliament, including Prime Minister’s Questions, and to do LaSER’s London Challenge pack.
3. Hold a residential at Lodge Hill to celebrate Vote 100 and Parliament Week.

We submitted our application on Friday 16 March. On Friday 23 March, we were awarded our full grant of £1,480. We couldn’t quite believe it!

It’s now all systems go for us. Special thanks to The Ardington Hotel for hosting the Q&A session, and Tim Loughton MP for all his support.

Tesco Bags of Help

Tesco runs a grant scheme alongside the charity Groundwork called Bags of Help, where it uses money raised by the carrier bag charge in stores to fund community projects across the UK. The types of project they fund are broad and could include improving a community building or running a community event or activity.

If your application is successful, your project goes up against two others to be voted on by customers in your local Tesco stores, who are given a token when they buy their shopping so that they can make their choice. After voting ends, the project that receives the most votes in its area receives a grant of up to £4,000. The project that comes second receives up to £2,000, and third place receives up to £1,000.

Worthing Scout and Guide Gang Show have received the excellent news that our application for a Bags of Help grant has been successful!

The Worthing Scout and Guide Gang Show is made up of members from Worthing district Scouts and Girlguiding Worthing Cissbury and Highdown divisions, who put on theatre performances in the community. Now, every time a customer shops in Tesco in their local area, they will be able to vote for us! Voting is taking place from Sunday 1 July to Friday 31 August 2018 and it will be confirmed at the end of September 2018 what amount of funding we will receive.

The good news is that even if we come third, we will get £1,000. We are hoping to use our grant to update our very tired website – it urgently needs freshening up!

Applications are made online and Tesco and Groundwork have produced a step-by-step guide to applying here. You need to locate your nearest Tesco store and complete the eligibility quiz before you can get the form.