[cma-l] Funding News - Community Business Fund (UK)

Mon Apr 3 16:19:29 BST 2017

Hi Martyn

Yes, this again.

You will note that The Power To Change do not say that will not fund
community radio projects - just that community radio projects must provide
strong evidence of how they benefit the wider community.

Furthermore, you will recall our advice on this matter given on 8th
December 2016
<http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/pipermail/cma-l/2016-December/008508.html>:

*Tips for CMA members who are applying to the Community Business Fund*
There are two funds that may be of interest to CMA members. The Community
Business Fund (CBF), and the Bright Ideas Fund, which will reopen next
year. If you are not ready to apply to the CBF, eg do not have a business
plan already, then the Bright Ideas Fund may be more suitable.

The CBF has grants of between £50K and £300K for “step change” in trading
income and financial viability/sustainability. Power to Change funding is
for organisations serving a tightly defined neighbourhood – such as a one
or two wards of a city, or a village in a rural area. You should
demonstrate how you reach many different types of people who live in this
neighbourhood, and not just work with one specific group.

If you are a licensed station, talk about your licence range, which will
usually be for a 5km radius, and about the location of your studio – who
comes through the door? What happens there as well as the broadcasts? How
does it forward community development just by being there for people?

There are four criteria that all CBF applicants will need to meet:

*1) Locally rooted*
The idea needs to have come from the local community, not from an outside
individual or organisation stepping in to try to change things. This is
grassroots action. Communities are defined geographically – not as
communities of interest. The project needs to be open to and accessible by
all groups of people. An example was a social centre for people with
learning disabilities. This includes a café which all people, not just
people with disabilities, can access. The centre can be hired out by other
community groups as well.

*2) Community Accountability*
There are many types of community accountability. This could include being
a membership organisation, holding consultation sessions, etc. We noticed
this overlaps a lot with key commitments. For example, how can local people
become members/volunteers/presenters at a station? Do you have a regular
feedback show to review your output? Do you have members meetings etc? How
can volunteers become board members, and have a say in the running of
things? Do you plan programming in a democratic way? Show how local people
have ownership of your project.

*3) Trading*
This means non-grant income. They are only interested in organisations who
are already trading, and who want to trade more. A good model is where
grants are just for extra activities, not to support the running costs. We
discussed how sometimes organisations are unclear of how to categorise
their income. For example, a service level agreement with a local council
or school – is this grant or trading? This can be a grey area. There is no
cut-off point for what percentage of your income should be from trading,
but the applications are quite competitive, so the more trading the better.
Show how it can grow realistically, not too rapidly. They need to see a
clear trading model – what products/services is the organisation going to
trade in? How does that build on existing types and levels of trading?

*4) Broad Community Impact*
Impact is about how you are changing lives. This could be a wide range of
things - we would advise you to talk more about those who come through the
door, than those who tune in. This could include how people learn skills,
an apprenticeship programme, reducing loneliness and isolation, etc. They
don't want to see just one specific group benefiting from a project, this
needs to be broad. When developing new resources, they need to see the
right balance, to show sustainability. For example, if they were to fund a
new training studio, how would it be accessed by different groups? Who
would pay – and at what rates. Different rates for different customers
could mean it brings in a good income, whilst being accessible to all.

http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/pipermail/cma-l/2016-December/008508.html

The Power To Change has recently funded community radio projects and they
have no particular prejudice against community radio projects. I will ask
them to update their website.

Best regards

Bill
-- 
Operations Manager
Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk
https://twitter.com/community_media
https://facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation

Canstream Internet Radio
http://www.canstream.co.uk
https://twitter.com/canstream

On 3 April 2017 at 15:29, Martyn Haynes <martyn.haynes at wcrfm.com> wrote:

> this. again.
>
> Community radio
> Despite receiving a lot of applications from community media
> organisations, we have not yet funded a community radio station. This
> is partly
> because community radio stations find it hard to demonstrate they are
> locally rooted, as they cover a broad geographical area like a whole
> city, rather than a neighbourhood. Applications from community media
> organisations have often struggled to provide strong evidence of how
> they
> benefit the wider community.
>
> On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 12:54 PM, CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk> wrote:
> > The £10 million Community Business Fund will reopen in early summer 2017.
> >
> > Power to Change supports community businesses to revive local assets,
> > protect the services people rely on, and address local needs.
> >
> > Power to Change awards grants to help new and existing community
> businesses
> > grow and become more sustainable.
> >
> > There are two main grant programmes:
> >
> > The £1.85 million Community Business Bright Ideas Fund is aimed at
> community
> > groups who have a community business idea but need help turning it into
> > reality.
> > The £10 million Community Business Fund is aimed existing community
> > businesses that need funding for a business development project to make
> > their organisation more sustainable.
> >
> > Find out if you are eligible:
> >
> > http://www.thepowertochange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/
> 11/Community-Business-Fund-applicant-guidance-v4.pdf
> >
> > Through the fund, Power To Change will award grants between £50,000 –
> > £300,000 to community businesses in England.
> >
> > http://www.powertochange.org.uk/funding/grants/community-business-fund/
> >
> > \\
> >
> > Community Media Association
> > --
> > http://www.commedia.org.uk/
> > http://twitter.com/community_media
> > https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
> >
> > Canstream Internet Radio & Video
> > http://www.canstream.co.uk/
> > https://twitter.com/canstream
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > Reply - cma-l at commedia.org.uk
> >
> > The cma-l mailing list is a members' service provided by the Community
> Media
> > Association - http://www.commedia.org.uk
> > Twitter: http://twitter.com/community_media
> > http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
> > Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > Mailing list guidelines:
> > http://www.commedia.org.uk/about/cma-email-lists/email-list-guidelines/
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > To unsubscribe or manage your CMA-L mailing list subscription please
> visit:
> > http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/cma-l
>
>
>
> --
> Martyn Haynes
> Director
>
> 101.8 WCR FM
> www.wcrfm.com
>
> Wolverhampton Community Radio Training (WCRT)
> Newhampton Centre
> Wolverhampton
> WV1 4AP
>
> Office: 01902 572260
> Mobile: 07984 612 218
> _______________________________________________
>
> Reply - cma-l at commedia.org.uk
>
> The cma-l mailing list is a members' service provided by the Community
> Media Association - http://www.commedia.org.uk
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/community_media
> http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
> Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/
> _______________________________________________
>
> Mailing list guidelines: http://www.commedia.org.uk/abo
> ut/cma-email-lists/email-list-guidelines/
> _______________________________________________
>
> To unsubscribe or manage your CMA-L mailing list subscription please visit:
> http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/cma-l
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/pipermail/cma-l/attachments/20170403/788cf4ea/attachment.html>