Solidarity Fund - Application Questions - The National Lottery Community Fund

Section 1 - Your project

Please tell us about your project in this section. This is the most important section when it comes to making a decision about whether you will receive funding.

Question	Guidance
What is the name of your project?	The project name should be simple and to the point.
What areas will your project take place in?	You can tell us one (or more) areas All of England East and West Midlands London, South East and East of England North East & Cumbria North West South West Yorkshire and Humber
Where will your project take place?	If your project covers more than one area please tell us where most of it will take place. Select a location Select a location East and West Midlands Derbyshire Herefordshire Leicestershire Lincolnshire (except North and North East Lincolnshire) Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire Rutland Shropshire Staffordshire Warwickshire West Midlands Worcestershire London, South East and East of England Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire East Sussex Essex Greater London Hampshire Hertfordshire Kent Norfolk Oxfordshire Peterborough Suffolk Surrey West Sussex the Isle of Wight North East & Cumbria Cleveland County Durham Cumbria Darlington Middlesbrough Northumberland Stockton on Tees Tyne and Wear North West Cheshire Greater Manchester Lancashire Merseyside South West Bath and North East Somerset Bournemouth Bristol Cornwall Devon Dorset Gloucestershire Isles of Scilly North Somerset Plymouth Poole Somerset South Gloucestershire Swindon Torbay Wiltshire Yorkshire and Humber North Yorkshire South Yorkshire West Yorkshire Humber North and North East Lincolnshire
Tell us all the locations the project will run in	In your own words, describe all of the locations that you’ll be running your project in. For example, ‘West Yorkshire’, 'Salford' or ‘Almondsbury’.
What is the postcode of where your project will take place?	If your project will take place across different locations, please use the postcode of the building or address where most of the project will take place. You must provide the full postcode. If you do not know the postcode, you can use the Royal Mail Postcode Finder to try and find it.
Tell us the total cost of your project	This is the cost of everything related to your project, even things you're not asking us to fund. For example: If you're asking us for £2 million and you're getting £500,000 from another funder to cover additional costs, your total project cost is £2.5 million. If you're asking us for £2 million and there are no other costs, your total project cost is £2 million.
How much money do you want from us?	This can be an estimate
What will you spend the money on?	Give us a list of budget headings (for example, salaries, running costs, training, travel, overheads and refurbishment costs). We do not need any costs attached to these yet, or a detailed list of items. If we invite you to the next stage of the application process, we'll ask you for a more detailed project budget, including a year-by-year breakdown. But right now, we just want to check if these are things we can fund.
How long do you need the money for?	We can fund projects for 5 to 10 years. If your project is not an exact number of years, please round up to the nearest year. For example, for an 6 and a half year project, choose 7 years. 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 years 10 years
How is your work led by, and accountable to, people with lived experience?	By people with ‘lived experience’, we mean having personal experience of the issues your organisation is trying to change. Particularly where that experience influences how people think about or respond to those issues. Or influences how they get organised to address these challenges. Here we want to know how your organisation involves people with lived experience in the important decisions about your work. And how you make sure you are accountable to them. Tell us: how your work is guided by people with lived experience how you also use other types of skills and knowledge. Including learned and professional experience about the communities you work with. Including where they are how you stay accountable to those communities (for example, by having a membership that helps you make the important decisions for your organisation). We’ll prioritise work that is led by and helps communities that are the least empowered. You can write up to 750 words for this section. But it’s fine if you use fewer. You can save once you’ve written 50 words .
How will you bring people together to deal with the root causes of poverty, disadvantage or discrimination?	Here we want you to tell us how your work addresses inequality for more than a single place or a single group of people. By inequality, we mean poverty, disadvantage or discrimination. We want to know how you’ll develop relationships and trust with organisations working on different issues (including organisations you already work with). How you’ll work together to make wider changes. And how you’ll try to support each other and work together to deal with the root causes of inequality. This is what we call working in ‘solidarity’. Tell us: who you plan to work with what connections you already have with other organisations that will help you how you’ll work in solidarity with them to deal with the root causes of poverty, disadvantage or discrimination how this will help make a bigger and longer lasting change than if you worked alone whether you’re applying as part of a partnership. If so, tell us who all the partners are. And the background of you all working together. You can write up to 750 words for this section. But it’s fine if you use fewer. You can save once you’ve written 50 words.
What big and lasting changes are you trying to make to the root causes of poverty, disadvantage or discrimination?	Here we want you to tell us what root causes you’d help deal with. And broadly how you’d try to do that. We’ll only expect you to give us a more detailed plan if you get through to the second stage. By big and lasting changes, we mean doing more than just helping people with the issues they are facing now. This is sometimes called ‘systems change’. It means changing things like the way organisations or sectors work together. And making those systems fairer - so they’re less likely to lead to people facing poverty, disadvantage or discrimination Tell us: what root causes of poverty, disadvantage or discrimination you want to try and change what big, lasting changes to those issues you want to see how you hope to contribute towards those changes (we do not expect you to have all the solutions right now) who has the power to affect those issues, and how this affects the people you work with what progress you’ve already made, and how long-term funding would help you build on that why you could not make this change before now. Or what has made it difficult. You can write up to 750 words for this section. But it’s fine if you use fewer. You can save once you’ve written 50 words.
How will you build power and learning?	Here we want to know how you’ll develop the skills and confidence of the communities you work with. And support them to get organised, so they have more influence over the services or systems that affect their lives. This is what we mean by communities having ‘power’. We also want to know how you’ll learn from people that experience inequality. You could be using this learning to help people have a say, and be heard. Or you could use it to support people to take action and make things better. We expect you to build both community power and learning. But it’s fine if your organisation has more experience in doing one of these. Tell us how you’ll build power in communities, including: how you support a group of people directly affected by the issues you’re dealing with to get organised. And how they are able to influence things and make changes how you help people gain skills, confidence, and connections to lead and organise others how you help communities influence important decisions about policies, services, or funding how you make sure leadership and organising skills last long-term. We want to know how you’ve used learning to help make change. And how you’ll develop this, including how you’ll work together with communities to create and share knowledge that matters to them how you’ll use this knowledge to change public understanding and make systems fairer how you’ll make sure this knowledge is useful, and helps communities take action what difference you’ve made so far by sharing learning how you'll continue to support communities to use this knowledge to lead. You can write up to 750 words for this section. But it’s fine if you use fewer. You can save once you’ve written 50 words.

Section 2 - Extra details about your project

We want to understand more about where our funding is going.

Question	Guidance
Which one category best describes your project?	My project brings people together and encourages social connections My project helps children or young people thrive My project supports people of all ages to live healthier lives My project supports communities to be environmentally sustainable Other, I want to describe a different category for my project
You selected ‘other’. Describe the different category you’d put your project in.
What other categories could describe your project? (Optional)	You can select more than one option. If it does not fit into any more categories, select ‘save and continue’. My project brings people together and encourages social connections My project helps children or young people thrive My project supports people of all ages to live healthier lives My project supports communities to be environmentally sustainable
Which one sub-category best describes what your project will do?	You can select more sub-categories in the next question. My project provides or improves places for people to come together (this includes meeting online or in person) My project delivers activities or events (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables people to make a positive difference to their community My project gives people a sense of safety, belonging and trust My project improves connections and relationships with others My project connects children or young people with trusted adults My project improves people’s wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project improves access to nature for people These options are not relevant to my project
Which one sub-category best describes what your project will do?	You can select more sub-categories in the next question. My project gives babies or children a good start in life My project helps children or young people develop social and emotional skills My project connects children or young people with trusted adults My project supports young people to thrive as adults My project provides or improves places for children or young people to come together (this includes meeting online or in person) My project delivers activities or events (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables children or young people to make a positive difference to their community My project gives children or young people a sense of safety, belonging and trust My project improves connections and relationships with others My project improves wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project enables children or young people to improve their community’s impact on the environment These options are not relevant to my project
Which one sub-category best describes what your project will do?	You can select more sub-categories in the next question. My project provides or improves places that support health and wellbeing My project delivers activities or events that help health and wellbeing (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables people to improve community health and wellbeing services My project improves people’s wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project helps to reduce health inequalities My project improves connections and relationships with others My project gives babies or children a good start in life My project helps children or young people develop social and emotional skills My project enables people to improve their community’s impact on the environment My project improves access to nature for people These options are not relevant to my project
Which one sub-category best describes what your project will do?	You can select more sub-categories in the next question. My project helps community organisations to have a better impact on the environment My project enables people to improve their community’s impact on the environment My project helps communities to adapt to changes in the climate My project improves access to nature for people These options are not relevant to my project
What other sub-categories are relevant to your project? (Optional)	You can select more than one option. If it does not fit into any more categories, select ‘save and continue’. My project provides or improves places for people to come together (this includes meeting online or in person) My project delivers activities or events (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables people to make a positive difference to their community My project gives people a sense of safety, belonging and trust My project improves connections and relationships with others My project connects children or young people with trusted adults My project improves people’s wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project improves access to nature for people
What other sub-categories are relevant to your project? (Optional)	You can select more than one option. If it does not fit into any more categories, select ‘save and continue’. My project gives babies or children a good start in life My project helps children or young people develop social and emotional skills My project connects children or young people with trusted adults My project supports young people to thrive as adults My project provides or improves places for children or young people to come together (this includes meeting online or in person) My project delivers activities or events (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables children or young people to make a positive difference to their community My project gives children or young people a sense of safety, belonging and trust My project improves connections and relationships with others My project improves wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project enables children or young people to improve their community’s impact on the environment
What other sub-categories are relevant to your project? (Optional)	You can select more than one option. If it does not fit into any more categories, select ‘save and continue’. My project provides or improves places that support health and wellbeing My project delivers activities or events that help health and wellbeing (this includes meeting online or in person) My project enables people to improve community health and wellbeing services My project improves people’s wellbeing, physical health or mental health My project helps to reduce health inequalities My project improves connections and relationships with others My project gives babies or children a good start in life My project helps children or young people develop social and emotional skills My project enables people to improve their community’s impact on the environment My project improves access to nature for people
What other sub-categories are relevant to your project? (Optional)	You can select more than one option. If it does not fit into any more categories, select ‘save and continue’. My project helps community organisations to have a better impact on the environment My project enables people to improve their community’s impact on the environment My project helps communities to adapt to changes in the climate My project improves access to nature for people

Section 3 - Your organisation

Please tell us about your organisation, including legal name and registered address. This helps us understand the type of organisation you are.

Question	Guidance
What is the full legal name of your organisation?	This must be as shown on your governing document. Your governing document could be called one of several things, depending on the type of organisation you're applying on behalf of. It might be called a constitution, trust deed, memorandum and articles of association, or something else entirely. You might find it on a registration website - for example, Companies House or a Charities Register.
Does your organisation use a different name in its day-to-day work?	This is how you might be known if you're not just known by your legal name (the legal name is on your governing document or registration website). Yes No
What is the name your organisation uses in its day-to-day work?	This is how you might be known if you're not just known as .
Organisation Website (Optional)
What is the organisation's postcode? (Optional)	For example, EC4A 1DE
Building and street
Address line 2 (Optional)
Town or city
County (Optional)
Postcode
When was your organisation set up?	This is the date your organisation took on its current legal status. It should be on your governing document. If you do not know the exact date, it can be an approximate date. For example, 12-06-2025
How many people in England does your whole organisation directly support in a typical year?	We’re not looking for how many people your specific project will support - we’ll ask for that at the end of the grant.
How many volunteers do you have in your whole organisation?	We’re not looking for the number of volunteers you’ll work with on this project specifically - we’ll ask for that at the end of the grant.
How many full-time equivalent staff work for your whole organisation?	To help you give us an idea, full-time hours are usually around 37 hours per week. So, to find out how many full-time equivalent staff you have, you need to divide the total number of hours worked by staff at your organisation by 37.
What percentage of your leadership (for example, senior management team, board, committee) have 'lived experience' of the issues you're trying to address? (Optional)	When we say lived experience, we mean organisations led by people who have lived through challenges the organisation is trying to tackle. For example: a charity working with care experienced people being led by people who have been in care an organisation working with disabled people being led by disabled people an organisation that works with communities experiencing ethnic or racial inequality having a leadership team that reflects those communities an organisation that provides support to people affected by autism where someone from the organisation has a family member with autism.
What type of organisation are you?	If you're both a charity and a company - just pick ‘Not-for-profit company’ below. Unregistered voluntary or community organisation Not-for-profit company Registered charity (unincorporated) Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO or SCIO) Community Interest Company (CIC) Faith-based group School Statutory body College or University
Companies House number
Charity registration number (Optional)
Charity registration number
Department for Education number
Tell us what type of statutory body you are	Parish Council Town Council Local Authority NHS Trust/Health Authority Prison Service Fire Service Police Authority
What is your accounting year end date?	For example, 31 03
What is your total income for the year?	Use whole numbers only, like 12000.

Section 4 - Senior contact

Provide the details of your senior contact. They’ll be legally responsible for the funding. They can’t be married to, in a civil partnership with, in a long-term relationship with, living with, or related to the main contact or through a long-term partner.

Question	Guidance
What is the role of the senior contact?	You already told us what sort of organisation you are. So the senior contact role options we're giving you now are based on your organisation type. Unregistered voluntary organisation Chair Vice-Chair Secretary Treasurer Company Company Director Company Secretary Registered Charity Trustee Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO or SCIO) Trustee Chief Executive Officer Community Interest Company (CIC) Company Director Company Secretary School Head Teacher College or University Chancellor Vice-chancellor Statutory Bodies Parish Council Parish Clerk Deputy Parish Clerk Town Council Elected Member Chair Local Authority Chair Chief Executive Director NHS Trust/Health Authority Chief Executive Director Faith-based group Chair Vice-Chair Secretary Treasurer Religious leader (eg. rabbi, imam, vicar) Registered Charity and Not-for-profit Company Company Director Company Secretary School or educational body and Charity Trustee School or educational body and Company Company Director Company Secretary
What is the role of the senior contact?	You already told us what sort of organisation you are. So the senior contact role options we're giving you now are based on your organisation type.
First name (in full)	This cannot be a shortened name, initial or nickname.
Last name
What is the senior contact's date of birth?	We need their date of birth to do an identity check. If it's entered incorrectly, it could delay your application. For example, 30 03 1980
What is the senior contact's postcode? (Optional)	For example, EC4A 1DE
Building and street
Address line 2 (Optional)
Town or city
County (Optional)
Postcode
Have they lived at the address, for the last three years?	Yes No
What is the senior contact's postcode at their previous address?	For example, EC4A 1DE
Building and street
Address line 2 (Optional)
Town or city
County (Optional)
Postcode
The senior contact's email address	We’ll use this if we need to get in touch with the senior contact about the project.
The senior contact's telephone number	We’ll use this if we need to get in touch with the senior contact about the project.
Does the senior contact have any additional communication needs? (Optional)	For example, if they need information in a specific language or format.
What language should we use to contact the senior contact?	English Welsh

Section 5 - Main contact

Please provide details for your main contact. This will be the first person we contact if we need to discuss your project.

Question	Guidance
First name (in full)	This cannot be a shortened name, initial or nickname.
Last name
What is the main contact's date of birth?	We need their date of birth to do an identity check. If it's entered incorrectly, it could delay your application. For example, 30 03 1980
What is the main contact's postcode? (Optional)	For example, EC4A 1DE
Building and street
Address line 2 (Optional)
Town or city
County (Optional)
Postcode
Have they lived at the address, for the last three years?	Yes No
What is the main contact's postcode at their previous address?	For example, EC4A 1DE
Building and street
Address line 2 (Optional)
Town or city
County (Optional)
Postcode
The main contact's email address	We’ll use this if we need to get in touch with the main contact about the project.
The main contact's telephone number	We’ll use this if we need to get in touch with the main contact about the project.
Does the main contact have any additional communication needs? (Optional)	For example, if they need information in a specific language or format.
What language should we use to contact the main contact?	English Welsh

Section 6 - Declaration

In order to submit your application, you will need to agree to our terms and conditions.

Question	Guidance
You have been authorised by the governing body of your organisation (the board or committee that runs your organisation) to submit this application and accept the declaration on their behalf.	I agree
You have been authorised by the people named as the Main Contact and Senior Contact to include them in this proposal and to submit their details in this form to us.	I agree
You understand that if a grant is offered to your organisation it will be subject to our terms and conditions.	I agree
All the information you have provided in your application is accurate and complete; and you will notify us of any changes.	I agree
You understand that we will use any personal information you have provided for the purposes described under our Data Protection and Privacy notice.	I agree
You accept that if information about this application is requested under the Freedom of Information Act, we will release it in line with our Freedom of Information policy.	I agree
You understand that what you tell us in this form will be shared with the main and senior contact.	I agree
You have not shared any personal data in the project questions. These are the questions where we ask what you’d like to do.	I agree
Full name of person completing this form
Position in organisation

Section 7 - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) monitoring information

We want to hear more about the people who’ll benefit from your project and your organisation.

Question	Guidance
Is your project aimed at a specific group of people or is it open to everyone?	If at least 75% of the people you support share characteristics, then your project is for a specific group. Your specific group may share one or more characteristics. For example, if 80% of the people you work with are female refugees, this means you support a specific group of people. In this example, they share two characteristics — women and refugees. We know this can only be an estimate. It’d be too difficult to work out exactly, especially if this is a new project. My project is aimed at a specific group of people My project is open to everyone
Who is your project for?	If 75% or more of the people supported or benefitting from your project come from one specific group, tell us who they are. If you select an option, we will ask you to tell us more about that group. Communities experiencing ethnic or racial inequity, discrimination or inequality Faith communities People who emigrate Disabled people Older people (65 and over) Younger people (under 25) Women and girls LGBTQ+ people People who are educationally or economically disadvantaged Specific groups that are not included already
Which community is your project for?	Select one category, if possible Black/African/Caribbean/Black British Black British African Caribbean Any other Black/African/Caribbean background Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups White and Black Caribbean/African White and Asian Any other mixed/multiple ethnic background Asian / Asian British Asian British Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Chinese Any other Asian background Other group experiencing ethnic or racial inequity Arab Jewish Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities Any other ethnic group
Which faith community is your project for?	Select one category, if possible Catholic Protestant Other Christian denominations Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Atheist Agnostic Other faiths and beliefs
Which group of people who emigrate is your project for?	Select one category, if possible People seeking asylum People with refugee status People with irregular and undocumented status Other people who emigrate
Which group of disabled people is your project for?	Select one category, if possible Mental health Long-standing illness or health condition Mobility impairments Visual impairment/partial sight/sight loss Deaf/hard of hearing/hearing loss Speech impairment Multiple physical impairment Learning disability Learning difficulty Neurodiverse Other type of disability or impairment
Which age group is your project for?	Select one category, if possible 19-25 16-18 8-15 2-7 Under 2 years of age
Which LGBTQ+ community is your project for?	Select one category, if possible Bisexual men Bisexual women Gay men Lesbian/gay women Trans men Trans women Non-binary people LGBTQ+ people I'd describe in another way
Which specific group (that you have not included already) is your project for?	Examples include: care experienced young people, carers, people recovering from alcohol addiction, sex workers, people whose first language is not English or Welsh, people who have problems reading, men and boys
Will your project work with people living in Wales?	Yes No
How many of the people that will benefit from your project speak Welsh?	All More than half less than half None
Will your project work with people living in Northern Ireland?	Yes No
Which community is your project for?	Both Catholic and Protestant Mainly Catholic (more than 60 percent) Mainly Protestant (more than 60 percent) Neither Catholic nor Protestant
What additional EDI information would you like to include about the people your project supports? (Optional)	You told us that your project will benefit: Tell us more about who they are.
Do most of your leadership team self-identify as belonging to a specific group of people?	Tell us what specific group they belong to if at least: 75% of your board of trustees or management committee share one or more characteristics and 50% or more of senior staff share one or more characteristics. If you select an option, we will ask you to tell us more about that group. Communities experiencing ethnic or racial inequity, discrimination or inequality Faith communities People who emigrate Disabled people Older people (65 and over) Younger people (under 25) Women and girls LGBTQ+ people People who are educationally or economically disadvantaged Specific groups that are not included already No Prefer not to say
Which community is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible Black/African/Caribbean/Black British Black British African Caribbean Any other Black/African/Caribbean background Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups White and Black Caribbean/African White and Asian Any other mixed/multiple ethnic background Asian / Asian British Asian British Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Chinese Any other Asian background Other group experiencing ethnic or racial inequity Arab Jewish Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities Any other ethnic group
Which faith community is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible Catholic Protestant Other Christian denominations Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Atheist Agnostic Other faiths and beliefs
Which group of people who emigrate is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible People seeking asylum People with refugee status People with irregular and undocumented status Other people who emigrate
Which group of disabled people is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible Mental health Long-standing illness or health condition Mobility impairments Visual impairment / partial sight / sight loss Deaf / hard of hearing / hearing loss Speech impairment Multiple physical impairment Learning disability Learning difficulty Neurodiverse Other type of disability or impairment
Which age group is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible 19-25 16-18 8-15 2-7 Under 2 years of age
Which LGBTQ+ community is your leadership team part of?	Select one category, if possible Bisexual men Bisexual women Gay men Lesbian / gay women Trans men Trans women Non-binary people LGBTQ+ people I'd describe in another way
Which specific group (that you have not included already) is your leadership team part of?	Examples include: care experienced young people, carers, people recovering from alcohol addiction, sex workers, people whose first language is not English or Welsh, people who have problems reading, men and boys
What additional EDI information would you like to include about your leadership team? (Optional)	You told us that your leadership team self-identify as: Tell us more about who they are.