LLDC NEIGHBOURHOOD PRIORITIES FUND applications now open to local community groups.

• Funding applications for the Neighbourhood Priorities Fund will open from Friday 6 May 2022 and run until Friday 5 August 2022.
• LLDC to host online workshops providing further information on how to apply on Monday 16 May 2022 (15:00-17:00) and Tuesday 5 July 2022 (10:00-12:00).
• More than £3 million awarded to 47 local community projects in the last five years.
• £448,000 available in funding with applicants able to bid for funding up to £30,000.

The London Legacy Development Corporation is launching its 2022 bidding round for local community groups to apply for funding from the Neighbourhood Priorities Fund today (Friday 6 May 2022). This bidding round will be open for three months, closing on Friday 5 August 2022.

The fund supports community groups within the LLDC area who make a difference in their communities in a wide range of areas from sports, arts, gardening and charitable work.

This year, £448,000 is available for Neighbourhood Priorities Funding. To maximise the range of projects which the LLDC can fund, applicants may bid for funding of up to £30,000.

The LLDC will be holding two workshops for those in the local community who might be considering submitting a bid for funding towards a local project. This will provide an opportunity to ask questions about the bidding process and whether a project might fit the funding criteria. The online workshops are being held on Monday 16 May 2022 and Tuesday 5 July, 2022.

Lyn Garner, Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said:

“We want to ensure that local groups really benefit from the Community Infrastructure Levy that LLDC collects from developers. We want to encourage those developing local projects to apply for this funding and see how they can really make a positive impact on people’s lives in their communities. We know that local groups adapted to support local people during the pandemic and we hope that this new funding will support people who are facing challenging times.”

Successful bidders from previous rounds include:

SOCIAL ARK

Social Ark was created to support young, working-class people from under-resourced East London communities. Through structured learning, tailored 1:1 support and expert mentoring, these young people become social entrepreneurs, setting up businesses guided by their own lived experiences.
Social Ark secured £30,000 from LLDC under their Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Priorities fund to run a 12-month Step Up programme for up to 10 young social Entrepreneurs. The first half of the programme consisted of 30 2-hour weekly business learning and teambuilding workshops, it began in June 2021 and ended in November 2021. The entrepreneurs have now moved into the second phase of the programme, consisting of tailored 1:1 weekly support, expert mentoring, and monthly peer teambuilding catch-ups.

“I’ve learned so much on this programme, I wasn’t expecting it to be this good. I’ve secured funding and legally registered my own social enterprise – I’m excited to stay involved with Social Ark.”

“I’ve been on several youth development programmes, but this one really is the real deal. The workshops are all led by real experts in their fields who’ve been there and done that. My professional network is now literally fire!”

“This programme literally covered everything I needed to get my idea off the ground. My company’s registered and I’ve secured investment. I’m looking forward to putting on my first Gallery Exhibition in East London.”

“The programme and support have been amazing! I also received personal coaching around confidence and wellbeing. I’m so grateful to everyone involved, I now feel prepared and equipped for the journey ahead.”

“This was excellent, as an ex-offender, I’m grateful and blessed to be given a chance. The course has been a ‘Business Bible’ for me and the ongoing support is something I’ve never experienced before. Thank you, Social Ark.”

LEGACY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

The Legacy Football League is an exciting community, sports, personal and economic development project. The project builds on extensive consultation with the local community. For young people (14-25 yrs old), the Legacy Football League supports local young people at grassroots football clubs to take action and achieve their personal and economic goals. Over the past 12 months, our team has engaged with local grassroots youth football clubs, inviting them to join the Legacy Football League. The League supports these grassroots football clubs and local young people via a combination of expert football development, transformational mindset coaching and quality social media content production. We are working with experts to create a support structure to nurture local grassroots youth football clubs and more importantly the young people interested in and attracted by football. During our first year The Legacy Football League team is pleased to announce that we are now a FA (Football Association) affiliated grassroots football league. In addition we have secured The London Marathon Community Track, a fantastic local resource just outside the London Stadium in the heart of the Olympic park as our base for all Legacy Football League Matches.  

The LLDC collects the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a standardised charge on development, and ring-fences 15% of receipts to be spent in consultation with local communities. The LLDC manages this sum through the Neighbourhood Priorities Fund  (NPF) which enables local communities to bid for funding for projects that will contribute to:

• The provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure;

and/or

• Address the demands that development places on the LLDC area.

The application form includes details of the mandatory criteria that must be met.

For more information about the Fund, attend the LLDC workshops or to apply for the funding email cilands106@londonlegacy.co.uk.

Notes to editors:

About London Legacy Development Corporation

The foundations for London 2012 were built solidly on legacy. Now, a decade on, we can see the success of that in and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and look forward to so much more in the future.  Spread across 560 acres of stunning parklands, the Park is home to beautifully landscaped gardens, historic waterways, famous sporting venues, a vibrant arts and events programme and the ArcelorMittal Orbit visitor attraction.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park doesn’t just welcome over six million visitors a year. It provides quality family neighbourhoods which are home to hundreds of people, jobs have been created and a talented local community benefits from education, training and opportunity.

It is a location for cutting-edge businesses large and small – collaborating, creating, making and innovating. World-class venues host top level sport and entertainment but remain open to all. Hundreds of acres of parklands and natural habitats provide freedom and space.

The evolution continues, and the next 10 years will be as exciting as the last. At the centre of this is East Bank, housing Sadler’s Wells, BBC, V&A East, UAL’s London College of Fashion and UCL East, the most ambitious cultural and education district in a generation, arriving in the heart of the Park.

The London Legacy Development Corporation promotes and delivers physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the surrounding area by maximising the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

All submissions received will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria set out in the application form, and prioritised in line with the communities’ priority consultation that was undertaken in 2016. Feedback will then be sought from the Park Panel, who represent local groups from throughout the LLDC area. The applications will subsequently be presented to the LLDC’s Project Proposals Group, who will decide which projects are awarded funding. It is anticipated that grant agreements for successful projects will be in place by the end of 2022.