Form

Guidance notes

Published 20 September 2022

This form was withdrawn on 16 March 2023

This guidance is out of date and has been withdrawn.

What is the Community Engagement Fund?

The Community Engagement Fund (CEF) is a £150,000 grant fund to support grassroots and community groups to engage communities and raise awareness of priority Home Office policy areas and the support available. The fund is offered by the Home Office.

This fund is best suited to support short and easy-to-deliver projects, rather than a programme of work, as all allocated funds need to be spent within the financial year.

The priority area identified for financial year 2022 to 2023 focusses on continuing to support communities from the Windrush generation.

Some nationality groups, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana and India, despite possibly having been impacted, are not coming forward for compensation to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

There also remains a significant difference between the number of people granted through the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and applications made under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The reasons for both disparities are unclear.

The purpose of the Community Engagement Fund 2022 to 2023 is to:

1. Raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation and Windrush Documentation Schemes with a focus on non-Caribbean communities and encourage them to apply to these Schemes.

And/or

2. Build on the insights and learning taken from our existing work on Windrush (for example the Windrush Community Fund and Windrush national communications campaigns) to understand:

(a) why individuals are not applying for the Windrush Compensation Scheme and/or the Windrush Scheme (Documentation)

(b) and how to encourage eligible individuals to apply to these Schemes.

How much you can apply for

You can apply for funding awards between £5,000 and £10,000 per application.

You can come together with other organisations and apply as a group – this is known as a consortium. Where this applies, the lead organisation should make the application. However, you can only make one application and cannot apply as both an individual organisation and as part of a consortium.

When to apply

The CEF is now open for applications and completed applications must be received by Friday 21 October.

How long you will have to deliver your project

The Community Engagement Fund is intended to support small scale, easy-to-deliver projects and so we would expect projects to be delivered quickly.

Projects must have delivered their activities and closed by 31 March 2023.

Eligibility

You can apply if you are:

• an unincorporated charity or community organisation, a community interest company, or a company with a charitable purpose

• a grassroots organisation

• a registered charity

• a consortium or partnership (with a lead organisation that is one of the above)

Unincorporated charities, community organisations, community interest companies and companies with a charitable purpose

You can apply if you:

• were established for charitable and public benefit purposes

• have a governing body with at least 3 members

• can provide a valid governing document

• can provide accounts for the last 2 financial years or an income-expenditure statement for two years if you were established after April 2020

• can support your application with one reference from an established group or organisation

Grassroots organisations

You can apply if you can support your application with:

• a governing document for your organisation

• a copy of your 2020 to 2021 accounts and current bank statement

• a projected cashflow statement for 2022 to 2023

• one reference from an established group or organisation

If you cannot provide the above, your application must show that your project will be supported by a registered charity or an unincorporated charity, community organisation, community interest company or company with a charitable purpose.

Other organisations that support your project could include:

• incorporated tenants’ groups

• faith organisations

• community interest companies

Registered charities

You can apply if you can provide a valid registration number issued by the Charity Commission and you can provide a reference from an established group or organisation.

Your details on the Charity Commission website will be checked as part of the assessment process.

Consortiums or partnerships

You can work with other organisations on a project and apply as a group. There is no limit on the number of organisations that can be involved in a consortium.

You can apply if you have:

• a lead organisation that meets one of the above criteria for eligibility

• details of the lead organisation and how it is structured

• details of partners you plan to work with and their role in your project

Any funding awarded will be paid directly to the lead organisation.

What you can get funding for

Examples of how funding could be used include:

• holding events, for example cost of venue, refreshments, and other related costs

• creating and sharing marketing materials, like leaflets and posters

• running communications campaigns both in person and online

• accessing and using communication channels, for example social media or local radio

• getting support from corporate partners, public figures or advocates

Funding can also be used to cover costs for staff time to work specifically on the project (you will have to clearly justify this).

What you cannot get funding for

The Community Engagement Fund will not support:

• projects that look to provide an opportunity for a political platform

• organisations whose objectives conflict with the Fund

• organisations that seek to provide immigration advice and services, which are not regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

• where the organisation has objectives or runs services that are contrary to the principles of openness, tolerance, and respect

• costs for fundraising activities

• loan repayments or costs covered by other funding sources

• activities that promote religion

The Home Office will only fund project activities that meet the eligibility criteria.

How your application will be assessed

Your application will be assessed against the aims of the Community Engagement Fund, which are to:

1. Raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation and Windrush Documentation Schemes with a focus on non-Caribbean communities and encourage them to apply to these Schemes.

And/or

2. Build on the insights and learning taken from our existing work on Windrush (for example, Windrush Community Fund and Windrush national communications campaign) to understand:

a) why individuals are not applying for the Windrush Compensation Scheme and/or the Windrush Scheme (Documentation)

b) and how to encourage eligible individuals to apply to these Schemes.

What to include in your application

In addition to meeting the aims of the Community Engagement Fund, your application must show that you meet equality and inclusion principles. This means that you do not discriminate against people because of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or religion and beliefs.

You should demonstrate:

• How you will make reasonable adjustments so that events are inclusive and accessible.

• How you will work to meet safeguarding standards, like working with vulnerable people.

• What you will deliver, including:

  • a list of activities and what these will achieve.

  • a breakdown of the budget to support your bid, with categories of costs that relate to each set of activities of the plan.

  • how you will measure what you have achieved.

• How you will meet the aims of this Fund through your activities and any important learning. This could include case studies demonstrating how you would do this.

To meet the selection criteria, organisations must demonstrate:

1. A connection to the local community. This may include delivering a local community project in a local authority area, or links with local charities, businesses and other local community organisations and individuals. You must demonstrate that you have considered how you will make reasonable adjustments when holding events to ensure they are inclusive and accessible to all.

2. Engagement and partnership with other community groups. We ask that bids demonstrate a strong community base.

3. Examples of previous successful work or projects. This may include:

• how your organisation has engaged with local people

• how it plays a role in supporting the community

• examples of awareness and engagement projects

• how this has benefited the community

4. How the money will be used. Organisations will need to produce a short project plan demonstrating what they will deliver and how, including:

• a timetable to support the delivery

• a breakdown of the budget to support their bid

• a monthly report on their spending and activities

5. How they will evaluate the project. This must include a plan for what information (data) organisations need to collate, and how this information needs to be collected, to demonstrate the success of their project.

Evaluation can also include, for example, case studies demonstrating how organisations will set out to achieve the objectives of the project.

Your applications will be scored using the scoring criteria set out below.

Scoring categories

Your application will be assessed on a marking scale of 1 to 5. All sections of the application have an equal weighting.

A minimum score of 3 is required to pass the sift. In the event of large numbers of applications, we may select the highest scoring applications based on the below scoring criteria.

Score	Criteria
1	Minimal Demonstration Limited evidence provided
2	Moderate Demonstration Moderate evidence provided
3	Good Demonstration Good evidence provided
4	Strong Demonstration Substantial evidence provided
5	Outstanding Demonstration Outstanding evidence provided, including innovative ideas and substantial previous experience in relevant community engagement

How to apply

Download and complete the Community Engagement Fund application form.

Please send your completed application form and any relevant documents by email to: windrushengagement@homeoffice.gov.uk. The deadline for applications is 21 October 2022.

Information sessions will be held for community and grassroots organisations who are interested to learn more about the Fund and how to submit an application. These virtual sessions will be held on Thursday 22 September from 11am to 1pm and Thursday 29 September from 3pm to 5pm. (Please note you need only attend one of these sessions.)

Anyone interested in joining a session should email windrushengagement@homeoffice.gov.uk

If you have any questions relating to the application process please call the Windrush External Engagement team on: 07867 193 177/07551 674 941. Lines are open between 10am and 4pm.

After you apply

You will receive an acknowledgement of your application within two working days of receipt.

Decision making

Due diligence checks will be carried out to understand more about your organisation. Checks will cover your organisation’s financial status, objectives and activities and your ability to deliver the project on time. References will also be requested.

The Home Office can request further information relating to your application before final decisions are made. This may include an invitation to a phone call or face-to-face meeting.

The Home Office will contact successful applicants with a grant offer letter and terms and conditions. Successful applicants can expect to receive their funding awards by 30 November.

Successful applicants will be required to submit progress reports to the Home Office as agreed.

For any queries relating to the Community Engagement Fund and the application process, contact windrushengagement@homeoffice.gov.uk

Declaration

When applying to the Community Engagement Fund you are confirming that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the information given in your claim form is correct. You undertake to notify the Home Office if any of the information provided changes or is discovered to be inaccurate.

The Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation govern how we use personal data. For details of how we will use your personal information and who we may share it with see our Personal information charter. This also explains your key rights under the Act, how you can access your personal information and how to complain if you have concerns.

Definitions

Charity

A registered charity with a UK charity number.

Charitable companies

Any company with a charitable purpose including registered community interest companies (CICs), companies limited by guarantee and unregistered social enterprises.

Community group or unincorporated charity

A group, which has not registered as a charity, which meets all the following criteria:

• established for charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes
• has a governing body with at least 3 members
• has a governing document which they can produce

Grassroots group

People in a community or local area as distinct from the active leadership of a party or organisation, who come together to organise change or address an issue.

Consortium

A group of organisations, with a designated lead partner to manage the programme, and a system for dividing the work and funds appropriately and effectively.