Guidance

Mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund: application guidance and terms of reference

Published 20 December 2022

This document contains instructions and guidelines for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) mpox (monkeypox) and sexual health outreach and engagement fund.

Applicants must submit an application using the form provided in order to be considered. A shortlisting panel will score each application; this stage will be followed by a final panel moderation day where successful projects will be decided.

Eligibility

The UKHSA mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund is open to charitable, voluntary sector and community interest companies only. However, lead organisations may sub-contract or collaborate with other types of organisations.

Grants issued from UKHSA through the fund in 2022 and 2023 will provide funding to deliver a service outside of the Procurement framework and primarily under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968.

Important dates

Week commencing 19 December 2022

Applications open.

19 January 2023

Deadline for submitting your application to the fund is 11:59 on Thursday 19 January 2023.

This is a non-negotiable deadline.

Applications must be emailed to nicc68.sexualhealth@ukhsa.gov.uk

Week commencing 23 January 2023

Panel review and score applications.

Week commencing 23 January 2023

Final selected projects informed via email. Unsuccessful short-listed projects receive notification.

30 January to 3 February 2023

Feedback for unsuccessful projects will be available. Feedback will be offered either via written communication or via a 15 minute phone call.

23 January to 16 February 2023

Brief start up meetings with successful projects.

Application process

Each proposed project must submit their application using the template provided and submit before 19 January 2023.

All proposals will be reviewed by members of the mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund selection panel.

Proposals that do not fit the fund’s terms of reference will not be considered.

Application scoring

Members of the shortlisting panel will score each section in the application. The total number of marks available per application will be 50. The scores allocated will be used to guide the shortlist selection.

Available marks per section

Applicant information – 0 marks.

Project goal and innovation – 15 marks.

Logical framework – 10 marks.

Sustainability and knowledge sharing – 10 marks.

Budget – 5 marks.

Monitoring and evaluation – 10 marks.

Applicant information

Please complete all the fields in the form. This is important information and will be used to process your application. The form has been left in Word format to assist you in entering your information, but please do not alter the size of the text boxes. Applications submitted that are not 3 pages will not be accepted.

To ensure that your project aligns with local or national priorities it is suggested that you get endorsement from a local commissioning body responsible for sexual health and HIV. If your proposed project would include more than one locality you only need to get your application endorsed by one relevant commissioning body. Please make it clear on the application form if you are submitting a national project.

More than one application per local area will be accepted. To ensure equal access to the fund it is unlikely we will fund more than one project in each locality, unless this covers a larger geographical footprint and/or is otherwise justified.

Projects will need to be completed, and expenditure incurred, by the end of March 2023. You will need to demonstrate how this will be achieved in your application. Projects that are not able to complete by the end of March 2023 will not be accepted.

Project goal and innovation

This is a clear statement of your goal. What are you trying to achieve and what will you do to achieve that change? It should be succinct. Think of it as your elevator pitch – what would you say to a potential funder if you only had 30 seconds?

Since this is an outreach and engagement fund we are particularly looking for projects that will be accessible to underserved LGBT+ populations. Remember to include the specific population you are targeting.

Example

GBMSM from xxx community are less likely than others to accept the offer of vaccination for mpox. The project team has evidence this is due to a lack of knowledge on the options available and misconceptions around their suitability.

We will engage with this cohort of potential patients and advise them of the benefits of vaccination and run through some myth busting.

We will also highlight pathways to access vaccination for mpox and also for other sexually transmissibale infections, and other STI and HIV prevention interventions.

Logical framework

This sets out the process you will follow to achieve the goal of your project. It starts by looking at your objectives, then describes the process to achieve those objectives and finishes with the measures you’ll use to evaluate success.

Project objective(s) – maximum 3.

Inputs – what resources are needed?

Activities – what will you do?

Outputs – what will happen as a result of the activities?

Outcomes – what change will you have demonstrated?

Measurement – how will you know if you have been successful?

Knowledge sharing

A key theme of this fund is to create legacy of evidenced based interventions that will benefit sexual health and HIV and LGBT+ health more widely. Please detail briefly how you will share your knowledge.

Budget

In this section we are interested in the amount of funding you are requesting from UKHSA only. If you have secured additional funding from another source, please provide details in the space provided at the bottom of the table. For each section please enter the spend you have allocated for different aspects of the project and then the totals for the whole project in the last column.

Salary costs should include any monies you have allocated for paying salaries or sessional workers. Equipment should include any expenditure on one off costs to enable the project to start, for example a laptop. Project costs is the budget you need to deliver your activities. This could be consumables like testing kits, research commissioned or monitoring and evaluation.

Monitoring and evaluation

All projects will be required to monitor and evaluate their own project either internally or via an external partner.

You have already defined your measures in section 3, so use this section to tell us the methods you will use to facilitate that measurement. For example will you be collecting clinical outcomes, or using a survey or using a mixture of methods? Here it is important to mention the evaluation approach or approaches you plan to use and whether or not you will use an external evaluation partner or not.

Top tips

Your proposal must contribute to the mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund priorities detailed in the ‘What are we looking for?’ section of the terms of reference.

Keep background information to a minimum

Space is limited and the panel reading your application are experts, so you do not need to include lots of background context. Be specific about your project. For example, if your project focuses on GBMSM we already know that GBMSM are disproportionately affected by HIV and some STIs, so skip this and begin with describing the specifics of your project and exactly the population of men you are aiming to reach and why your project will do that.

Proof read your application

Proof read your application and check all sections on the front page are completed.

It sounds simple but please make sure all sections of the application are complete. If any key information is missing the application will be sent back to you. If we receive an incomplete application very close to the deadline without time to correct the omission the application will be rejected. Use the spell checker. Do not alter the size of text boxes, but do check all your text is clearly visible.

Applications submitted that are not 3 pages will not be accepted.

Don’t include too many links

Some panel members may be reading your application offline or on paper, so your form should stand alone. However, if you think there is something very important we should be aware of then include a link.

Query things you’re unsure of

If there is anything at all you are unsure of, email the team.

The team are here to answer your questions, please read all the guidance and try out the application form well in advance so that if any issues arise we can help you ahead of the deadline.

Support, queries and feedback

Before and during the application process the mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund team will answer your queries. If after reading the guidance you still have queries please email nicc68.sexualhealth@ukhsa.gov.uk

Feedback on unsuccessful projects will be offered through 15 minute telephone conversations with the fund team, details of how to book this feedback will be distributed when the final selections have been made.

Terms and conditions

The terms and conditions for agreements signed between UKHSA and projects successful in obtaining funding through the mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund can be provided. All projects will be subject to these terms and conditions. Please take the opportunity to look at them and if necessary share them with your legal counsel before you submit your application.

Terms of reference

Inequalities in sexual health and HIV remain a major public health issue in England. To support the potential for the voluntary non-profit sectors to develop effective ways to address these inequalities in key populations, UKHSA is inviting applications to the mpox and sexual health outreach and engagement fund

What we are looking for

The fund looks to support projects that address inequalities and poor sexual health and HIV outcomes amongst underserved LGBT+ populations.

We are particularly interested in projects that address at least two out of the three domains: uptake of vaccination for mpox, sexual health and HIV prevention.

Proposals will be accepted from voluntary sector organisations to deliver project between £5,000 to £30,000. Projects and spend will need to be complete by 31 March 2023. Applications should demonstrate clearly how they will achieve this in their application form.

Proposals in excess of £30,000 – up to £50,000 – will be considered. For larger bids it will be particularly important to demonstrate how funds can be spent by end March 2023 and that the bid represents value for money.

Applications

Applications will ideally need to demonstrate the involvement of the appropriate local commissioning body through either their endorsement or partnership working.

We expect successfully funded projects will help to strengthen partnership working, either with local sexual health and HIV services, other voluntary sector collaborators or both.

Projects should ensure they are designed to complement relevant initiatives, for example HIV Prevention England,the Syphilis Action Plan and any locally delivered programmes.

Selection

A panel of representatives selected from UKHSA and Government Equalities Office will prioritise funding for the highest quality bids that are submitted.