LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND PANEL

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To all panels who are short of funds.
 
I am sure that I am speaking for the vast majority of Remap engineers, when I say that I volunteered my time and skills to make aids for disabled people, not to rattle collection tins and organise beetle drives.
 
But, towards the end of last year I - as treasurer of the Leicestershire and Rutland panel - realised that unless we raised some funds quickly, we couldn't sustain our present expenditure on referrals.  Something had to be done; so I attended a fundraising seminar given by Voluntary Action Leicester - a council backed organisation supporting local charities, there should be an equivalent organisation in your area.
 
I was given a list of website addresses of local charitable trusts and foundations whose sole reason for existing is to give money away to worthy causes.  I was told that only one in ten applications would probably be successful, so I applied to ten different places asking for either £1,000 or £500, which ever was on offer.
 
Now, as we all know, Remap is a very worthy cause.  It ticks many boxes.  We enhance people's lives with our devices in so many ways; everything we make is affordable to everyone because there is no charge; we make things for people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, genders etc; we recycle and reuse materials, which makes us environmentally friendly and cost effective; and we are respected by health professionals who find our service invaluable and without equal.
 
Apart from a couple of hours last November, I have had no training in fundraising and have always detested form filling.  So I was somewhat surprised ( and a little embarrased ) when the expected success rate of 10% very soon turned into 40%.
 
Some applications were made by completing an online form, others just required a letter.  It wasn't difficult and didn't take long, but it  turned our finances around dramatically.  The really good thing about these funding bodies is that they nearly all support charities in their localities, so you won't be treading on your neighbouring panel's toes when you apply.

Attached is a short list of funding bodies which you can apply to; a few hints on filling out applications; and a copy of a letter sent to a local foundation, which seemed to do the trick.  Please feel free to cut and paste where you like.  Don't leave it to the last minute to apply though - some funders take 1-3 months to process an application.

 Who To Apply To

 

Many supermarkets or chain stores have a ‘community fund’ which local charities can apply to. Remap panels qualify because although we are members of a national charity, we operate at a local community level and are responsible for raising our own funds. Try Googling ( or should the search engine be Ask? ):
 

• Asda Foundation
• Tesco Charity Trust
• Co-op Membership Community Fund
• The Act Foundation ( Sainsbury’s )
• Greggs Foundation (the bakers)
   

Other retail outlets have different ways in which they raise money for local charities, such as Waitrose/John Lewis. They all want to be seen to be giving something back to their communities and of cause they like to publicise the fact, which gives us much needed publicity too.

Any large companies whose headquarters happen to be in your area could be a source of community funding and possibly volunteers. Even some large companies which cease to exist still have charitable foundations

The Henry Smith Charity has never refused our applications for £1,000 or £500. They only used to operate in a few areas but looking at their website they may have gone national.

Your local council or charity support team are another good source for funds and links to potential funders. Council grants can be generous ( we managed to get a three year package of £1,500 per annum back in 2009 and similar schemes are still operating ); although the application forms can be a bit laborious, there are a number of interim forms to complete and they want to see every single receipt. Most foundations and trusts just send a cheque and trust that it will be spent on what you stated on the form or letter. They may ask you for a few details on the devices you make for their publicity.

Local newspapers often give money away, sometimes in conjunction with other organisations who wish to give a one-off bursary. Banks, local companies and councils often use this route.

Most of the information you need to identify a funder can be found online. A comprehensive list of what I assume to be all UK charitable trusts can be found at www.funderfinder.org.uk

Ignore the bit about registering and click ‘links to charitable trusts’. There are hundreds of them, all in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, until you click on the link to their websites you can’t find out what sort of things they aim to support or whether they operate in a specific area or nationwide. The trick is to look for the name of local cities or towns in the charity’s name. Most of the funders who turned us down were out of our area, even though they suggested it didn’t matter. Some are being more selective, because they are feeling the pinch of low interest rates.

For frequently updated information on grants you could register with www.j4b.co.uk, or for tips on form filling and jargon the Leicester website www.fundingtoolkit.org is helpful.

Foundations usually have criteria on what they are prepared to fund and in what field. They all seem to be happy to fund costs for materials and most are ok with travel and other specified costs. They always clearly state the kind of things they will fund and those which they definitely won’t. Stating that we will have to make a small contribution to our HQ for insurance and publicity, should not be a problem. A recent grant from our local council was quite happy about it, because it is a legitimate cost, necessary to keep the local group operating. Many national organisations with a local community presence have to pay an annual fee to their HQ and funders recognise this. There are many more opportunities to raise relatively small amounts at a local level than large amounts at a national level.

Some funders talk about funding a specific project. Don’t worry about this, just state that your project is ongoing. Also, they may ask what the project will cost. Be honest about this, we don’t know. All you can give is an estimate, based on number of referrals and average costs from previous years.

Many funders have a standard application form either online or to be downloaded. Have your most recent annual expenditure, income and surplus figures to hand and it seems to be helpful to tell them your present bank balance, which will probably be a lot lower than most applicants. Ask for a reasonable proportion of your expenditure ( 20 - 30% ) and always state that you cannot be specific about how much money you will need because we never know what we will be asked to make. Most funders state a range of amounts which they are prepared to give. I have found that a request for £1,000 or £500 is generally acceptable. Council funding can be variable because if they haven’t had enough applicants for the allocated funds, they can offer you more than you ask for. Be careful what you accept though, because they usually want you to spend a grant within one year, if you don’t, they take the unspent money back and they may not look favourably on future applications.

Other common information asked for is how long the panel has been operating, how many people you will help ( on average ) and sometimes questions about their gender, ages and ethnicity: to which the answer, “We do not record this type of data, our service is available to any disabled person”, seems to do the trick.

On the next page I’ve given a few typical questions you could find on application forms along with answers I gave, which were successful.

Some funders just require an application by letter; so below you will find a copy of a letter which I drafted for the Leicester panel, which has had a 50% success rate ( 2 out of 4 ). Feel free to use the parts relevant to your panel if you wish.
 

 

The only parts of an application which takes time is where you are asked to explain the nature of the work we do, our objectives, aims, activities, outcomes, etc. If it’s a community fund you are applying for get the word “community” in as many answers as possible.

The following are three actual questions and the answers I gave. There is usually a word limit which gives you an idea of whether they want a detailed answer or a summary sentence.


"What does your group do?"

( Co-op Community Fund )

Our volunteer engineers design and produce custom made technical equipment, to suit the needs and abilities of local disabled people of all ages. Our aids can help the disabled to gain more independence, greater mobility, continue with their career or schooling, or enable them to take part in a favourite hobby or pastime. We provide the aids free of charge and do not make anything which is commercially available. We work closely with health and welfare professionals to ensure that our aids are appropriate to the client’s needs. We keep costs low by recycling and reusing materials wherever possible. It has been estimated that for every £100 we spend, we produce around £2,000 worth of equipment.


"Describe the project for which you are applying for funding"

( also on the Co-op form, and in Remap’s case similar to the other question, but try not to repeat a previous answer )

We wish to continue our valuable and unique service to the disabled people in our local community. Although the average cost of a device we produce is £40, some recent ones have cost over £500. This means that we never know what our expenditure will be each year. We are proud to say that we have never refused to make a device, whatever the cost, and have always given them free of charge to the client. A grant would help us to buy the materials we need and the small costs we incur to keep our panel operational.



"Please explain the aims, objectives and activities of your organisation"

( Tesco Charity Trust )

Remap’s aim is to improve the lives of the disabled people in our local community, by giving them more independence. Our objectives are to design and produce high quality devices for a person’s specific ability and need, and give it to them free of charge. Our volunteer engineers use their knowledge and skills to produce the equipment in their home workshops, and we never produce anything which is commercially available. We often work closely with health and welfare professionals to ensure that our unique aids are appropriate to our client’s needs. Although Remap is a national organisation, each local panel is required to raise its own funds to continue its valuable service to the community.
 

Note:

There is a subtle difference between aims and objectives, which the application processors look for. Sometimes you are also asked for ‘outcomes’. Our outcomes are more general but a blanket answer can be something like, “The outcome is that disabled people can continue with a favourite hobby or pastime, become more mobile, and their access to work, schooling or community activities is improved”. 

If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me at  treasurer@remapleics.org.uk

I’d also like to hear from you if you if this has been helpful, if you are successful, or if you have anything to add.

As I’ve said, I’m not an expert at this but it doesn’t seem to be difficult and it isn’t too time consuming. Anyway, you like a challenge, otherwise you wouldn’t be a Remap volunteer.


Best of luck
Martin Grant, Leicestershire and Rutland panel