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We’ve teamed up with The National Lottery and UTV to run The People’s Projects – an exciting programme giving community organisations across Northern Ireland the opportunity to raise their profile and win up to £70,000 of National Lottery funding. 

From supporting people to connect with nature and culture, to helping people build the skills they need to reach their potential, we’re looking for imaginative ideas from organisations that have already done good work in their local community and will run projects that bring people and communities together to improve their lives. 

Applications are open now and will close at 12 noon on Friday 7 October. 

Five inspiring projects in Northern Ireland will be shortlisted to take part in a high-profile campaign and public vote, including being showcased on UTV Live evening news in May 2023.  

During the campaign in May, National Lottery players and the Northern Ireland public will have a unique opportunity to decide how more than £200,000 of National Lottery funding is put to good use and awarded to community projects in their area. The public vote will decide which three projects will win up to £70,000 and the two runners up, which will be awarded up to £10,000. 

The People’s Projects is a UK wide partnership between The National Lottery Community Fund, ITV, UTV and the Sunday Mail (in Scotland). After a three-year break, the programme has returned for its 15^th year, where there will be 57 winning projects across the UK and up to 38 runner-up organisations winning share of over £4.3 million. 

What do previous winners say?  

In 2018, uHub won £50,000 from The People’s Projects to expand their Huddle Club from their Bangor base to several locations across Ards and North Down. The Huddle Clubs provide activities for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, behavioural problems, or communication needs, to improve their mental health, confidence and self-esteem.  

Cara Swanston, Operations Manager of uHub said the publicity they received from taking part was just as valuable as the funding: “We were just a small organisation, with no full-time employees and a small turnover when we applied for The People’s Projects.   

“The campaigning really helped the public to get to know us, even if we hadn’t won, being part of the experience really promoted our services to a wider audience. We learnt so much and really grew from it – four years on we’ve moved to bigger premises, been awarded larger grants, increased the number of people accessing our services and we also now have 80 staff and freelancers.  

“Being part of The People’s Projects built our confidence and really helped us reach our potential.” 

Foyle Down Syndrome Trust in Derry/Londonderry also received £49,710 from The People’s Projects thanks to winning the public vote in 2016. The group used the grant to work with young people aged 16-30 with learning disabilities to increase their independence and confidence. They ran cookery courses, wellbeing activities and upgraded their kitchen facilities.  

Chris Cooper, Manager of Foyle Down Syndrome Trust, recommended groups to apply: “The work we put into campaigning was very much worth it. We were overwhelmed with the votes we received – the local community supported us in their droves! 

“Our young people loved helping with the campaign, encouraging people to vote for them and seeing themselves on UTV. The amazing support they received from the community really boosted their confidence.  

“Since winning The People’s Projects, we’ve been successful in getting long-term funding for our core wellbeing programme and the kitchen and cooking facilities have been central to this. It has really helped our members to learn new skills, improve their self-esteem and become more independent.” 

Other examples of previous winners include The Coast Office in Portballintrae which received £50,000 to connect local people with each other and their coastal countryside. Activities included traditional boat building, conservation work and maritime skills workshops. 

NI Children’s Hospice also won £50,000 to make improvements to the multi-sensory room in their Newtownabbey centre to better support children with life limiting conditions and their families from across Northern Ireland. 

Ards Peninsula First Responders received £50,000 to recruit and training ten more volunteer responders from the local community and to buy equipment so each responder can deliver emergency care quickly until an ambulance arrives.   

How to apply 

This is an exciting opportunity, but it will take time and commitment over several months to get your project the votes you need to win. Before deciding to apply, consider if you’re happy running a public campaign that could bring lots of publicity to your project. We’ll provide free support and training to help you do this. 

We expect winners and runners up to be ready to start their grants from July 2023 and they will have up to 12 months to spend the money.   

Visit www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk for more information and to apply. The programme will close to applications at 12noon on Friday 7 October 2022. 

If you have any questions please contact 02890 551 455 or email peoples.projects.ni@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk