Restart grants: apply now! (England)

The opportunity

We previously announced that our funder, Nesta/DCMS, has made it possible for us to extend financial support to groups in England that help other groups get started.

Some of this funding is still available, so, we are accepting applications for grants on a rolling basis from now until the funds have all been allocated.

This is an open call to groups here to apply for small grants of £1,000 to £5,000 to strengthen activity in England from autumn 2019 through mid 2020.

This will be a competitive call, and applications will be considered based on the criteria below and on a first come, first served basis. Please also note that part of this work is to track our impact as a network, and some reporting will be required :chart_with_upwards_trend:.

Our guiding principles

We’ve been granted funds to support those groups who help other groups get started with community repair. This could be as minimal as answering emails to as intensive as going for coffees/teas, doing venue recce with future hosts, and helping on the first event.

But we think this can go further. We’re interested in funding activities which do any of the following:

  1. Deepen the shared ethos of our events - they are not a free repair shop, they’re about learning

  2. Enhance safety and effectiveness of events

  3. Ensure our network is broad-based and diverse
    a) Reaching those who are inclined to activism and connecting them to the bigger picture
    b) Embedding our work in wider society / economy - links with schools, makerspaces, businesses


Eligibility

Note these are similar, but not identical to our previous grants

These grants are for groups that

:heavy_check_mark: are established in England. You must have a formal entity or work through one that has a bank account
:heavy_check_mark: do some kind of electricals or electronic repair - but this need not be the sole focus
:heavy_check_mark: have started running repair events locally (a minimum of three events in the last 9 months)
:heavy_check_mark: are willing to dedicate at least two days a month to serving as a regional hub of support to new groups (but we encourage you to consider more if there is demand)
:heavy_check_mark: have capability to minimum of reporting - see “Reporting” below

Our criteria for selection

Above all we will prioritise projects that align with our principles above.

In addition to that, we will weight the following criteria evenly:

  • Pragmatism - can your group pull off the project?
  • Learning for the network - will your project contribute to the learning of the network? inspire others? Bonus points for creativity
  • Sustainability - do you have a plan to leverage the funds? or to find follow-on funding or sustain the work through other means?

What we will support :+1:

  • Capital investments, purchases - given there is a plan for maintenance and sustainability
  • People time - we understand that people have to get paid to do work sometimes! This can include the “boring” but essential work of writing emails, accounting, coordinating. Just about anything.
  • Activities of all kinds
  • Recurrent costs (like insurance) - given there is a plan to pay them after the grant period ends

:warning: Please get in touch if you have any questions about our criteria of eligibility or selection

The process

Please consult with your group and prepare this short application form. Send it to community@therestartproject.org as soon as you’re ready.

:whiskers_left: :spiral_calendar: The closing date for applications is: 20th Jan 2020 :whiskers_right:

Download the form Small grant application form - Restart network grants (rolling).docx (224.2 KB)

Restart will process your application and send you a decision within 10 working days of receiving your completed form. Selected groups will receive a straight-forward grant agreement document and request for your bank details. We will arrange with you to split the grant into two payments.

Reporting

Events and repair data :bar_chart:

In terms of reporting on events, we ask that you continue to log repair data using our platform and that you refer new groups to @james so he can invite them to start logging data too. (If you currently do not use Restarters.net, but arrange to share data via spreadsheet this can meet our requirements.)

Micro narrative reports :email:

We’ll ask you for two extremely short narrative reports on your progress, one before the second tranche of funding and one at the end. These can be as short as 100 words.

Financial :moneybag:

We will not require you to do any financial reporting on the funds dispersed, however we will require two things: 1) updates on any major changes to the budgets submitted 2) that you keep financial records of how the funds are spent, in case of any future need to audit.