Funding your Town Team

We want to make it as easy as possible for established Town Teams to secure the resources that they need to deliver local improvements. This includes pointing them towards and encouraging them to bid for external funding opportunities as they arise.

By bidding for external funding themselves (with support and advice from the council) it should enable Town Teams to develop greater local ownership of projects, and to come up with new ideas for how to improve the local town centre.

What we can offer:

  • Update Town Teams about potential external funding opportunities as soon as they arise
     
  • Support the development of bids for funding that have been written by Town Teams by giving feedback and acting as a ‘critical friend’
     
  • Work with Town Teams and discuss how local projects they want to lead can be made into a reality
     
  • Broker meetings between potential partners, groups or external funders that may have a stake in your project.

What are the main council funding streams?

  • Corporate grants are available for community projects to either set up a new project or activity, or for a specific one-off event, purchase or non-recurring item up to a value of £10,000
     
  • You could also contact your local councillor about your idea to find out whether they can ask your local Area Committee to consider funding it. Area Committees can provide funding for projects to improve the infrastructure of the borough, up to a value of £25,000
     
  • Crowdfunding is available for a range of projects with particular emphasis on civic spaces and projects which support employment and skills, as well as broader areas such as health and wellbeing and community cohesion. Communities are able to host their ideas on a web page where neighbours, friends, family, and businesses can all pledge funds to help them meet their target to deliver their project. Barnet Council can also pledge up to £5,000 to projects that align with our priorities and they could attract funding from other sources such as the Mayor of London.

    For more information visit https://barnettogether.org.uk/.

 

Help and support

Have an idea? Contact towncentres@barnet.gov.uk to discuss:

  • registering for our funding updates mailing list
  • your ideas with us. We can help you identify which fund (if available) may be best suited for your project, including potential match funding or letters of support
  • getting help with writing your proposal – we have written a lot of funding bids, and can be a ‘critical friend’ and give you feedback to make sure you are on the right track