We’ve had helpful feedback from the NLCF on our initial application to them. They’ve given us two major points to consider before we make a further application:

1. The average grant given by the NLCF in North Devon is around £60k. As our likely project costs are going to be around £200k, we think, including fees, we will need to have a variety of funders helping us to reach our target.
2. The NLCF would like to see more evidence of community involvement following on from our successful Open Evening last autumn. To achieve this, we have been in close contact with Devon Communities Together.

www.devoncommunities.org.uk

They have given us an extremely well set out proposal for carrying out market research in our community. This will involve making contact with all members of the local population, finding their needs and preferences, and comparing with the facilities available in neighbouring locations. They are specialists in the field and will be make a fantastic contribution to our team.

NLCF have advised we should seek a smaller funding development viability grant from the Lottery Awards For All in the first instance. This we have now submitted, with the principal cost being the Devon Communities research, with other costs of architecture and Quantity Surveying to enable an accurate cost plan to be drawn up.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed for this initial funding to keep us moving in the right direction.