About the Core Funding Scheme

The Core Funding Scheme provides support for organisations which are considered of strategic importance in promoting community relations work across Northern Ireland.

The scheme contributes towards salary and organisational running costs.

Be safe, be innovative, be brave

The Community Relations Council (CRC) appreciates that the organisations we support through all of our grant schemes have been facing many new challenges as a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Although many of you have come up with amazing ways of staying connected, it has become clear over the past months that the capacity of some organisations to deliver work programmes have been adversely affected by the necessary social restrictions in place to counter the spread of Covid-19. Given the most up-to-date information we anticipate the impact of the pandemic will continue over the coming months.

In light of the current, and, likely on-going challenges, the CRC would encourage grant applicants to explore innovative approaches that allow for delivery of good relations activities whilst taking account of the most up to date directives from government. The CRC fully understands that this is a time for innovation in the pursuit of new peace building initiatives and we want to support you to be at the forefront of these initiatives.

During this time it is vital that organisations clearly and explicitly incorporate the impact of Covid-19 restrictions into their grant applications. It will be important that applicants demonstrate in all relevant parts of their core funding application that they have considered the implications of the pandemic in drawing up safety measures/contingency plans for proposed project plans and budget proposals. Adherence to government guidance on Covid-19 is a condition of all grant awards. To allow you to experiment with approaches that may be new and in recognition of the uncertainty of these extraordinary times, the CRC is committed to being as flexible as is possible with organisations in relation to the delivery of planned activities. We will consider all reasonable and timely requests for alternative methods of project delivery and the related readjustments to approved budget lines. The Community Relations Council remains, as ever, committed to supporting organisations to deliver their projects in a timely and safe manner so be innovative and brave – our community needs your support.

For more information and to apply, please visit Core Funding Scheme Open | Community Relations Council (community-relations.org.uk)

The Core Funding Scheme will close on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at 4PM.