Funding Fairs are Back!
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Murray Watt and Amanda Ashe at a Funding Fair in South Belfast
One of our favourite events to ‘bring back’ post-covid has been the Funding Fair!
We love bringing communities and funders together to connect and discuss project ideas. Meeting face-to-face breaks down barriers and allows for honest conversations between people, not just between funder and applicant, which can make a real difference.
Working in partnership with the Housing Executive, our Funding Officer, Anita Doonan, has held several in-person events since she was given the all-clear. Last autumn, there were three fairs in the Mid-Ulster area, and so far this year, she has held two more in South and East Belfast.
The turnout for these events has been impressive thus far. There have been upwards of 150 people at each fair in just the short space of a few hours. In some cases, actual busloads of people came!
Funders so far have included local Councils, PCSP, National Lottery Fund, Halifax Foundation NI, Community Relations Council, NIHE, John Moores Foundation, Heritage Lottery, Keep NI Beautiful, CDHN, Arts Council, BBC Children in Need, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Anita Speaking to community group members
Anita reports that the funders have been impressed at the number of enthusiastic groups attending. Groups have highlighted the need for funding support as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, something that funders are keen to respond to.
These in-person events have also been an excellent opportunity for Supporting Communities to connect with new groups. “Many groups took on new volunteers over covid, so this has been an ideal time to reach out to newcomers”, explained Anita.
“We received several new group referrals and have had new people booking onto our training courses as a result of coming to the funding fair. Groups who had never accessed funding before were amazed at what support was available to them.”
Anita has added new dates to her training calendar to accommodate the increased numbers of people interested in her course on ‘Completing Successful Funding Applications’.
“This session helps people find and apply to various funders. The impact of this is immeasurable as groups gain the skills and confidence necessary to continue their journey and improve the services within their communities through the provision of funded activities.”
A satisfied customer in Cookstown!
Upcoming sessions can be found under our Latest Events.
More funding fairs are in the works! We know there is an appetite for them since we had people travel from as far as Limavady and Newry to our Mid Ulster and Belfast fairs, so keep your eyes peeled on our website and social media for a funding fair near you.
Find more information about our funding support services here!
