Postcode Dream Fund Opens for Applications

Three or four large grants are available to give British charities the chance to deliver the project they have always dreamed of, but never had the opportunity to bring to life.

The Dream Fund is providing a total of £3 million this year. Grants of between £500,000 and £1.5 million (an increase of £500,000) are available to deliver a project over a period of 24 months to 36 months.

This year (2019) the Dream Fund is looking for projects that seek to implement systemic change in order to address an important social or environmental problem.

Systems change involves looking at problems in a macro context and understanding the entire ecosystem of that problem, in order to develop long-term solutions.

Systems change thinking comprises mapping out all the relevant stakeholders, the institutions and the economic, social, cultural, political factors that underlie these large structural problems in order to give a full understanding of why the problem persists in order to create a solution.

The new funding themes are:

Environmental Systems Change – this theme is looking for collaborative and innovative projects that develop long term solutions to systemic environmental problems. Areas of interest include projects that challenge environmental degradation, in particular focusing on biodiversity and species preservation.
Sustainability Systems Change – this theme is looking for projects that promote sustainable consumption by shifting the way people live, work and connect with others. Areas of interest include urban food systems, plastics, food waste and recycling.
Health & Wellbeing Systems Change – this theme is looking for projects that address the root causes of social problems that affect people’s health and wellbeing. Areas of interest include solutions that encourage social inclusion, build more resilient communities and promote healthy childhood development.

Please note that applications for projects that do not meet one of the funding priorities will be considered as long as they meet the general criteria.

Projects must be innovative, creative and original, and be a genuine ‘dream’.

General running costs including ongoing staff costs, utility bills, council tax, rent and insurance that are directly linked with the project are eligible for funding. Costs relating to PR and communications and capital costs are eligible for funding.

The deadline for Stage One applications is 15 October 2019 (5:30pm).

Full details…