The deadline has now passed to submit proposals.
We're currently working with 7 decision making groups made up of councillors, residents and voluntary and community sector representatives across the city to review outline proposals.
Over the next 3 months, we might get in touch with applicants if decision makers need some more information about their proposal, to make informed decisions.
We will communicate final decisions in spring or summer 2023.
The Community Resilience Fund is a one-off capital grant fund to support community and voluntary organisations to:
- recover from the pandemic
- increase their sustainability
- continue the vital work they do for the long term
It will support:
- organisations based in and working with the most deprived areas of the city
- city-wide equality groups
See the pdf full eligibility criteria for applying organisations (422 KB) .
This fund is about giving communities more power in decision-making.
See a pdf list of all the organisations (166 KB) that applied for funding and the titles of their projects.
How the Community Resilience Fund will work
We are using a new community-led decision making process to decide how the Community Resilience Fund will be spent.
In stage 1 (July to October 2022), voluntary and community groups spoke to a lead organisation in their community, who gathered the project ideas and provided support where needed for submitting outline project proposals.
In stage 2, between January and May 2023, a group of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations, councillors and residents who will be recruited to take part in decision-making will review the proposed projects. Expert input will be available to make sure projects are suitable for funding and help make decisions.
Successful projects will be chosen by May 2023 and the first grants will be paid from spring/summer 2023. Organisations chosen for funding will be given time and support to develop their proposals.
We've contacted everyone who expressed an interest in taking part in decision making.
We're sorry for the disappointment if you were not selected this time. We had lots of interest, and hope to work with more of you in similar ways in the future.
The process of selecting residents was randomised, and we wanted to ensure participants were representative of the Bristol population.
We're working with 120 residents, as well as 17 elected members, to make decisions about how to allocate the Community Resilience Fund.
We want to involve people who know their communities best in making decisions.
Decision-making groups will have a say in how the fund money is spent in their communities. They'll be made up of:
- Bristol residents
- councillors
- staff and volunteers from charities and community organisations
There will be two types of decision-making group:
- 6 neighbourhoods groups (1 group for each of the 6 areas of the city)
- 1 equalities communities group
We worked with charities and community organisations across Bristol to create our approach to recruiting participants to take part in decision making(pdf, 660 KB).
We want the decision-making groups to include people:
- from many different Bristol communities
- whose voices are not usually heard
This is because the life experience and knowledge different people bring will help us make better decisions.
Grants will be a minimum of:
- £50,000 for community groups in the eligible areas of the city
- £10,000 for equalities community groups
Capital grants could be used for projects to:
- improve access, for example for disabled people or young people
- save energy costs
- improve community buildings, for example an extension to make more space available to rent
- buy equipment, for example sound equipment to be used at community events
- upgrade digital infrastructure, for example installing a large-scale new computer or communications system
- improve environmental sustainability, for example upgrading to a renewable heating system
Funding cannot be spent on:
- staffing costs
- costs towards running a service
- projects in inaccessible venues
- spaces used solely for political or religious activities
- buildings or equipment that the state or a statutory body has a legal obligation to provide (for example libraries and schools)