Strengthen & Grow funding is for people and organisations already making things happen in Grimsby who need support to move their work forward.
This is a £140,000 pot of funding this year, with awards of up to £50,000, for work that gets something ready for what comes next. That might mean putting together a business plan, doing the design or feasibility work behind a bigger project, strengthening governance, becoming more sustainable, inviting investment, or piloting a new model.
If you are already doing good work in Grimsby and you’re keen to grow your project, this could be for you. You do not need to have everything figured out, but you do need a clear sense of what you are trying to reach, what extra support you need and why this funding could be the thing that gets you there.
The final decisions on who gets funded will sit with a Decision Makers’ Assembly of Grimsby residents, who will read every proposal, ask their own questions, and decide together (supported by technical advisors) where the money goes. It is a genuinely different approach to doing things, and effects what people across the town said mattered when they designed the fund.
This pot is about building on what is already happening in Grimsby.
It supports local work with the potential to become stronger, more sustainable and able to create greater value for people and places across the town.
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To be considered, proposals must demonstrate that they are:
Preparatory, not operational. The funding builds the foundations for a project’s next stage, rather than sustaining ongoing delivery.
Additional, not gap-filling. The money acts as additional support, rather than covering a funding shortfall.
Defined and time-limited. The proposal describes a clear, specific piece of activity with a defined purpose, start and end.
Connected to a next stage. The funding is clearly connected to the next stage of a project’s development.
Deliverable and safe. The proposal is practical, achievable, and can be delivered safely within the programme timeframe.
Proportionate. The funding requested is appropriate, and there is a realistic plan for how it will be used.
The Fund puts local people at the heart of decisions making.
We’re looking for people who live or work here to shape how the fund works, how decisions are made and what projects get supported.
You do not need funding experience. You just need local knowledge, care for Grimsby and a commitment to fair decisions for the good of the town.
This is your chance to have a real say in Grimsby’s future.
We’ve pulled together some of the common questions raised so far about Strengthen and Grow and will continue to add to this as the fund develops.
Applications can be made by organisations, groups and partnerships — for example registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, companies limited by guarantee, community interest companies, community benefit societies, unincorporated associations and informal groups working with a host organisation.
You must already have something in place that this funding would strengthen or move forward: a live idea, activity, organisation, asset opportunity or partnership. Strengthen & Grow is for taking a next step, not for starting from scratch.
You will also need:
– A named accountable lead who is responsible for the application and delivery
– Confirmation of your legal status
– Verified identity for key individuals, as we carry out basic due diligence checks
– Financial information where you have it
If your idea is at an earlier stage, Give it a Go may be the better fit.
Not directly. Individuals cannot apply to Strengthen & Grow in their own name. If you are an unincorporated group, we can make payments on behalf of the group through a host organisation where that is appropriate to meet financial control requirements. You would apply alongside them.
A host organisation holds and manages the grant on behalf of a group that cannot hold the money itself, and makes the payments for the items in your budget. They take on legal and financial responsibility for the funding.
You will need one if your group is unincorporated — for example an informal community group with no registered legal structure. On the form you give the host organisation’s legal name, legal identifier and address, and we will need their accounts and bank statements rather than yours.
If you need a host organisation let us know and we can try to help. It usually takes longer to arrange than people expect, and we can often help you find one.
Not necessarily. We ask for your latest full year accounts — audited or unaudited management accounts — and your last three months’ trading figures and bank statements where you have them, but a lack of historic accounts will not automatically rule you out.
What matters is that you can show clear arrangements for how the grant would be paid and managed: whose account it goes into, who authorises spending, and what record-keeping and financial controls you have. If you are using a host organisation, we need those details for them.
Your organisation can be based outside Grimsby, but your project activities cannot. Strengthen & Grow is currently funded by Pride in Place, which requires activity to take place in one of these postcodes:
DN31, DN32, DN33, DN34, DN37
You can select more than one on the application form. If your main address is outside Grimsby, tell us about the substantive activity you already run, or plan to run, in the area.
Beyond the postcode requirement, we also look at whether the proposal is led by, rooted in, or of substantial benefit to Grimsby, and whether it strengthens local capability, assets or institutions.
All funds must be spent and all project delivery must be complete within 12 months of signing your grant agreement.
Grant agreements are expected to be issued in early 2027. Your exact end date will be confirmed in your grant agreement.
You will need to give a confirmed start date on the application form, along with the date you expect the funded work to be complete.
If your wider ambition runs beyond those 12 months, that is fine — Strengthen & Grow funds a defined, time-limited piece of preparatory work rather than the whole journey. We simply need you to be clear about which part you are asking us to fund.
No. Bringing in other money is not an eligibility requirement but it does help your case. One of the things the Decision Makers’ Assembly considers is how likely your next stage is to actually happen, so evidence that other funders, investors or partners are engaged strengthens the proposal.
The application form asks whether any other funding will contribute to your project. For anything not yet secured, tell us who you have applied to or are in discussion with, when you expect a decision, and how likely you think it is to be confirmed. You will also be asked who you have already engaged about the next stage — professionals, architects, social investors or funders.
It is more helpful to tell us what is still uncertain than to overstate it, and we would much rather have a realistic picture.
Strengthen & Grow is revenue funding only.
– Revenue = day-to-day running costs and the cost of activity — such as staff time, consultancy and professional fees, room hire, training, insurance, travel, and marketing and communications
– Capital = physical items and assets — such as buildings, land, vehicles or equipment
We cannot fund capital costs through this pot. Things we can typically fund include business planning, feasibility studies, design work, governance and skills development, partnership-building, legal or technical preparation, pre-planning or pre-capital work, investment readiness, and pilot development tied to a bigger model.
If you are not sure whether a cost counts, contact info@growingtogetherfund.org.uk before you apply.
Subsidy control may apply to you if you are an organisation. Government rules limit how much public money any one organisation can receive over a three-year period; this is called subsidy control, and it used to be known as state aid.
The limit for most organisations is £315,000 of minimal financial assistance across the current and two preceding financial years, each beginning on 1 April.
The application form asks you to list the public subsidies your organisation has received in that period. Key Fund will walk you through it — you do not need to work it out on your own — but we cannot release any funding until that confirmation is in place.
You can only have one live grant on this programme at a time. If you currently hold a live Give it a Go or Strengthen & Grow grant, you will need to wait until it has completed before applying again.
You can apply for up to £50,000. Please ask for what you actually need. This pot is by and for the people of Grimsby, and the Decision Makers Assembly will be weighing your request against everyone else’s, so please be as specific and realistic as you can about the amount that will make your project work.
It is worth completing the budget table first, so that you know your exact total before you fill in the grant amount.
There is £140,000 available through Strengthen & Grow, and we expect to make around three to five awards.
Competition is therefore likely to be strong, and we will not be able to fund every viable application.
There are two places on the form where you describe your project, and they do different jobs.
The short description (a few sentences, up to 100 words) should be in plain English without jargon, and should tell us what you will do, where it will happen and who it will work with.
The detail (up to 500 words). This is where you set out what the activity actually is, what you will deliver, and what the end outcome will be.
We often see this second space used for general enthusiasm rather than specifics, which makes it hard to work out what an applicant actually wants to do, so please be as concrete as you can. Where possible, tell us:
– Roughly how many people you expect to work with
– Whether you would need to take on new staff or buy in expertise
– How this is new or different from what you already deliver
– Where exactly the work will happen
Write it as though you were explaining it to someone who has never heard of your organisation.
This sits at the heart of Strengthen & Grow, so it is worth setting out clearly. We are not looking for one-off activity that stops when the money runs out, and we are not looking to fund the same thing again next year. We are looking for work that moves your project towards standing on its own.
The questions we are really asking are:
– How would this project lead to something else?
– Where would the income come from next time, rather than it being grant funded again?
– If you wanted to do this again, how would you do it, what would you need, and where would you need support?
“Sustainable” does not have to mean trading income. A credible next stage might be capital investment, co-funding, an asset acquisition, a service contract, a membership or trading model, or another route that means the work can continue without repeat grant funding. The important thing is that you can name it and show why it is realistic.
The form asks about this directly, and it is better to be specific than aspirational: a modest route that you can evidence will carry more weight than an ambitious one with nothing behind it.
Written quotations are a requirement of this fund, but you have some time to get them.
The thresholds are:
– Up to £5,000 — evidence of value for money required
– £5,001 to £25,000 — at least one written quotation
– £25,001 and above — a minimum of three written quotations
If you cannot get your quotes together by the first deadline of 5pm on Monday 19 October, have them ready by the final deadline of 5pm on Monday 2 November. In any event, all quotes must be provided within 30 days of your grant agreement, and we cannot transfer funds relating to a purchase that requires quotations until we have the evidence.
If you genuinely cannot get the required number — for example because very few suppliers offer what you need — tell us and explain why. We would much rather you flag it than leave a gap. You will still need to demonstrate value for money, and you must comply with any procurement rules and procedures that apply to your own organisation.
Key Fund and the Accountable Body may ask for evidence of your procurement activity as part of monitoring and assurance.
Support is available to every applicant, whatever the outcome, and that was a deliberate part of how this fund was designed.
Before you apply:
– You can email or call us to talk your idea through and check whether it fits
– We can help you work out whether a cost is capital or revenue before you budget for it
– We can help you find a host organisation if you need one
During the application:
– The two-stage process is itself the main support: Key Fund reviews your first submission and comes back with feedback and questions before the final deadline
– Key Fund can help you work through subsidy control rather than leaving you to calculate it
– If you have access needs, tell us as early as you can and we will make arrangements
After the decision:
– Ongoing support is offered to all applicants, funded or not
Contact: info@growingtogetherfund.org.uk
We will do what we can to help. Our Future works across Grimsby Together networks, community organisations, faith groups and local businesses, so if you tell us what kind of partner you are looking for we can often point you in the right direction.
Two things to be clear about:
– We cannot broker or guarantee a partnership on your behalf, and we cannot make an introduction that would give you an unfair advantage over other applicants
– If you are an unincorporated group looking for a host organisation, tell us early — that takes longer to arrange than most people expect
The application form asks who you have been working with to shape your project and how you will keep working with people in Grimsby as it develops, so partnership-building is worth starting before you apply rather than after.
Some things will be public and some will stay private.
What will be shared publicly:
– Which projects are funded and how much they receive
– If successful, your application may be made public, except for anything you have flagged as commercially sensitive
What is shared with the Decision Makers’ Assembly:
– Details about your project — your description, your answers and a summary of your budget
What is not shared with the Assembly:
– Personal contact details, bank statements and detailed financial information
Who holds your data: your application is processed jointly by Key Fund, who manage the process and administer payments; Our Future, who lead community involvement and use application data for programme learning; and North East Lincolnshire Council, who may receive data for audit and compliance. The full privacy notice is at growingtogetherfund.org.uk/privacy-policy.
One other thing to be aware of: your answers may need to be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We will let you know if that happens.
Key Fund will issue grant agreements in early 2027 and administer payments once the Assembly’s allocations have been confirmed as compliant.
Payment is made into the bank account you gave on the application form — or your host organisation’s account if you are an unincorporated group. Your grant agreement will set out the payment schedule and any conditions attached to it.
Two things commonly hold up payment:
– Outstanding quotations. Quotes must be provided within 30 days of your grant agreement, and we cannot transfer funds for a purchase requiring quotations until we have them
– Outstanding subsidy control confirmation, safeguarding policies or DBS checks
Yes. That is precisely what the two-stage process is designed to allow. After the first deadline of 5pm on Monday 19 October, Key Fund reviews your application and comes back to you with feedback and questions. From Tuesday 20 October you have until the final deadline of 5pm on Monday 2 November to refine your dates, budget and answers and resubmit. The intention is a conversation rather than a single, final submission.
Every question on the form is optional at the first deadline, so you can submit what you have and fill in the rest later.
Once your application is final it goes forward for assessment, and the version the Decision Makers Assembly sees is the one you submit by 2 November. For changes after a grant is awarded, see “Can I change my project while I am delivering it?” below.
Yes, there are three main restrictions. The funding must be spent on revenue costs rather than capital, so we cannot fund the purchase of buildings, land, vehicles or equipment.
The money must be spent on the activity and costs set out in your approved budget, and you will need to keep records of that spending.
We also cannot fund open-ended running costs, deficit rescue, or advice activity that is not connected to a real next step.
You need appropriate insurance in place to deliver your project, but you do not need to have it already. If you have cover, the application form asks you to upload a copy of your policy. If you do not, include the cost of the insurance you will need in your project budget — insurance is a revenue cost, so it can be funded through this pot. What counts as appropriate depends on your activity. If you are not sure what you need, get in touch before you apply.
You do not need every policy in place at the point of applying, but you do need to be honest about the gaps and have a plan to close them. The form asks which existing policies your safety approach relies on — for example health and safety, safeguarding of children, safeguarding of vulnerable adults — and asks you to note any new policies you will need to create before the project starts.
Two things are non-negotiable before funding can be released:
– If your project involves children or vulnerable adults, you must have the relevant safeguarding policy in place
– You must include the cost of any DBS checks you need in your budget
A gap that you have identified and planned for is viewed quite differently from one you have not noticed. If you are unsure whether something applies to you, please ask us before you apply.
The form asks you to select up to three:
– Arts and Culture
– Beautiful Built Environment
– Green Economy
– Connected to Nature
– Secure Homes and Lives
– Community
– Education and Opportunities
– Thriving Town Centre
There is also an “other” box if none of these fit. Choosing more areas will not make your application stronger, so please select only those that genuinely apply.
Your proposal will also be mapped against Grimsby’s thematic priority areas to show how it contributes to the wider vision for the town, and you will be asked separately how the work connects to Grimsby’s strategic priorities and to what matters most to the town right now.
There are five stages.
– Screening. Key Fund checks every application against the eligibility and viability criteria and carries out proportionate due diligence. Applications that do not meet the requirements are not longlisted.
– Longlisting. Key Fund assesses applications and produces the longlist between 9 and 20 November, and hands it to the Decision Makers’ Assembly by the end of the week beginning 16 November. Key Fund prepares an assessment summary for each longlisted proposal.
– Questions. Assembly members put questions to Key Fund’s Technical Advisors about longlisted proposals between 23 and 30 November. The questions and answers are shared with every Assembly member.
– Decision. The Decision Makers’ Assembly meets in person in the week beginning 7 December to deliberate and allocate the funding.
– Outcome. Key Fund confirms the allocations are compliant and issues grant agreements in early 2027.
Assessment happens in two parts.
Key Fund checks eligibility and viability. To be longlisted, your proposal must be:
– Preparatory, not operational — it builds foundations for a next stage rather than sustaining routine delivery
– Additional, not gap-filling — it is not covering a shortfall or keeping something going unchanged
– Defined and time-limited — a clear, specific piece of activity with a purpose, start and end
– Connected to a credible next stage — you can say what that stage is and why it is realistic
– Deliverable and safe — practical, achievable and safe within the programme timeframe
– A clear and proportionate use of funds
Key Fund then writes an assessment summary for each longlisted proposal, covering how it performs against the five assessment dimensions and noting any queries, conditions or risks found during due diligence. That summary goes to the Assembly alongside your own application.
The Assembly weighs proposals against five dimensions. They are not a scoring grid, but rather the questions members are asked to keep in mind.
– Readiness gap. What specifically is stopping this project progressing, why is this grant the right response now, and would the project realistically stay stuck without it?
– Unlocking what comes next. What is the named next stage — a funder, a contract, an asset, a trading model — and is there evidence the applicant has already engaged with whoever would support it?
– Stronger future model. In what specific way will the organisation or project be stronger afterwards, and is that something foundational or peripheral?
– Lasting change. Is this genuinely additional, or something the applicant would be doing anyway? What will be concretely different for Grimsby if it succeeds?
– For and from Grimsby. How genuinely rooted in the town is this — in leadership, activity and beneficiaries — and does the benefit stay local?
It is worth having these questions in front of you as you write your application. Members are asked to use their own community knowledge and judgement alongside Key Fund’s technical assessment.
Funding decisions are made by a Decision Makers Assembly of around 12 to 20 Grimsby residents. The Assembly is the decision-making authority, and no other party overrides its allocation decisions, subject only to Key Fund’s compliance check.
This is a different body from Give it a Go’s Decision Maker panel. The two funds have separate decision-making groups; neither oversees the other.
Members receive training and a briefing on each longlisted proposal, and sign a charter committing them to act in the interests of the town as a whole rather than any organisation, network or personal interest.
Key Fund’s Technical Advisors attend to answer factual questions. They do not vote, do not take part in deliberation.
Members are chosen after an open call for applications followed by a randomised selection designed to create a cross-section of the town including postcode, age, gender and working status.
It is deliberately not first-come-first-served. Active outreach and practical support — transport, childcare, translated materials — are used to include residents who are harder to reach.
The session runs in two discussion rounds and two votes. Members elect a Foreperson from among themselves to chair the discussion and put questions to the Technical Advisors; the Foreperson is a peer and has no casting vote.
– Round 1. Each proposal is introduced and discussed for a set period. Members collect factual questions for the Technical Advisors.
– Straw poll. Members are asked whether there is any proposal they would not fund under any circumstances. A proposal drops out only if not a single member would fund it; if even one member would, it remains under consideration.
– Technical Advisor questions. The Foreperson puts the collected questions to Key Fund. Every answer is heard by the whole Assembly, and nothing is shared privately with individual members.
– Round 2. Substantive deliberation on the remaining proposals against the five dimensions and the budget available.
– Preference vote. Each member gets a fixed number of votes to spread across proposals as they choose. The number is set deliberately lower than the number of proposals, so votes reflect genuine priorities rather than general approval. Proposals are then ranked by votes received.
– Funding scenarios. Because the proposals will together cost more than the budget, the Facilitator turns the ranking into a set of feasible funding scenarios. The top-ranked proposal appears in every scenario. Each scenario shows what is included, the total amount awarded, any unallocated balance, and what is excluded and why.
– Scenario vote. Members vote for their preferred scenario, and the one with the most votes becomes the decision.
– Conflicts of interest. Any member with a connection to an applicant — including its staff, trustees or close associates — must declare it before the session, cannot take part in discussion of that proposal, and cannot vote on any scenario containing it. Declarations are recorded.
– Advisors and Facilitators don’t advocate before or against a proposal.
– No changes after the fact. Funding scenarios cannot be altered once presented without the Assembly’s explicit agreement.
– Transparency. All vote counts are recorded and made available to participants, and the rationale for each scenario is documented.
– Compliance reserve. Key Fund can decline an award even after the Assembly has voted, but only on compliance grounds and never on preference.
Key Fund is the fund administrator and provides Technical Advisors. They screen applications, carry out due diligence, decide the longlist, give you feedback between the two deadlines, write the assessment summaries, answer the Assembly’s factual questions, confirm allocations are compliant, and issue grant agreements and payments. Key Fund does not make the funding decisions.
Our Future facilitates the process. They recruit and support Assembly members, plan and run the session, construct and present the funding scenarios, record the votes, document the outcome. Our Future does not make funding decisions and does not advocate for any outcome.
North East Lincolnshire Council is the accountable body for the programme and is ultimately responsible for the public money behind it.
You will hear from us before anything is announced publicly.
Decision outcomes will be shared with feedback for applicants in mid-December and publicly announced before the end of the year. Grant agreements will be issued in early 2027
Please talk to Key Fund first, rather than changing course and telling us afterwards.
Small adjustments to timing or to how you deliver are usually manageable. Anything that changes what the money is spent on, moves your end date, or alters the outcome you promised needs to be agreed before you commit the spend, and may require a variation to your grant agreement.
Do tell us early if something is not going to plan, as we would much rather know and be able to help than find out at the reporting stage.
If you are funded, you agree to submit regular financial monitoring and impact reports throughout the term of your grant, and to keep engaging with the programme for monitoring, learning, communications and follow-up activity as reasonably required.
In practice that means:
– Delivering what you said you would, safely and within the agreed time
– Spending the money on what you said you would spend it on
– Keeping records of your spending, and being able to evidence your procurement activity if asked
– Sending regular updates on progress and spend
– Telling us early if something is not going to plan
– Taking part in programme learning, and possibly a short case study or sharing photos of your work
Because Strengthen & Grow is about getting ready for a bigger next step, we will also want to know how that next stage is progressing after the grant ends.
Where grant conditions are not met, funds have been misused, or agreed activity has not been delivered without reasonable cause, the programme can require repayment of part or all of the grant, withhold future payments, or take steps to recover funds paid on your behalf. These provisions are set out in the grant agreement Key Fund issues.
These are standard conditions for public money and not a cause for concern, but they are a good reason to talk to us early if your project runs into difficulty.
There is £140,000 available and we expect to make three to five awards, so we will not be able to fund every viable proposal.
If yours is not funded:
– You will receive a written summary of the Assembly session
– We will let you know about other funding opportunities that may suit your project
Strengthen & Grow is one of several pots coming out of Pride in Place. If your proposal is not ready this time, it may well be ready for the next one.
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