Consultation Access Grants

The GLA is inviting all our partners who work directly with Londoners to host a community conversation on the future of employment and skills in London. The aim of these conversations is to capture the diverse range of voices that represent London, in order to shape the long-term vision for adult learning in London, called the ‘Adult Education Roadmap for London’.

Understanding that access to participating in community conversations is not equal for all Londoners, the GLA is offering Consultation Access Grants of up to £500 to help facilitate community conversations for those Londoners would not otherwise be able to engage.

You can apply for a grant online via our application form.

The Consultation Access Grant scheme is open for applications from Monday 21 June 2021, at the start of the public consultation period. The application closing date is at midnight on Sunday 4 July 2021.

The GLA will endeavour to award grants within two weeks of applications closing, but in some cases grant payments may be awarded outside of this time period. Due to the short timeframe of the public consultation, grant payments may be awarded in retrospect to community conversations taking place. Where payments are delayed, the GLA will endeavour to be flexible with the deadline for hosting and submitting the summary from your Community Conversation.

The following organisations, with a turnover from the previous year of less than £100,000, are eligible to apply:

• Registered, exempt or excepted charity
• Charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
• CIC limited by guarantee
• Charitable company (limited by guarantee)
• Registered charitable industrial and provident society, or charitable cooperative (Bencom)
• Faith group, where the activity is not promoting religion
• Registered Community Amateur Sports Club
• Constituted but unincorporated club or association
• Constituted Tenants and Residents Associations, and Tenant Management Organisations
• Constituted community group

If you are applying for a grant and are not registered at either the Charities Commission and/or Companies House, you will be required to provide a reference to your application from a registered organisation.

We are looking for applicants who would not be able to facilitate community conversations without support of additional access costs.

The following costs are eligible for funding:

• Equipment costs - including software packages, phone bills, specialist physical or virtual equipment, or other associated equipment needed to support access to conversations
• Translation and interpretation costs
• Volunteer costs – including expenses, essential training such as safeguarding, volunteer supervision, volunteer wellbeing costs, and other costs not normally incurred
• Specialist support services to help disabled Londoners access conversations
• Contributions to staff or freelancer costs where they are not already funded

There is a £500 funding grant limit to applications and applicants may only apply once.

There is a fixed budget available to fund Consultation Access Grants. If needed, applications will be prioritised on the following basis:

• Ensure representation and good spread across key demographic groups of Londoners, including low-paid Londoners, disabled Londoners, black and ethnic minority Londoners, young Londoners, older Londoners, people with caring responsibilities, Londoners with complex needs, and women.
• Ensure a good geographic spread across London.
• Maximise the number of Londoners who can participate in Community Conversations, but not at the expense of representation across key demographic groups.

If you are applying for funding to deliver face-to-face community conversations to children and young people we require you to follow the National Youth Agency’s guidance – (note that this document will be updated on a regular basis, so please check for any changes before you submit your application).

For a comprehensive list of resources on how to deliver children and youth services during Covid-19 please visit the Youth work support website.