The Importance of Funding for a CIC
A Community Interest Company is a form of non-charitable limited company. Its primary purpose is to benefit a community or to have a social purpose, rather than to make a profit for the shareholders.
Accessing funding as a Community Interest Company can be a long and drawn-out process. Oftentimes there is a bidding process for CIC’s to go through in order to gain access to the pot of money. There are many different grants open to CIC’s and the funding is usually designated to a particular cause. Typically the application process is different for each grant provider.
Funding for CICs does not always come in the form of grants and loans, corporate clients can also offer funding, sponsorship or provide additional income by attending a CIC’s corporate workshops or training programmes. By providing income, corporate enterprises can not only help the CIC’s to continue to grow and keep helping their community but also fulfil their corporate social responsibilities.
We spend considerable time applying for funding for Inspired Equine Assisted Learning, with our focus being on mental health and reducing social isolation. We have been granted some funding, however, given the volume of CIC’s trying to access the same pots of money, there have also been some disappointments.
Here are some examples of where our funding applications have been successful:
Managed care network Wave 8 – Adults with Autism
The Managed care network Wave 8 is a pot of funding for community projects that support adults and young people with autism and their families. By accessing this funding we can assist adults with autism and their carers by providing fully-funded EAL sessions. Evidence shows that contact with horses can have many long-term benefits for those with Autism, including improvements in behaviour and communication.
Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service – Reducing Social Isolation
The Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS) is a charity working in a variety of ways to support the health and wellbeing of communities and individuals. We received funding to help service users suffering with mental health (mainly depression and anxiety) and social isolation that had expressed an interest in animals and horses.
Postcode Lottery – Reducing Social Isolation
The People’s Postcode Lottery has allocated a pot of funding to help organisations tackle loneliness and social isolation. The Community Interest Companies and Charities that are being supported by the funding are developing a number of initiatives aimed at bringing people together.
Erasmus+ – Child Inclusion
Erasmus+ is an EU funded programme which supports education, training, youth and sport. With a budget of €14.7 billion for 2014-2020, it can provide opportunities for over 4 million participants to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer.
We are involved in a project, with partners from the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Greece that promotes and encourages the social inclusion of children and young people with intellectual disabilities through the provision of sporting activities and associated services.
Evan Cornish Grassroots Fund – Reducing Social Isolation
The Evan Cornish Grassroots fund has been made available to organisations who are helping people in their community improve their wellbeing. Making life more comfortable, helping to ease distress and isolation for those who need it most.
National Lottery – Reducing Social Isolation
The National Lottery funding helps Community Interest Companies to support different groups and projects that are taking innovative action to tackle loneliness and isolation. The recipients of the funding all have one thing in common and that is to bring people together to improve lives and provide support.
The Managed Care Network Wave 9 – Increasing Social Cohesion and Physical Activity
The Managed Care Network aims to help people who have experienced mental health problems. They assist groups and organisations who provide a range of activities and services that help give people support, structure and choice. Our Wave 9 project will combine both the physical and emotional benefits of EAL to encourage gentle physical activity while promoting social cohesion, collaboration and teamwork among members of the local community.
All the funding accessed allows us to help the groups within our local community that are most in need, but who also have very limited resources. By offering sessions that are free at the point of delivery we continue to show there is considerable demand for therapeutic horsemanship, and by capturing the outcomes of our sessions, we can demonstrate the benefits of EAL to existing clients, potential clients, and current and future funding providers.
