Supporting Communities Fund

Wigan Council recognises the vital role that our Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector play in the Borough.

Organisations work closely with communities and residents offering support, guidance and activities that are personalised, local, inclusive and accessible, and enable people in Wigan Borough to live healthier, happier lives.

At the start of the year we advertised our new fund, the Supporting Communities Fund. We received a high number of applications and were proud to support 74 projects with a total of £53,065 of grant funding. We are committed to supporting our local community organisations further and are pleased to announce Round 2 of the fund.

Criteria and approach

The fund aims to improve community wellbeing by reducing loneliness, developing and promoting community cohesion, building on community spirit and bringing communities together.

This will be done by offering up to £2000 of funding to grass roots organisations who are working in our neighbourhoods (within Wigan Borough).

What is it?

The fund will accept applications from voluntary and community organisations in Wigan Borough around the following themes:

  • Opportunities to bring people together and reduce loneliness
  • Collaboration with other organisations. Joint applications will be scored highly
  • Projects that strengthen relationships
  • Projects or events that support their communities with the rising cost of living e.g. cooking on a budget
  • Ideas that have a wide reach, that are engaging and involve people that are not already engaged. We want everyone to be involved
  • Ideas that will develop something new in the community
  • Supporting people in the community to develop new skills and provide volunteering opportunities
  • Opportunities and ideas to address inequality and promote inclusion will be scored highly
  • Applications with match funding will be scored highly.

Evidence of outcomes

We're keen to see evidence of outcomes against your application, for example:

  • Training for organisational development  and volunteer recruitment
  • Number of volunteers
  • Number of hours of volunteering
  • Percentage of training places taken up by other VCSFE organisations
  • Ideas to help promote activities and increase awareness, engagement and participation
  • Number of people participating in activities
  • Level of engagement within the community
  • Number of new activities as a result of community feedback
  • Number of activities or events that build on community spirit and bring communities from different backgrounds together
  • Number of activities to improve social connection to reduce isolation.

What we won’t fund

  • Trips and excursions outside of Wigan Borough
  • Uniforms
  • Religious or political activities
  • Long term contracts
  • Expenses
  • Applications where planning permission hasn’t already been agreed (where applicable)
  • Projects that have already been funded or already been delivered
  • Project planning and consultant fees
  • Running costs including utility bills.

Who can apply?

  • Community organisations based in Wigan Borough, particularly small community based local groups, that encourage community spirit, engage volunteers and who need some financial support
  • Joint applications from 2 or more groups coming together will be scored highly
  • Organisations who have a community bank account with 2 signatories (not at the same address). The account must be in the name of the community group
  • Organisations with a constitution
  • Organisations that are not for profit. (All income is used to achieve the organisation’s charitable aims and cannot be paid out to members, shareholders or owners. Relation to a CIC – a CIC limited by shares is still not eligible as it has shareholders who can draw dividends).

How much can I apply for?

You can apply for funds up to £2000 (of which we will fund up to £250 towards volunteer recruitment).

Need help?

Prior to completing an application form please email

communitiesteam@wigan.gov.uk to get in touch with the team to discuss your idea and for further advice or support.

Funding Friday drop-in sessions

Funding Fridays sessions are held every other Friday. They are available for groups to call in and speak to us about funding options from the Community Recovery Fund, Community Safety Funds, Crowdfunding and external funding such as Big Lottery, Children in Need etc.

Celebrating success

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our Deal for Communities Investment Fund journey since 2013. We are extremely proud of the successes this has brought.

This new fund is an evolution of the Community Recovery Fund, which the first 6 phases of supported our communities following the pandemic. Many of our VCSE organisations were instrumental in delivering the crisis response to our vulnerable residents and we are pleased to announce that we have supported 380 projects totalling a funding amount of £308,892.012.

In the first round of Supporting Communities Fund we supported 74 projects totalling £53,065.

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© Wigan Council