There are some things which we cannot fund with National Lottery money.

Ineligible expenditure includes:

  1. payment that supports lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action (any lobbying activity);
  2. using grant funding to petition for additional funding;
  3. input VAT reclaimable by Grant Recipient from HMRC;
  4. payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature (we can fund religious organisations if your programme benefits the wider community and doesn’t include religious content);
  5. payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants;
  6. contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money);
  7. the acquisition or improvement of fixed assets by the Grant Recipient (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the Grant Offer Letter);
  8. gifts to individuals other than promotional items with a value of no more than £25 a year to any one individual;
  9. entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations);
  10. statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties;
  11. liabilities incurred by the Grant Recipient before the issue of this Grant Agreement unless agreed in writing by the Fund. Liabilities incurred by an Onward Recipient might be eligible to improve a Grant Recipient’s liquidity in line with the objectives of the Programme;
  12. use in respect of costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source;
  13. use to purchase buildings or land;
  14. activities that make profits for private gain;
  15. campaigning activities or loan payments.

The above restrictions may cause some concern for groups who are taking action to change legislation on climate change matters.  We recognise that campaigning is a legitimate activity for groups seeking to raise awareness of the climate crisis and influence politicians at every level to take urgent action to address our concerns. The intention is that projects supported through the Zero Carbon Cumbria Community Climate Grants should be politically impartial in the sense that they do not directly support any political party, and grant holders must also act in line with charity law (which permits campaigning activity in line with your charitable objectives).

The National Lottery Climate Action fund recommend that organisations consider the following points when engaging in political and campaigning activity:

  • We expect the organisations that we fund to be run non-politically. Campaigning should be based on reasoned argument and in support of your objects, not the personal opinions of the people who run your organisation.
  • Your staff, members and volunteers can publish or share personal opinions as part of a wider debate around an issue, but it must be clear that these are personal opinions and not your organisation’s view.
  • Campaigning should be based on objective research and relevant expert opinion, and it should reflect the experience and the needs of those who benefit from the work of your organisation.
  • You can only use grant funding for campaigning if this was included in your application. When using grant funding for campaigning you should be proportionate when allocating resources to support campaigning and be realistic about its prospects of success.

Direct criticism of individuals(including politicians) should be avoided.

Further information regarding charity law can be found here.  

If you have any questions about what is an acceptable use of grant funding, please get in touch with [email protected] to discuss before submitting your application.