Am I eligible?
If you have a brilliant idea to address a problem related to mental wellbeing in one of our four target areas we want to hear from you.
Rather than a full application, we asked for Expressions of Interests (EOI) from both community groups and researchers who were interested in the process of working in partnership and developing a project together.
The guidance on the process of The Ideas Fund and how to get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss anything can be found here.
The Expression of Interest for The Ideas Fund asked you whether you were applying as:
- Community group
- Researcher
- Existing partnership between a community group and researcher
Below we have broken down what we define as each of those categories and the key things to consider.
We know that applying for funding can sometimes be complicated and confusing. The Ideas Fund is also a bit different from other funds, especially due to the focus on relationship building and partnership working between both the community group and researcher. We want to ensure that anyone who submits an Expression of Interest (EOI) is clear on whether this is right for them – this hopefully saves you time and uncertainty.
Community Groups
This may be...
- Individuals
- Someone linked to a community group
- An informal group (even if you do not have a bank account)
- Constituted group
- Charity
- CIC
- or a social enterprise
We think this is for you if...
- You want to use your local, lived or learnt expertise to explore and contribute to improving mental wellbeing for your community.
- You are up for trying something new and learning - you may not have any knowledge, experience, or confidence when it comes to working with researchers – but you’re interested in the idea.
- You are interested and want to work collaboratively with a new research partner – even if you do not know what to expect.
- You have time to commit to this – the process requires time to build relationships, plan, coordinate and work through innovative approaches, opportunities, and challenges with The Ideas Fund programme and with your partner. A small grant will be provided to you or your organisation to develop your idea if you are shortlisted.
- You are interested in joining The Ideas Fund to access additional opportunities to learn, be creative and shape how to do this type of collaboration to achieve greater equity.
We are currently closed to applications from community groups.
Researchers
Researchers
We define a researcher a someone who has a track record of carrying out and publishing new research, and is connected to the wider research world through their work.
We think this is for you if...
- You want to use your research skills, experiences, and interests to explore and support a community to reach their goals around health and wellbeing.
- You are up for trying something new and learning - you may not have any knowledge, experience, or confidence when it comes to working equitably with communities through your day-to-day role – but you’re interested in the idea.
- You are interested and want to work collaboratively with a new community partner – even if you do not know what to expect.
- You are interested in how this collaboration could help to shape your future work and approach.
- You have time to commit to this – the process requires time to build relationships, plan, coordinate and work through innovative approaches, opportunities, and challenges with The Ideas Fund programme and with your partner.
We also have a page dedicated to the role of the researcher here
Existing Partnerships
(Community group + researcher, defined as above)
We think this is for you if...
- The above statements apply to the relevant partners
- Both partners are still open for involvement and collaboration with The Ideas Fund
We are currently closed to applications from existing partnerships.
If you have read the guidance on the process of applying to The Ideas Fund and still feel unsure, send us an email at hello@theideasfund.org and we can chat through whether this is a good fit for you.
