The Village Catalyst grant scheme is a partnership initiative between the Department for Communities (DfC), the Department for Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE). Applications are invited from charities, social enterprise and other not for profit groups in rural villages of less than 5,000 people, who want to tackle rural poverty and social isolation in their area, by developing a sustainable use for a disused historic building in their village.
Support is available for communities to:
- Carry out viability work (up to £10k),
- Develop their plans (up to £20k)
- Deliver their project (up to £200k).
Please read the guidance at www.communities-ni.gov.uk/publications/village-catalyst-grant-scheme and then contact the Village Catalyst team at villagecatalystsupport@communities-ni.gov.uk to request the relevant application form.
Be inspired….
BBC NI has recently captured the significant opportunity the Programme offers and published this article on its website https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61108534
Encouraged by the very positive feedback from that article, the BBC went back to record a piece for their Home Ground programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0017b3l/home-ground-series-11-episode-3
