Bright Futures Fund

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PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING YOUR APPLICATION

Fund criteria


The Bright Futures Fund welcomes applications from Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector community groups based in any of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. The Fund will focus on projects aiming to improve social mobility, develop skills and otherwise support people from a wide variety of backgrounds into or back into work and careers.

Who can apply?

The Bright Futures Fund aims to support Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations based in any of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. Further information about the type of organisation that can apply can be found in our Supporting Information guide (For Supporting Information) which forms part of the criteria.

Applicant organisations must be based in one of the ten broughs of Greater Manchester and have an annual income of less than £250,000.

How much can you apply for?

The maximum award request that will be considered is £5,000.

What can you apply for?

The Fund aims to support organisations running projects that will improve the life chances of people in Greater Manchester, with an emphasis on (but not exclusively) young people. This could mean projects aiming to improve social mobility, develop skills and otherwise support people from a wide variety of backgrounds into or back into work and careers. This can include supporting those already in paid employment to access the skills and training they need to make the job changes that could lead to life-long careers.

By young people, we mean those from secondary school to those in the early stages of their careers. Whilst there is no upper-age limit, we would expect that the majority of funded projects will be supporting those under the age of 30.

Local groups understand how they can best work in their communities. We don’t want to limit the type of request you can make, let us know what you want to do and what positive things your activity will provide for people in your community, as long as it meets the criteria above.

The following are just some examples of the type of project the fund may support:

  • Ongoing activities which help develop communication, teamwork and other life/work skills in young people. For example, this could be sports, dance or other weekly activities (not short-term or time-limited) with a focus on developing skills that are valuable outside of the core activity

  • Sessions aimed at helping young people in your community to develop interview or other skills to help them gain work or promotion

  • Coaching and mentoring for young people in work who are looking to change careers/improve employment opportunities

  • Projects supporting young people to understand how to develop and set-up new enterprises

Is there anything you can’t apply for?

Unfortunately, there are a few things that can’t be funded, such as activities that have already taken place or been paid for, contributions to major appeals, activities promoting political or religious beliefs and activity which should be provided by statutory services.

If you’re not sure if we could consider your application for funding, please contact a member of the Forever Manchester Communities Team, email awards@forevermanchester.com and we’ll be happy to help.

Supporting Documents

For help and guidance on your groups’ supporting documents and to see what we require to be submitted alongside your application, please refer to our guidance which you can find here: 

https://forevermanchester.com/for-supporting-information

Please note that this information forms part of the Fund guidance and should be read in full before you start the application form.

Deadline for Applications

We will close for applications at midday on Thursday 26th February 2026. Please be aware that we cannot accept any applications after this time.

How long will a decision take?

For this round of the Bright Futures Community Fund, we aim to let you know the outcome of your application in late April 2026. Please do not plan to start any activity until after you hear if your application has been successful.

Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide further information on our funding programmes. We encourage you to have a look if you would like to know a bit more about who can apply and what the application process involves.

If you have any questions or have trouble completing your application, please contact us at awards@forevermanchester.com or phone 0161 214 0940

Please read all guidance carefully before starting your application.


We recommend that you save your application by clicking on the "Save my progress and resume later" box above. You will be prompted to enter a valid email address and choose a password. You can then come back to it and resume it at a later date if you need to.


You can navigate to different pages on this form by clicking on a page number on the top right hand corner or using the "Next" or "Previous" buttons at the end of each page.


After completing the form you will be given an opportunity at the end of the form to review your answers before submitting the application. You can also print a copy to retain for your records.


Once you've submitted your application you will receive a confirmation email containing the information you submitted on your application.


Start Your Application Below
Organisation Name and Address Details

Provide the name of your organisation as it appears on any governing documents.

This should be the address of the organisation. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.



The telephone number and email address should be one at which the organisation is easily contacted, especially during office hours. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.




Main Contact Person
These are the details that will be used for correspondence purposes.



The contact person should be someone who has a good knowledge of the application as this is the person we will contact if we have any queries.







Page 2

About Your Organisation

Approach answering this question as though you were talking to a friend about what you do.

    
What type of organisation are you?  (Please select as many as appropriate).

You do not need to be a registered charity or company limited by guarantee to apply, but we do need to know more about the “status” of your organisation. If you are a sub-group, committee of a larger group or a local branch of a national charity, we can only fund you if you can demonstrate that you operate independently. This usually means you have separate rules & regulations, an independent committee, a separate bank account and are responsible for generating your own income.










Please enter numbers only
Staff and Volunteers
How many of each of the following are involved in your group?

Please enter a whole number e.g. 4

Please enter a whole number e.g. 2

Please enter a whole number e.g. 2

Please enter a whole number e.g. 10

Please enter the number of hours as a whole number e.g 20
About Your Project

Does your project have an overall project name, if so please enter it here.



Please provide the postcode where most of your beneficiaries reside, if there are multiple places please just pick one. If it is too difficult to distinguish please provide the postcode of your organisation.

We realise that you cannot give exact figures but please estimate as accurately as possible. This information is important and will be used to evaluate the project at the end of the grant period.


E.g. who has got involved and which other groups and services have you connected with?



Why did they get involved and what do they get from coming to your group?
Payment Options
For this award, we're offering two different payment timescales for you to choose from. 

This could be either:                                                           

A one off payment of up to £5,000. This will be received within two weeks upon notification of the award.

or

A payment of up to £5,000, split equally across three years. The first payment will be received within two weeks upon notification of the award, with the other two payments being received on the same date in 2026 and 2027.

Page 3

Project Budget

If you are asking us to fund some of your running costs, for instance, what is the total you need for running costs each year? If you are asking us to contribute towards an event, project or activity, what are the total costs?

The maximum amount you can apply for is £1,000.

Please enter a breakdown of costs. If not applicable please enter N/A.
Banking Details
Grants awarded are paid via BACS. Please enter your full bank details below.  If you do not have a bank account of your own, you will need to find an organisation to accept a BACS payment on your behalf.





Supporting Documents
   
Please click on the attachments link below to upload required documents to support this application. Whilst you can post documentation to us, it will speed up the processing of your application if you can attach them now.


Documents required:
  • Governing Document
  • Annual Accounts (if the organisation are less than 12 months old, please send 3 consecutive bank statements)
  • Recent bank statement with the group name and address visible
  • Management Committee Details
  • Safeguarding Policies (if applicable)
For help and guidance on your groups supporting documents, please refer to our For Supporting Information.










Documents sent by post should be addressed to: 

Forever Manchester

1st Floor, Phoenix House

45 Cross Street, Manchester, M2 4JF

Using your personal information
By completing this application form, you accept that Forever Manchester will have access to the personal data about you and other individuals named.

 

As a necessary part of the application process, Forever Manchester will collect personal data about you and other people connected with your organisation. The personal data we collect includes name, address, telephone number, email address and could also include date of birth and photographs.

 

We will use the information you give us during assessment and during the life of your award (if successful) to manage and monitor the award and check the money is being used appropriately. 

 

If you do not give us consent to use this data, we will not be able to process your application.

 

We hold and store your information in line with the Data Protection legislation currently in force. For more information explaining how we use your information, please see our privacy policy which can be found on our website by clicking here.


Publicity
Forever Manchester would like to follow up successful applicants and potentially feature them in publicity activities.  This could include featuring the work of your organisation on our website or social media channels. 

 

Please tick the box to confirm that if your application is successful, you are happy for Forever Manchester to use information about your group or project for publicity purposes. If you would prefer not to feature in any publicity, don’t worry, not ticking this will not affect the outcome of your award application.

Declaration

If successful we agree to spend any award as outlined in our application form or specified within the award letter. Should we be unable to continue with the awarded project or there are any changes to the way in which we wish to spend the award, we will contact Forever Manchester first. 

At the end of the award period we will complete a feedback form about our funded project. We agree to keep all receipts/invoices and financial records relating to any award made and provide this information to Forever Manchester if requested.

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