Fund
criteria
The NextGen
Fund welcomes
applications from grassroots community organisations based in any of the ten
boroughs of Greater Manchester. The Fund
will focus on projects aiming to
improve social mobility through the provision of education, skills development and
opportunities for young people.
By young people, we mean those between the ages of 11 and 25.
Who
can apply?
The NextGen
Fund aims to encourage and support
grassroots community organisations. This means small, community-based and
locally controlled groups that manage themselves, encourage people to get
involved as volunteers and who just need a bit of financial help to be able to
work with their community in the way they’d like.
Applicants
must be based in one of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester and have an
annual income of less than £50,000.
How
much can you apply for?
The
maximum award request that will be considered is £1,000.
What
can you apply for?
Local
groups understand how they can best work in their communities, so we don’t want
to limit the type of request you can make. You just need to let us know what
you want to do and what positive things your activity will provide for those in
your community in the context of the above criteria.
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, e.g. this
could be sports, dance or other weekly activities (not short-term/time-limited
activity) but which 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
- New, innovative initiatives that attempt to
aid the above criteria in some way.
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: 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 28th May 2026. Any applications received
after this time will not be considered.
How
long will a decision take?
For this
round of the NextGen Fund we aim to let you know the outcome of your
application by late July. Please do not plan to
start any activity until after you hear if your application has been
successful.
If you
have any questions or have trouble completing your application, please contact
us at awards@forevermanchester.com or phone 0161 214 0940.
Our Frequently asked questions (FAQs) provide further
information about our funding programmes, who can apply and the application
process.
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.