What is the Community Renewal Fund?
The UK Community Renewal Fund will support local communities to pilot programs and new approaches ahead of the new Shared Prosperity Fund which will be opening in 2022.
Through these pilots, Central Government want to unleash new ideas and pilot programs to better support people and communities in need.
Government want to support innovative responses to local challenges and local need across the UK, using the UK Community Renewal Fund to test greater integration of types of interventions and greater flexibility between investment themes than under EU structural funds.
This includes removing barriers that people face in accessing skills and local labour market opportunities, building the evidence base for future interventions and exploring the viability of new ideas.
How does the Community Renewal Fund work?
To ensure the UK Community Renewal Fund funding reaches the most in need, the Government have identified 100 priority places based on an index of economic resilience across Great Britain which measures productivity, household income, unemployment, skills and population density.
Read the list of Priority Places
A lead authority has been assigned for each place, for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough this is the Combined Authority.
As the local lead authority we are inviting project proposals from a range of local applicants, including local district councils, voluntary and community sector organisations and local education providers including universities.
We will then then appraise these projects and produce a shortlist of projects up to a maximum of £3 million per place for submission to UK government. The UK government will select projects in line with the selection criteria set out in the Community Renewal Fund Prospectus.
90% of funding available through the UK Community Renewal Fund is revenue funding, with a small amount of capital funding.
Bids cannot be submitted for projects that benefit a single entity (for example a single business) and applicants are encouraged to maximise impact and deliverability through larger projects (£500,000+) where this is possible.
Read the Community Renewal Fund Prospectus
Community Renewal Fund Investment Priorities
To nurture innovative thinking and offer flexibility, projects may align with one, or deliver across several, of the following investment priorities:
- Investment in skills
- Investment for local business
- Investment in communities and place
- Supporting people into employment
90% of funding available through the UK Community Renewal Fund is revenue funding, with a small amount of capital funding.
All prospective applicants should read section 5.2 of the prospectus before applying.
Key Documents
Community Renewal Fund Prospectus 2021-22
Community Renewal Fund Privacy Notice
Community Renewal Fund Technical Note for Project Applicants
Local Economic Recovery Strategy
How to Apply
This application process has now closed.