Wednesday 4th September 2019 - Lottery call and update

Posted 12:15pm

As people are aware from recent postings, our lottery proposal was rejected. They were not sure we had the capacity to deliver on the proposal, and the risk factor for an amount covering three salaries was high - so we were told.  I hasten to say at this point that there was no animosity on our behalf on the decision, which was naturally frustrating.

I had spoken with various people attached to HMHB, as well as prospective partners, and the overall response was still positive. What we wanted to do was go back to the lottery and ask what we would have to do to negate those risks, and enable them to have another look at our proposal.

With that in mind, I then contacted our local representative, and this morning we had a good telephone conversation. It went pretty well, and I think the fact we were trying to work with the lottery people and see how we could adjust the proposal went down well. "It is nice to speak to someone who is so reasonable" I was told.

We are going to reduce the amount we are requesting. Lazza needs a full time salary, but we will look for session costs for our Personal Trainer Dean, and need to look elsewhere to pay for Luke.  We would also look carefully at overheads.

We have been told that the proposal itself was good. That we are peer led and looking to help those impoverished, and that we tick a lot of the boxes that the lottery communities fund wishes to actually fund.  Not only that, we have clearly garnered good support from multiple agencies and boroughs, and that was a great sign.

To adjust the proposal we need to really include the following:

• would be good to be able to say the lottery were not our only funder. If we can get even standard amounts from other agencies like CCGs, Public Health, charities, etc. that can boost our proposal.
• explain in more detail how we would gather evidence and publish it - both with partners and our own
• reduce the amount so it does not feel like such a risk
• demonstrate more how it can become sustainable

Yes, even more work to get on with, I am really hoping the Job Centre will continue to allow me to work on this. It is what I want to do for the rest of my life as a career.

Let's hope some funding can come soon.