You Decide

You Decide is a development phase program where The National Lottery Community Fund works with partner organizations to test new approaches to involving communities in grant-making decisions. The program has £2 million funding for a one-year development phase running from spring 2025 to spring 2026. The Fund will work with up to 5 partners who have expertise in involving communities in decisions about grant making. These partners will support communities to decide how to distribute funding to good causes and will involve communities in decisions in a way that builds their skills, resources and ability to work together. By communities, the program means people who share an identity, interest or experience, or people living in the same place. The program aims to learn from different approaches to community involvement and develop these into regular ways of working. The communities that partners support will benefit from being involved in making decisions and will be more empowered. The program will cover partners' costs for working with the Fund and other partners, including involvement in developing new approaches and shared learning activities, with most partners expected to use a maximum of £80,000 for this work.