The Cooper Richardson Fund

Introduction

Jack Cooper and his son-in-law Paul Richardson both died in 2022. This fund was set up by their family to honour Jack and Paul and the generous nature that they shared. They also shared a love of sport.

Jack was a talented footballer and badminton player. Paul was a competitive swimmer and water polo player.

As well as sports, the fund will also focus on the arts, especially music, which brought joy to Paul.

The fund will continue Jack’s lifelong connection with his home of Dundonald, and an interest in local history, which he passed on to his daughter Karolyn.

The Community Foundation is delighted to manage this fund on behalf of the Cooper and Richardson Families.

Size of Grant:

Applicants can apply for a grant ranging from £1,000 to £3,000.

Fund Criteria:

This round of funding will support constituted organisations with funding that enables sporting activity and building new connections for those most isolated.

The Fund for this round has five main aims:

• To bring people who may not usually have the opportunity to integrate and take part in activities together e.g. from different cultural backgrounds;
• To improve the health and well-being of people in Northern Ireland and build connections in communities, particularly with those most isolated;
• To improve access to sport and physical activity, with a particular focus on supporting facilities in areas of economic need and for those most isolated in communities;
• To remove barriers to access to sporting opportunities, particularly those who may have disabilities, financial constraints, language barriers;
• To provide funding for resources, including equipment for small organisations, who may have limited access to funding opportunities.

*Applicants must outline how their application meets at least one of the above aims; however, in the event of a high level of demand we will prioritise projects that meet more than one of these aims. 

What can the fund support?

In the interests of being a flexible and responsive funder, the fund will focus on providing support for capital equipment that enables sporting activity and reduces isolation of people and encourages inclusion, and/or costs that are often difficult to find financial support for, or programme support to enable access to sporting opportunities for those who face barriers, for example, those with disabilities, minority communities.

Ideas may include:

• Core costs to deliver e.g. insurance, venue hire etc;
• General sporting equipment – to enable and encourage physical activity, with a particular focus on those most isolated of any age, including older people, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities;
• Additional equipment – to enable the expansion of activity or a safer environment for delivery of the activity providing that the equipment will enable the delivery of sport and physical activity;
• Minor facility amendments – to enable better accessibility to facilities for delivery of sport and physical activities. Any statutory permissions, if appropriate, will need to be in place and evidenced at the time of application;
• Paid tutoring/sessional costs to support those who are most isolated to connect with others and engage in sporting activities.

Applications should explain why there is a need for the grant and how end users have been involved in developing the work we will support.

Applications should consider how the grant will add value to services currently available in your local community and work collaboratively with other groups to maximise the impact of the project, where possible.

Grants must be spent within 12 months from the date of the letter of offer.

Who can apply?

Constituted organisations, including sports clubs with charitable purposes with income levels of £30,000 or below.

Applicants must be based in Northern Ireland and applying to support projects and beneficiaries in Northern Ireland only.

We will prioritise small, locally based organisations that find it difficult to access funding from other sources.

We are particularly interested in funding across the whole of Northern Ireland, and so in the event of a high demand for this funding, we will prioritise allocating funding across all Local Authority areas in Northern Ireland.

The Community Foundation will not fund organisations or activities that promote causes that are contrary to our purposes. Causes and activities that are contrary to our purposes include, but may not be limited to, those outlined in our investment policy. We will not therefore fund organisations or activities which we determine are linked to the promotion of armaments, alcohol, human rights abuses, tobacco or pornography.

In addition we will not fund:

• The advancement of religion. This includes organisations whose purposes include the advancement of religion;
• The establishment of endowment of any school or institution providing further education within the meaning of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;
• The provision of assistance to any Housing Association within the meaning of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1976;
• Promotion of religious or political activity, including any flags and emblems that may deem to be associated with such;
• CIC Companies Limited by Shares, or CICs without an asset lock clause. Eligible CICs must have at least three unrelated committee members, and/or the majority of the committee unrelated;
• Organisations with income of over £30,000;
• Costs that can be considered a statutory remit;
• Schools, however, Parent and Teacher Association are eligible if they have a governing document with charitable purposes;
• Individuals;
• Retrospective costs;
• Trips outside of Northern Ireland;
• Running costs of large organisations;
• Holiday schemes;
• Parties and shopping trips.

Applicants with a live grant will still be required to submit their monitoring. However, as the monitoring function on the Fundseeker portal is still under development, this will need to be provided at a later date. We will contact you as soon as the this has been activated.

Please read the following text before beginning your application:

• You are a locally based not-for-profit, voluntary or community group working in Northern Ireland to improve the quality of life for local people;
• You have an active management committee, with no two related cheque signatories;
• You have a governing document, i.e. Constitution in the name of the applicant organisation;
• You have a current bank account in the name of your organisation;
• You have up to date annual accounts;
• You have complied with the conditions of previous grants including submission of monitoring returns.

Please note: The Community Foundation now uses a new Fundseeker Portal for all applications and monitoring. If this is your first time applying, or your first time accessing the portal, we recommend reading the ‘How to Apply’ guide before starting your application.

For further information and to find out if your group or project is eligible, please contact the grants team on 028 9024 5927 or email applications@communityfoundationni.org.