The first Meet the Funders event was held at the The Fifth Floor, Blackpool Tower’s iconic new venue on Wednesday 27 September 2023. The event was very well attended and open to individuals and organisations from across the Fylde Coast. Blackpool-based artists, arts organisations, community organisations, registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (ClCs), non-profit limited companies by guarantee, social enterprises, churches, community-led charities and not-for-profit organisations were all encouraged to attend.
More than 200 delegates from the VCFSE sector gathered at the iconic Blackpool Tower for a series of presentations by some largest grant funding bodies, regionally and nationally. The event was organised by the Blackpool Community Action Network, CAN, which is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in partnership with Blackpool Council. The funders were able to explain their criteria for deciding on grant beneficiaries and hints and tricks about how to best write an application to them. Representatives attended from the National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Postcode Neighbourhood Trust, Blackpool Council procurement, Community Foundation for Lancashire and VINCI Building. In addition, the latest round of grants from Blackpool CAN was also announced.


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