The National Lottery Community Fund continues to work and connect with communities in every corner of Wales to strengthen society and improve lives. Our people, working in three regional teams, have continued to build local knowledge and better insight into the emerging needs of the communities, enabling us to target our resources and funding quickly and efficiently.

The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales’ regional teams

Working in the community

We believe a real strength of our work as a grant-maker is that our funding officers understand the communities they serve – either by directly living in those communities, or through their experience and work in the area. This local approach allows them to build local knowledge and stronger relationships within the community.

Our Funding Officer in Conwy, Eirian Jones, was born and bred in the county, and still lives there with her family. She has over twenty years’ experience working in the third sector in Conwy. Working from home allows her to support the local groups and charities that are so important to her with applying for grants.

Eirian Jones

Eirian said, “It really is heartwarming to see the difference our funding makes here in Conwy and in communities across north Wales. I enjoy bringing my local knowledge of the area and supporting groups to access National Lottery grants – from the start of their journey with us to witnessing the impact grants have on people and communities.”

Nia Hughes, from Llanberis originally, is our Funding Officer in Gwynedd. She still lives and works in the area where she was raised and therefore knows the local communities inside out. She is passionate about working locally to help improve people’s lives and to strengthen society.

Nia Hughes

Nia said: “Community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name and thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, our grants really do make a difference to the lives of so many in every corner of Wales. It is extremely rewarding to work in my local community and to see first-hand the results and benefits of our funding.”

Supporting the Welsh language

We are also passionate about supporting the Welsh language in communities through our funding. The 2021 census results showed the north Wales region has the highest percentage of Welsh speakers (32.05%), compared to 17.8% for the whole population.

Eirian and Nia, along with more than half our staff in Wales, are fluent Welsh speakers or learning. They can support people in the language of their choice every step of the way – from when they contact us initially to applying for grants.

Awel Jones, Welsh Language Officer at The National Lottery Community Fund, said, “We are proud to be able to offer all our services in Welsh or English to our customers. There is also a role for us to ensure that our grant holders manage their projects bilingually to support maintaining the use of Cymraeg in communities across Wales, and to ensure that people in Wales can live their lives through the medium of Welsh if they wish to do so.”

Since 2017, The National Lottery Community Fund proudly works with the Welsh Language Commissioner on the implementation of our Welsh Language Standards, and we support the Welsh Government’s target to increase the number of Welsh speakers to a million by 2050.

Understanding our communities and people

We have sought to better understand the potential barriers that may affect how the third sector and communities in north Wales secure funding. The research found the following: 

• The complexion of the third sector in north Wales 

Organisations in north Wales are very often smaller, with higher numbers of un-constituted groups and micro charities. Larger organisations tend to have head offices located in the larger towns and cities in south Wales, namely Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. This has meant that the number of organisations actively seeking funding from north Wales is lower than in other regions. 

• Needs of Welsh language organisations

As already mentioned above, the Welsh language is an important consideration in the make-up of the third sector in north Wales. The research highlighted that funders report a knowledge gap in understanding and processing Welsh language applications.

The National Lottery Community Fund was recognised as being one of the few funders that assessed applications in Welsh.  

• Structure of the grant making sector in north Wales

Significant private grant funds, such as grants from wind farms, are available in north Wales. These can be accessed quickly and for diverse needs, which makes them the first choice of funder for micro-organisations.  

We are already using these findings to support our north Wales regional team plan, especially in relation to supporting Welsh language organisations to apply for funding; developing targeted outreach and funding advice sessions; and highlighting case studies of successful groups awarded funding in north Wales.  

Funding advice event at the Iorwerth Arms, Bryngwran in Anglesey

Contact us

Visit our website for more information on our funding programmes, and about how to contact us for a chat about project ideas to support your community: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/wales