VCSE Contract Readiness Fund 22/23 - 24/25

Overview

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is running the VCSE Contract Readiness Fund grant competition. DCMS invites bids to co-design and deliver a programme that will enable the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sectors to increase its participation in public service procurement in England.

The successful applicant(s) will be awarded up to £900,000 to be spent over three financial years 2022/23 and 2024/25.

Objectives

The objective of the VCSE Contract Readiness Fund will be to enable VCSEs to compete alongside other organisations and increase their participation in public service procurement in England by:

1. improving the skills, knowledge and support networks of VCSEs for successful bidding
2. improving the awareness amongst VCSEs of opportunities regarding current and upcoming tenders
3. making it easier for the VCSE sectors to position their offer to public service commissioners, raising their awareness and understanding of the sectors’ role and value
4. improving the evidence on what initiatives work

Funding

The successful applicant(s) will be awarded up to £900,000 to be spent over three financial years 2022/23 and 2024/25. The successful applicant(s) will be required to phase their delivery into distinct financial years.

• Up to £200,000 will be awarded for 2022/23
• Up to £350,000 will be awarded for 2023/24 and up to £350,000 will be awarded for 2024/25. The funding for years 2 and 3 are subject to change and will be agreed with the successful applicant(s) ahead of the start of the relevant financial year

Timelines

Please note that the timelines below were updated Tuesday 20 September.

• Deadline for submission of applications - 12 noon, 2229 September 2022
• Successful applicant(s) notified - Mid October 2022
• Co-design of programme - Mid October - End of November 2022
• Successful applicant(s) begin activities - Early December 2022
• Programme end date - March 2025

Timings are subject to change. Any changes will be communicated on this page.

Who can apply

Applicants must be:

• a charity or institution (other than a charity) which is established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes

and

• UK entities only and they must have traded in the UK for more than 12 months

In the case of a consortium or partnership application, the lead partner must be a UK entity and have been trading in the UK for more than 12 months. For additional partners, this is a preference but not essential.

Organisations can apply as a consortium, but it is not a requirement. If you are applying as a consortium, only the lead organisation can submit an application. The lead organisation will be responsible and accountable for distributing grant funding through an invoicing arrangement with the other partners.

The VCSE Contract Readiness Fund is a programme of the DCMS Civil Society and Youth directorate, which funds activities which directly or indirectly benefit the whole or part of England (whether or not they also benefit any other area). It cannot fund programmes that are purely beneficial to those outside England.

How to apply

Please read the application guidance below, complete the application form, and return the form along with your supporting documents to vcse-contract-readiness-fund@dcms.gov.uk before 12:00 noon, 2229 September 2022.

Contact us

If you have clarification questions, please contact us on vcse-contract-readiness-fund@dcms.gov.uk by 8 September, after which no more will be responded to. All clarification questions will be anonymised and made public so that all potential applicants are able to access any additional information.