Community Levelling Up Programme

The Community Levelling Up Programme (CLUP) supports community-level investment plans for Good Growth across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The primary goals of the programme are to put communities at the heart of delivery, to tackle deprivation and level up communities.

• Year 1 (2022): Total amount available £1.7m (allocated)
• Years 2 and 3 (2023-25): Total amount available £7.6m (open for applications)

CLUP is now open to applications and will remain open until December 2024 - or when the funding is fully committed - whichever comes first.

How to apply

The fund is open to all organisations including community groups, community interest companies, businesses and town or parish councils.

At present, CLUP is especially interested in small revenue proposals and projects with outputs creating or improving public realm.

-Public realm means the spaces between and around buildings that are publicly accessible, including squares, courtyards and streets.
-Created means new public realm, 'improved' means adding, renovating or repairing facilities with the aim of creating better public space. It does not include maintenance of existing facilities.
-This indicator should not include parks and green/blue space, for which there is a distinct and separate indicator.

There is no deadline to apply - an Expression of Interest can be submitted at any point. 

Submit CLUP Expression of Interest (EOI)

Note that you will not be able to save the form and submit it later - so we encourage applicants to read this example EOI form to familiarise yourself with the questions before completing the online Expression of Interest.

Please also ensure your read the relevant Community Area Partnership Prioritisation Framework before you apply. If your proposal is eligible and a good fit for the strategy, it will be sent to the relevant Community Area Partnership/IoS Board.  They will decide whether to invite you to complete a full application.

If you are invited to complete a full application, one of the CLUP Facilitators will be in touch with the relevant documentation for you to complete.

Please note that the process is expected to be very competitive.

CLUP Facilitators

We have a team of Facilitators who can offer advice and support on the application process. We encourage any project to get in contact with their relevant facilitator as soon as possible to:

• discuss their ideas
• ensure CLUP is the most appropriate route for funding before developing a proposal.

Please check the Community Area Partnerships Parishes map to see which facilitator to contact for assistance.

James Thomas - North Cornwall

James.1.Thomas@cornwall.gov.uk / 07538 259572

• North Cornwall
• Camel Valley
• Saints Coast

Alan Pottinger - South and East Cornwall

Alan.Pottinger@cornwall.gov.uk / 07944230968

• South East Cornwall
• Cornwall South (Kemeneth Kernow Soth)
• Tamar to Moor

Ella Rodwell - West Cornwall

Ella.Rodwell@cornwall.gov.uk / 07709717601

• Penwith
• South Kerrier
• Falmouth and Penryn

Catherine Collier - Mid Cornwall 

Catherine.Collier@cornwall.gov.uk / 07709717608

• Roseland and Truro
• China Clay area and Luxulyan
• North Kerrier and East Penwith

Milena Fallows - Isles of Scilly

Milena.Fallows@scilly.gov.uk

What CLUP can fund:

Funding is available to enable locally based projects to tackle deprivation and to level up communities across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. This includes:

• Refurbishing, re-purposing, renovating or creating new buildings on high streets and within neighbourhoods to increase economic activity and pride in place
• New, or improvements to existing, community and neighbourhood infrastructure
• Projects that deliver improved public spaces and economic regeneration
• Engagement schemes to support community involvement in decision making in local regeneration
• Capital investment (equipment / infrastructure) and revenue investment (salaries / contracting)
• Projects that make places more accessible and/or more resilient to natural hazards.

CLUP cannot fund projects that:

• Don’t have approved planning permission when required
• Create competition with similar organisations / businesses in their local area
• Can’t deliver by March 2025
• Are not legally constituted or not able to contract with Cornwall Council
• Relate to running costs of an organisation
• Relate to statutory delivery for schools
• Don’t have a positive impact on community, for example solely fixing a roof / installing solar panel / fixing kitchen (any funding for purely ‘business as usual’ investment won’t be eligible). These elements can be eligible - only if they add value to the existing offer and support levelling up communities.
• Don’t have match funding in place - if relevant

Priority will be given to projects that:

1. Are an excellent fit with their local strategies. Make sure you read the relevant CAP Local Prioritisation Framework before applying
2. Deliver a significant level of outputs and outcomes 
3. Have a long term and positive impact on community
4. Support the wider principles driving Good Growth and Shared Prosperity Fund 
5. Bring some match funding (not mandatory but recommended when possible)

Outputs:

Projects should achieve at least one of the following outputs:

• Amount of public realm created (m2)
• Improved perception of facilities / amenities
• Number of neighbourhood improvements undertaken
• Improved perception of facility / infrastructure project
• Improved engagement numbers

Note that for the 2 ‘perception improvement’ outcomes, projects must develop a method to capture some clear baseline information at the beginning of the project to ensure the final survey is meaningful - more information is available in the outcome definition document.

The more outputs a project can deliver, the more likely it is to be a priority investment - however please ensure that you remain realistic as this will form part of your legal contract with Cornwall Council.

For any other enquiry, you can also contact the CLUP mailbox: CommunityLevellingUp@cornwall.gov.uk

This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council is managing the delivery of the Shared Prosperity Fund on behalf of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda.  It provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK.  It invests in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.