Make It Happen Fund

About the fund

What Matters to You (WM2U) seeks to support both immediate and long term, lasting impacts by working at both a national and local level to shift power, budgets and control into the hands of communities, driven by the families living within them.  

To support this goal, WM2U has established the Make it Happen Fund, a grant scheme offering funding to families and individuals to support projects and initiatives that create positive change within their communities.

The Make it Happen Fund makes a difference by enabling families to set the fund’s priorities and design the funding proposal process. It empowers parents, carers, children and young people to decide how funds are spent, directing investment towards projects that otherwise may be overlooked by traditional funding schemes.

Between 2024 and 2026, a fund of approximately £30,000 will be made available per locality, with the potential for additional funding to be secured during that period.

Principles

The Make it Happen Fund is based on our belief that:

1.    Outcomes for individuals and communities improve when parents, carers, children and young people are treated as the experts of their own lives and, critically, are given agency over the decisions that impact them.
2.    If people are empowered to play a role in deciding how investment in their communities should be made, they will demonstrate how that funding can be used more effectively than current public service allocation.
3.    In doing so, outcomes will improve, and service providers will learn about what actions individuals and communities can take with them, to maximise community benefits in the longer term.
4.    Working with the Make it Happen Fund will build the confidence and skills of parents as well as local authority partners and support more equitable relationships between families and the professionals involved in public services.
5.    This offers lessons for public service about what needs to change within the current system to capitalise on the potential for growth and radical change in the way systems are designed.

The Make it Happen Fund is intended to add value to funds already available for families, including statutory and voluntary sources, and must not duplicate these offers. We are, however, interested in why existing funds cannot always get to families in the way they need.

What we are looking for

WM2U is looking for parents and families to join the fund’s panel, as well as people or groups interested in applying for funding.

For panellists 
Panel participants will be assisted by WM2U and grant making partners, the Corra Foundation, through training and ongoing support to develop grant making principles, criteria and eligibility and during decision making meetings. There is no requirement for previous experience or qualifications, the opportunity to become a panel member is open to everyone. There is a requirement for at least 50% of the panel to be family and community members. The aim is that this will increase to 100% wherever feasible.

Once trained, panel members will make decisions about the administration of the fund, providing an important perspective on local strengths, needs and action required to help communities, and the people within them, flourish.

For fund applicants 
The fund itself will be available to applications that fit either of the following criteria:

•    Grants for individuals to enable families to access the items, experiences or services that matter to them.
•    Community grants for projects led by parents and/or young people working in collaboration with other organisations, including corporate partners, to create and deliver initiatives that positively impact their communities.

How to get involved

For panellists 
We are currently recruiting panel members in the Dundee area in Lochee and Strathmartine, and plan to recruit panellists in North East (Whifield) in due course

Please click here to register your interest in being a panel member, regardless of your location. 

For fund applications 
Applications for funding for projects in Lochee are due to open on Monday 6th January 2025.

Please register your interest here and we will keep you updated on the opening of the fund in Lochee, and with news of new locations where the fund will become available. 

Together, we can make it happen.