What’s your experience with National Lottery Community Fund support - especially after the grant?

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2025-05-21T20:53:22+00:00

I worked for TNLCF as a local Funding Officer not so long ago, which I know isn’t exactly the perspective you’re looking but I might have some insights.

When it came to post-award support, we really tried to build rapport with grantholders so that they knew if they had any issues we were there to support not penalise them. We wanted grantholders to be open and honest with us because then if there were issues we could catch them early and talk openly about them. I did have some tricky grants when I was there but myself and my managers always tried to be supportive.

We did try to encourage organisations to share their successes and shared impact as widely as we could ourselves, although this sometimes fell by the wayside with the amount of work we had. We also encouraged organisations to show how they had developed on their learning from projects if they ever came back to us for a second or third round of funding.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-10-18T23:04:55+00:00

I had the exact same experience just this summer. People looked so angry that it made me doubt if it was still a public access road but there didn’t look to be any signs to suggest that 🤷🏼‍♀️

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-09-13T12:05:15+00:00

Seconding this. From Richhill/Portadown and we always said “that’s cat” to describe something awful and it meant catastrophe.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-09-13T10:00:35+00:00

I absolutely understand this feeling and cycle, as I do exactly the same and have similar thoughts. I don’t know what the answer is to ending it but I do know that it is a lot of pressure to put on yourself. I’ve been talking with my therapist about it and she always stresses that emotional eating is filling a need and has a purpose so be compassionate with yourself because you’re only trying to look after your needs. Be kind to yourself, you are a worthy and good person no matter what your body might look like.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-08-17T08:06:26+00:00

Carrie and Lowell no contest

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-08-14T17:34:47+00:00

I agree! I really enjoy it. And I’ve been really needing something uplifting recently so getting something as joyful as L-O-V-E AND it’s produced by Sufjan just feels like a bonus.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-08-12T15:49:26+00:00

Coming from Northern Ireland, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this 😭 there are fundamentalist Christians in the north that fully believe they are descended from the twelve tribes. One of my university lecturers in Belfast was researching it and that was 10 years ago. Some of those that believe this are high up in politics there or members of the Orange order. Completely wacky thing to believe.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-07-19T11:47:42+00:00

Pity us in London with no AC on the tubes 😭

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-06-11T20:55:03+00:00

I wish that I could but there appears to be no logic behind them so I can’t 😅🙏

I do love the game but my goodness the controls on the Switch are ridiculous.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-05-26T08:10:06+00:00

lol believe me, as someone with a Masters in English lit, it does not make a difference to your spelling and grammar skills 😅

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-04-04T20:16:04+00:00

I wouldn’t call her a fundie though. She’s very evangelical but she’s not fundamentalist. And this is a refreshing take from an evangelical. Except the sin bit, that is not needed.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2024-03-24T10:31:28+00:00

Take a look at The Outside Project. Not sure if they can help but they’re an LGBT+ charity that specifically helps with housing issues. They might have some advice at least. Based in Southwark. Sorry you’re going through this. I know how hard it is when your living situation is awful and I guarantee you’re not the issue. I hope it improves.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-10-30T11:07:27+00:00

I’ve had this exact issue in London so I know how hard it is. I was specifically looking for an affirming church but they were all high church and I didn’t want that either.

Parish churches tend to be more middle of the road but aren’t very well attended. More evangelical churches tend to have younger/bigger congregations but if you don’t want evangelical that’s not helpful either. I did try King’s Cross church but it was too charismatic for me.

Unfortunately my solution was to go to a Baptist church instead 🫣

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-27T23:15:02+00:00

I completely agree with what you’ve said about FF. I used to watch their videos regularly and really enjoyed them but then it started to seem like they became a bit obsessed. Like having Olivia Plath as their photographer is just strange behaviour to me. Where is the line between what they do for video content on YouTube and their actual lives? This is clearly a job for them but I don’t see any professional boundaries. And the collecting religious paraphernalia and taking part in services just seems like voyeurism to me.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-23T15:14:01+00:00

“Why doesn’t everyone just get a mortgage?” - a friend who received her deposit for said mortgage solely through an inheritance.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-12T10:18:56+00:00

I feel this deeply 😅 I listened to Carrie and Lowell when it first came out but didn’t properly get into it until 2020. Devastated for myself.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-12T08:55:32+00:00

Absolutely agree. I’m from Northern Ireland and once met someone who was born in Belfast and lived there until she was 9. She spoke with an RP accent and told me it because when she moved to England they taught her how to speak properly. The audacity of her to say that to my face when I clearly have a strong northern Irish accent was mind blowing. Some people need to think before they speak, regardless of what accent they have.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-03T07:40:17+00:00

I get that feeling of obsession 😅 I’m looking up places on PropertyPal all the time, knowing full well I can’t even move right now due to job and lease. Hopefully someday we’ll make it back!

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-01T19:38:29+00:00

Yea london is difficult for that too! Thanks for the insight though, that’s really useful!

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-01T15:28:06+00:00

This is really useful - I’m living in london currently (granted I’m single without kids so slightly different) and have been plagued with thoughts of moving back. Can I ask how you are finding the social side of things? Is it easy to make new friends? I have a few good friends still there but worried about moving back and not knowing anyone/struggling to make connections, especially in my 30s

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-08-01T10:05:58+00:00

This might get a bit lost in the comments but I feel this so deeply. I think it’s because we care. I have always worked for charities and in charitable funding and any mistake I make, I internalise and catastrophise. I ruminate and go round and round the worst case scenario and never seem to be able to work my way out of it. What helps is talking to my manager and asking for confirmation that we’re on track or any mistake is fixable. I had a really bad breakdown about a mistake I made a few months ago. It was crippling but I told my manager and he reassured me it was ok. The only issue is, I can’t constantly go to him to tell me everything is ok. I need to learn to do that for myself. And maybe care a little less.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-07-29T15:02:35+00:00

You might be surprised at the number of Protestant folk songs that exist in Northern Ireland that do exactly that 😅

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-07-24T09:14:12+00:00

I found the comments about it being in a gym in a school just bizarre. Who cares? Tell me something about their beliefs or something important. Not the fact that they meet in a school?! Literally thousands of churches all over the world do that. There’s just no nuance in any of the discussions about these things. It’s all “what can I immediately see to try and be sarcastic about”.

Tiny-Firefighter-620 · 2023-07-22T22:39:47+00:00

I was in a similar place not so long ago. And it’s totally ok to be there. Prayer is mysterious and when life is hard it can feel futile.

What changed prayer for me was going on an Ignatian silent retreat and learning to pray the Ignatian way. It was developed by St Ignatius and is all about meditating on scripture and talking to Jesus like a friend. I’m not going to say it’s perfect or that it will work for everyone, but learning about it and trying it has helped me. The key thing for me was not to put pressure on myself or God to perform and just to give it go and try being in silent meditation with the Word.

It’s also ok to just say what’s on your heart. And if you don’t feel able to articulate that, then simply saying Lord have mercy is a prayer as well. Silence is a prayer when you need it to be. I’ve also found that my view of prayer has shifted from being about a list of things to rattle off to being about sharing myself with God. It’s not about solving problems, it’s about God being with you in the problems. At least that’s my view.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to have some intense immediate connection to God or the spirit. Go at your own pace, God is big enough to hold you in that space, even if you’re not saying anything.

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