SWEF Enterprise and Business Grants

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Fund Criteria

Please read all guidance carefully before starting your application. 

 Who is eligible to apply and what can the grant be used for?  This fund has been created to support young entrepreneurs aged 18-30, who have launched a business and are ready to take it to the next level, but need a little help to get there. There are two different grant sizes available for young entrepreneurs in Greater Manchester.  


SWEF Start Up Grant of £500: Available for individuals whose business is in the start-up or pre-revenue phase and are yet to make any income or sales. This grant provides up to £500 to cover essential costs as you turn your business idea into a reality. The funding is to cover initial costs such as equipment, materials, stock, website building, product development and training.  


SWEF Established Business Grant of up to £2,000: Available for individuals whose business has already started trading and is less then 2 years old. You can apply for up to £2,000 to support growth and development. This funding can be used for expanding operations, upgrading equipment, or other business needs that will help increase your revenues.  


You must have a Business Bank Account in order to apply for either of grants.


Supporting Documents Required:

  • Proof of identity, i.e. driving license or passport (if you don't have either of these, please contact us) 
  • A copy of your business bank statement with your company name and address visible

Please note: There is one application form for both grants. For the large grant, some questions require a higher level of detail. The comments below each question box will give you hints and tips on what extra detail is required.  

Priorities  We prioritise applications from those often underrepresented in business, including people on low incomes, women, migrants, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and people with few or no formal qualifications.  Applications that provide a clear explanation of how the grant will help transform your business and take it to the next stage are more likely to be successful. You must be able to demonstrate a financial need for the grant, detailing how funds are to be spent and including written quotes and/or links for items you plan to purchase. We particularly welcome applications that involve "match funding" and/or the purchase of second hand items. Please note that applications solely for business ideas will not be considered. You must be able to give evidence of significant steps taken to get your business off the ground.  What can I apply for?  Funding is available to support a broad range of business costs, providing that you can demonstrate how the expenditure will support the growth of your business. This varies slightly between the two grant sizes. For all information on what you can apply for, click here.

The grant cannot be used for:  

  • Salaries 
  • Debt repayment 
  • App development costs 
  • Rent and utilities 
  • Stock for an existing product line 
  • Equipment or products relating to invasive beauty treatments 
  • Ongoing software subscriptions 
  • New computers, phones or tablets
  • Costs to cover completed projects and/or items you have already purchased

Deadline for applications:  

Applications will be open all year round and will be considered periodically throughout the year.

How long will a decision take? 

We aim to let you know the outcome of your application within 6 weeks. 

We recommend that you save your application by clicking on the "Save my progress and resume later" box above. You will be prompted to enter a valid email address and choose a password. You can then come back to it and resume it at a later date if you need to. 


You can navigate to different pages on this form by clicking on a page number located in the top right hand corner. Alternatively, you can use the "Next" or "Previous" buttons at the end of each page. 


After completing the form, you will be given an opportunity to review your answers before submitting the application. You can also print a copy to retain for your records. Once you've submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email containing the information you submitted. 


If you have any questions or difficulty filling in the form, please phone 0161 214 0940 to speak to a member of our awards team, or email us at awards@forevermanchester.com.

Start Your Application Below
About You
These are the details that will be used for correspondence purposes.



The contact person should be someone who has a good knowledge of the application as this is the person we will contact if we have any queries.


This should be the address of the organisation. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.



The telephone number and email address should be one at which the organisation is easily contacted, especially during office hours. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.

Business Contact Details

Provide the name of your organisation as it appears on any governing documents.

This should be the address of the organisation. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.




The telephone number and email address should be one at which the organisation is easily contacted, especially during office hours. If the organisation doesn't have a independent location you can use the contact details of the primary contact.




E.g. Etsy

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About Your Business



Please enter numbers only (no symbols or letters).

For example, a brief paragraph describing where you grew up, where you went to school, what you did after school, what qualifications you hold (if relevant) and any other information you might want to tell us about your background.

Provide a short paragraph telling us what you are up to currently. For example; if are you still in education, tell us where and what qualifications you are studying, if you are working, tell us where and how many hours you work each week, and if you are unemployed, tell us how long you have been out of work. How many hours a week are you currently working on your business?

If you are applying for the £500 grant, focus on telling us what your business does and how long you've been up and running. If you're applying for the £2,000 grant, include all of the above information as well details on how your business is structured and what a typical working week might look like for you.


For the £500 grant, tell us about the products you make/sell or the services you provide. Give us some information on what you plan to charge. For the £2,000 grant, include all of the above information with as much detail as you are able to and include some information about what a good month might look like in terms of sales. You should also include information about why your services are needed and what market research you might have carried out. 

If you are applying for the £500 grant, tell us about any existing customers as well as how you might plan to attract more. If you are applying for the £2,000, give us as much detail on your customer base as you can.

For the £500 grant, think about who your customers are and where they are based. For the £2,000 grant, include information on how you expect your business grow and what market research you've done to support gaining new customers.

Tell us about any training you've undertaken to support your business. If you are applying for the £500 grant and haven't yet done any training, you can tell us about anything you think might support your business in succeeding.



If you are applying for the £500 grant, you can skip this question.



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Grant Specific Questions

Avoid using general terms such as "marketing" or "equipment" as they do not provide enough detail on how you plan to spend the grant. For all the information on what you can apply for, please visit the website.

If you are applying for the £2,000 grant, please include information about how much more revenue you are hoping to make if your application is successful.

E.g. who has got involved and which other groups and services have you connected with?

Supporting Information

Please click on the attachments link below to upload required documents to support this application. Whilst you can post documentation to us, it will speed up the processing of your application if you can attach them now.

Documents required:

·        Proof of identity, i.e. driving license or passport (if you don't have either of these, please contact us)

·        A recent business bank statement with your company name and address visible

 

Please note: As soon as this documentation has been reviewed, it will be deleted from our systems in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 



Banking Details
Grants awarded are paid via BACS to a Business Bank Account only. SWEF are unable to pay directly into a individual's bank account. Please enter the full bank details of your business below. You will need to supply proof of this account within your supporting documents





Using your personal information
By completing this application form, you accept that Forever Manchester will have access to the personal data about you and other individuals named.

 

As a necessary part of the application process, Forever Manchester will collect personal data about you and other people connected with your organisation. The personal data we collect includes name, address, telephone number, email address and could also include date of birth and photographs.

 

We will use the information you give us during assessment and during the life of your award (if successful) to manage and monitor the award and check the money is being used appropriately. 

 

If you do not give us consent to use this data, we will not be able to process your application.

 

We hold and store your information in line with the Data Protection legislation currently in force. For more information explaining how we use your information, please see our privacy policy which can be found on our website by clicking here.


Publicity
Forever Manchester would like to follow up successful applicants and potentially feature them in publicity activities.  This could include featuring the work of your organisation on our website or social media channels. 

 

Please tick the box to confirm that if your application is successful, you are happy for Forever Manchester to use information about your group or project for publicity purposes. If you would prefer not to feature in any publicity, don’t worry, not ticking this will not affect the outcome of your award application.

Declaration

If successful we agree to spend any award as outlined in our application form or specified within the award letter. Should we be unable to continue with the awarded project or there are any changes to the way in which we wish to spend the award, we will contact Forever Manchester first. 

At the end of the award period we will complete a feedback form about our funded project. We agree to keep all receipts/invoices and financial records relating to any award made and provide this information to Forever Manchester if requested.

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