The Innovation Agency is providing a fund offering small grants to enable collaborations among Q members in the North West Coast.

Members of the Q network in the North West Coast can apply for up to £200 (including VAT) to cover some of the costs of events and workshops

In addition, the Innovation Agency Coaching Team is offering advice and guidance, use of a pre paid Zoom account and facilitation.

The "Kick Start Fund" will support the following activities:
1. Holding specialist themed meetings
Organising a meeting based on a specialist theme makes collaboration more meaningful; however care would be needed to ensure people are included from different areas of the system as it is important to have different perspectives.
2. Reaching out to non-Q members
Inviting non-Q members to join a discussion makes collaboration more accessible and will encourage more people to join the network.
3. Covering the practicalities
The fund can contribute towards expenses such as payment for back fill for front line staff; room hire and refreshments; and speakers. The aim is to enable smaller meetings to be convened with less financial pressure.



Criteria for applications
1. You must be a Q member in the North West Coast.
2. The application must be received at least six weeks in advance of the event.
3. When holding a meeting you must ensure:

It is promoted and narrated through some form of social media, preferably Twitter.
Participants complete an evaluation form at the end of the event and one month later.
The Q network is promoted to non-Q members and applications are encouraged.

4. To ensure fairness and widen participation, applications may be limited to one per Q member.  

Applications will close on the 31st July 2020 at 4pm for the 1st round of funding.