Deadline: 28-Jun-24
The Chesterfield Borough Council is inviting community groups and voluntary organisations from across Chesterfield to apply for support from the Community Grants Fund.
The Community Grants Fund aims to support local projects that will help to build resilient, healthy, and safe neighbourhoods, as well as initiatives which will help reduce the borough’s impact on the climate and wider environment by promoting greener choices.
Through the Community Grants Fund, they would like to: fund community led approaches to addressing local needs and aspirations, increase community infrastructure within the borough, increase resilience within the voluntary and community sector, and enable increased opportunities for volunteering.
The main themes of the Community Grants Fund, and the types of projects they aim to fund are those which:
- Strengthen the sense of local pride and belonging.
- Build resilient, healthy, and safe neighbourhoods.
- Reduce impacts on the climate and wider environment; and promote green choices.
- Develop volunteering opportunities.
- Support work readiness and getting into work.
- Help organisations to expand their reach into different areas of the borough or new groups of people.
Funding Information
- For the majority of the funding available this year (£95,000), for revenue and smaller capital projects the minimum grant is £500, and the maximum grant per application is £6,000.
- This year they also have an additional pot to fund larger capital projects. Bids up to the value of £50,000 will be accepted for this pot, and the total available is £50,000. This will be available at tranche 4 (launching 17th May 2024) and any underspend will be carried forward to tranche 5 and will be open to further applications. The same application and assessment process as the smaller community grants funding will be used.
Eligible Projects
- Grant funding can fund both capital and revenue projects, although there are limited amounts of each kind of funding.
- Capital funding can be used to purchase new assets, or the significant refurbishment of existing assets. Assets are expected to have a wider community benefit and to have an expected lifespan of at least 5 years.
- Revenue funding can be used to put on events, performances and run activities, pay for training sessions, provide practical advice and guidance through workshops etc.
- The aim is to not be too prescriptive of the type of projects which can be funded, however, they must contribute to at least one of the themes.
- CIL Neighbourhood funds can be used for “the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area.” This allows a broad range of potential projects for communities to develop which could include (but is not limited to):
- Environmental improvements – e.g. tree planting, open space improvements
- Street furniture
- Equipment for a community group
- Provision of more facilities for the community
- Projects that are beneficial to a local area
- Projects that contribute to broad community benefit
Eligibility Criteria
- They welcome applications from your organisations if:
- You are a not-for-profit organisation.
- You have a constitution/written set of rules for the organisation.
- You have a bank account in your group’s name and at least two people (not related to one another) are required to sign any cheque or withdrawal from the account.
- You have a set of accounts and make these available for inspection.
- Your group can run the activity and complete the application form, even if you get some help with this. The contact for the grant and the person signing the form must be a member of the group or its management committee.
- Your activities begin and costs are incurred after receipt of the grant. You must also spend the entire grant and complete activities they have funded within 12 months of receipt of the grant. If you are successful with an application to the Community Grants Fund, you may apply again at a later stage but for different/additional reasons.
- Your group or activity is open to everyone. If your activity is not open to everyone, you need to tell them why and the assessment panel will decide if your application is eligible.
- The proposed activity is based in Chesterfield borough.
Ineligible
- They cannot consider applications for:
- Ongoing running costs for existing projects for example wages, rent, room hire (although extensions to existing projects will be considered)
- Activities that don’t clearly benefit local residents. (Clearly means being able to demonstrate who will benefit and how this will be measured.)
- Activities primarily aimed at promoting religious or political beliefs.
- Activities which do not fit with the Fund themes.
- Activities for which there is no clear evidence of need or demand.
- Costs which have already been incurred before the grant has been awarded.
- Any activity that is normally the responsibility of statutory bodies.
- Loans, debts or endowments.
- Flat rate volunteer expenses (as opposed to actual out of pocket expenses).
- Anything that might bring the Council into disrepute.
- Costs that you would reasonably expect to fund yourself.
- Costs for the benefit of individuals.
- Activities that target groups or activity outside Chesterfield borough.
For more information, visit Chesterfield Borough Council.