Deadline: 1-Feb-25
The Cambridgeshire Community Foundation is pleased to announce its Arm Community Fund to support Cambridgeshire-based projects that help to improve the quality of life across the county.
Priorities
- Community development and engagement
- Children, young people and families
- Adults facing life crisis
Funding Information
- Small grants of up to £3,000 for projects with one or more of their priorities.
Eligible Projects
- This includes the following:
- Registered, exempt, and excepted charities
- Religious organisations if the project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content
- Parish and town councils, village halls, and parochial church councils
- Charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs)
- Community interest companies (CICs)
- Social enterprises which have the Social Enterprise Mark
- Co-operatives and community benefit societies (formerly industrial and provident societies)
- Schools
- Sports clubs that are either community amateur sports clubs (CASCs), affiliated with a national governing body (e.g., Badminton England) or have an income under £5,000
Ineligible Projects
- They do not fund the following:
- Organisational structures or projects which are not charitable in focus
- Activities or projects which have already taken place
- Sponsored events or fundraising activities
- They cannot usually fund grant-making bodies or activities
- Improvements to land/buildings that are not open to the general public at convenient hours
- Projects promoting political activities or lobbying for causes
- The practice of religion or any projects that actively promote religion, a particular belief system or indeed the lack of a belief. This is due to such projects excluding some people from participating based on religious grounds.
- Animal welfare projects
- Overseas travel
- Statutory obligations i.e., activities that replace government funding
Eligible Country
- Cambridgeshire
Eligibility Criteria
- Non-profit organisations are eligible to apply.
Application Requirements
- All organisations are required to have the following documents, which should be regularly and recently reviewed, signed, and dated by a member of your management committee:
- A signed governing document specific to your organisation, such as articles of association or a constitution, which must confirm that you are operating not for profit. It must also contain a dissolution clause which outlines that your assets, after the satisfaction of any debts and liabilities, will be distributed to charitable organisations with similar aims and objectives to your organisation, should your organisation cease to operate.
- Accounts for the past year. If you are a small unincorporated group, they will accept an income and expenditure document or something similar. If your organisation is less than a year old, please provide a list of your income and expenditure to date.
- A recent bank statement or paying-in slip, from the last 3 months, to verify your organisation’s banking details. This is required as evidence of the existence of the account. The document must show the bank name and logo, the account name, sort code and account number. Screenshots of online statements will not be accepted.
- Names of three independent/unconnected management committee members or trustees. To ensure your organisation has good governance and fair decision-making, they ask that management committee members or trustees are independent/unconnected. They also require the names of two cheque signatories (these may be the same management committee members already stated but the signatories must be independent of each other/unconnected). As described by the Charity Commission, a connected person means family relatives or business partners of a trustee, as well as businesses in which a trustee has an interest through ownership or influence. The term includes a trustee’s spouse or unmarried or civil partner, children, siblings, grandchildren and grandparents, as well as businesses where a trustee or family member holds at least one-fifth of the shareholding or voting rights.
- Safeguarding and equality policies are still required for applications to the Cultivate Cambs Fund and the Thalia WB Community Fund. In addition to the above, you will need to submit the following:
- An equality policy which specifically identifies the nine protected characteristics and refers to recent Equality legislation (including the Equality Act 2010).
- A safeguarding policy for adults and children (either as a combined policy or two separate policies) which follows Cambridgeshire County Council’s safeguarding guidance and procedures, refers to recent safeguarding legislation (including the Care Act 2014), and has a named Designated Safeguarding Lead. Any reference to ‘vulnerable adults’ should be updated to ‘adults at risk’. There should be some reference to volunteers and staff undertaking DBS checks if these are required.
- In specific circumstances, they may require additional documents to the above:
- If you are applying for a grant to purchase capital items or equipment which would cost over £500, they require three different quotes.
- If you are a community interest company, they require your CIC 36 form (if you have registered as a CIC in the last 12 months), or your latest CIC 34 Annual Report (if you have been registered as a CIC for over 12 months).
- If you are a co-operative or a community benefit society, the require your registration form submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority (if you have registered in the last 12 months) or a copy of your most recent AR30 form (if you have been registered for more than 12 months).
- If you are looking for funding towards a building or land that your organisation does not own, they will need to see evidence of a long-term lease.
For more information, visit CCF.
