Deadline: 27-Oct-23
The Chesterfield Borough Council is inviting community groups and voluntary organisations from across Chesterfield to apply for support from the new 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.
Funding can also be used by community projects to develop volunteering opportunities, help people prepare to get in to work, and to support organisations to expand their reach into different areas of the borough.
Themes
- 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
- More than £118,000 is available to eligible local groups in this financial year (2023/24) – with awards ranging from £500 to £6,000 – to help boost grassroots projects that will improve life for local people.
What type of projects can be funded?
- 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 where there is no lasting asset. Revenue funding can be used to put on events, performances and run activities, pay for training sessions, provide practical advice and guidance etc.
- Their 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 set out.
- 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 or 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 us why and the assessment panel will decide if your application is eligible
- the proposed activity is based in Chesterfield borough.
For more information, visit Community Grants Fund.