Micro and Small Grant Scheme and Donations Policy

Approved by Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council on 6 September 2023

INTRODUCTION

Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council’s community grants are available for projects or organisations which provide benefit to the local community.

For the purposes of this policy donations and grants differ only in that a donation is given without the need to be specific about how it is used whereas a grant must be spent specifically for the purpose agreed. For example, a donation may be given to a village hall towards the general running costs without being specific about what it is spent on whereas a grant would be given towards the cost of specific project such as installation of a new security system.

SHAVINGTON-CUM-GRESTY PARISH COUNCIL GRANTS PROGRAMMES

Micro Grants

Grants of up to £50 for individuals or informal groups of residents.

Eligibility for the grant:

Your project must benefit the people of Shavington-cum-Gresty
You can be an individual
You can be an informal group
Your project must fit one of the themes below:

Environment and green spaces:
Improve community spirit and community activities
History and heritage
Community pride and safer parish

You can apply by using the Shavington-cum-Gresty Micro Grants form.

DECISION MAKING PROCESS FOR MICRO GRANT

Once you have applied for a grant it will go to the following people, who all must agree for the grant funding to be agreed.

Chair of Community and Engagement Committee
Deputy Chair of Community and Engagement Committee
Clerk or Community Manager

We aim for this to be a quick and easy process, so will endeavour to get back to you in writing within one month with a decision.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• This will be light touch in view of the size of the grant.

• A summation of the project outcomes and any lessons learned.

• A few photographs if appropriate

• Quotes for people who have benefited from the project

A list of projects will be presented to each Community & Engagement Committee with updates

Small Grants

Requests for grants of up to £250 must be applied for using the small grants application form. Priority is given to grant applications of £250 or less. The majority of grants offered will be around this amount.

When applying for a small grant, match funding is preferred but not essential.

CRITERIA FOR FUNDING FOR SMALL GRANT APPLICATIONS

Grants are available for organisations/projects/events which can demonstrate a proposed benefit to the community of Shavington-cum-Gresty. Requests will only be considered from the following categories of applicant:

A Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish based charity
An organisation serving the needs of the residents of Shavington-cum-Gresty
A Shavington-cum-Gresty based club/association/organisation serving a specific section of the community or the community as a whole

Applications will be considered based on the following:

The ability to demonstrate how the activity or project will benefit the residents of Shavington-cum-Gresty
Priority will be given to those projects which progress one or more of the following objectives:

Environment and green spaces:
Improve community spirit and community activities
History and heritage
Community pride and safer parish

DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Your grant application will be checked and evaluated by the Clerk or the Community Manager before it is submitted to Community & Engagement Committee for consideration

Incomplete applications may be declined or returned, leading to a delay in decision-making and an application is considered during the next evaluation round
Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council may seek further clarification on any details or information contained within the grant application and liaise with external parties to verify information or details contained within the grant application

Where felt necessary, organisations will be asked to meet Shavington-cum-Gresty Council to discuss their application in more detail before it is presented to the Community & Engagement Committee

Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council strives to allocate funding and donations in a fair and open manner, judging each application on its own merit. Funds are allocated under the provision of various Local Government Acts, the General Power of Competence and Audit Regulations

Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Councillors are governed by a Code of Conduct, which can be found here: https://shavingtononline.co.uk/councillor-code-of-conduct/ . Councillors have an obligation to declare any personal and / or prejudicial interest when considering the allocation of funds held by Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council
Applicants will be notified in writing following the decision made by the Community & Engagement Committee at Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council

WHAT WILL NOT BE FUNDED?

Staffing costs
Projects or events which have already taken place
Projects or event which are not for the benefit of the community of Shavington-cum-Gresty

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

A summation of the project outcomes
Photographs, links to website, case studies, tags in social media stories.
Quotes for people who have benefited from the project.
Outcomes agreed e.g numbers of people benefiting the from the funding and the impact on their lives.

ALL FUNDING APPLICATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

An award of a grant must give direct benefit to all or some of the inhabitants of the Parish, and the size of grant should be commensurate with the benefit delivered.

The Parish Council does not affiliate to any political party and legally cannot provide grant or support to any party-political activity.

The Council does not affiliate to any religious group; however applications will be considered where there is a clear community wide benefit.

Applications will only be considered when made on a formal application form.

The Council will normally require details of the structure and funding of the organisation and may request copies of budget/accounts and business plans.

The Council will require details of any project which is the subject of the application, including quality standards, costs, timescales and how the remainder of the funding will be provided.

Match funding for small community grants is preferred but not essential.

Applicants will be required to state the amount of grant sought from the Council and provide details of other grants or awards applied for or gained, which must be disclosed in full.

Payment will be made against a formal acceptance of the grant and terms.

The Council will usually only consider requests for specific projects, not on-going or core costs. The exceptions to this will be “pump-priming” to help organisations get established or organisations which deliver a substantial part of the Council’s priorities.

The Council may, where it appears to be a more cost effective or efficient use of resources, prefer to act in partnership with another organisation, or provide support “in kind”, rather than provide grant assistance.

An evaluation of the project must be provided once the project is complete to provide evidence that the benefits and outputs have been achieved. The evaluation form must be returned to the Council within 4 weeks of the completion of the project.

The applicant acknowledges and agrees that all decisions made by the Council for such a grant request are solely a matter for and at the discretion of the Council. The applicant will provide to the Council all such assistance as is reasonably necessary to enable the Council to comply with its requirements under the Freedom of Information Action.

Please be aware that if your project involves working with children and/ or vulnerable people we will need to be assured that they are safeguarded and so may come back to you for more information. In addition to your safeguarding polices.

An applicant organisation is allowed one successful grant application in a single financial year (financial year running 1st April to 31st March

Where an application is successful, the terms and conditions must be accepted in writing within the same financial year in which the grant is offered.

STANDARD CONDITIONS FOR ALL GRANTS WILL BE

That Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council’s support will be recognised in all associated publicity and information material. A high-resolution Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council’s logo will be provided and must appear on all literature related to the project or the service the funding is for.

That any equipment purchased will be branded with the Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council ‘supported by’ sticker which will be supplied by the Parish Council where appropriate.

That all successful grant applicants with social media accounts, tag the Parish Council in posts related to this grant funding and where possible use the hashtag #shavingtononline

That the grant is to be used only for the defined purposes in the committee resolution and associated grant application.

That update information is supplied to the council on request and as a requirement following the completion of the funded activity.

That successful grant applicants agree for details of their project to go on the Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council website, social media pages and any other promotional literature.

That successful grant applicants agreed to attend the Annual Meeting of Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish

SHAVINGTON-CUM-GRESTY PARISH COUNCIL MICRO GRANTS APPLICATION FORM

(Up to £50)

To be returned to Simona Garnero, Clerk to Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council at clerk@shavingtononline.co.uk or Main Road, Shavington, Crewe, CW2 5DP

Name or group name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
I am an individual:	Yes / No
We are an informal group:	Yes / No
Which of our objectives does your project relate to?	Environment and green spaces: Improve community spirit and community activitiesHistory and heritageCommunity pride and safer parish
Where will the activities take place?	Shavington VillageGresty Ward

Tell us about the project?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why do you want to do this?

Who will help you do this?

What difference do you hope this project will make to Shavington-cum-Gresty residents?

How will you show us what you have achieved?

How much will it cost?

Consent

I agree to Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council contacting me by the following methods to provide feedback or offer additional support on completing this application:

Postal address Yes / No

Email address Yes / No

Phone Yes / No

Signature:

Date:

For further information on how Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council processes personal data, please view our privacy policy at www.shavingtononline.co.uk or call 01270 42 11 25

SHAVINGTON-CUM-GRESTY PARISH COUNCIL SMALL GRANT APPLICATION FORM

(Grants up to £250)

To be returned to Simona Garnero, Clerk to Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council at clerk@shavingtononline.co.uk or Main Road, Shavington, Crewe, CW2 5DP

Contact details

Applicant name:
Organisation:
Address:
Contact number:
E-mail address:

Project details

Organisation:
Location of organisation:
Project name:
Short project description:
If you receive a grant, briefly tell us what difference it will make to your organisation/area:

Project cost

Total cost of project:
Amount requested from Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council:
Amount of any confirmed match funding (this is preferred but not essential)
Outstanding balance:
If there is a balance outstanding, please tell us how the shortfall will be met:
Please state organisations bank account name (who the cheque should be made payable to):

Project beneficiaries

Please tell us how many people you expect to benefit if you were successful with your community grant application:
Please tell us which geographical area will benefit most from your project or activity:

Supporting documentation

Please complete the table below to indicate if you have the supporting documents.

You do not need to send these documents in with your application (apart from your Governing Document and Safeguarding Policies, which must be supplied by email or post within 7 days of submitting this application) but we may request copies at a later date.

Up to date Annual accounts/income and expenditure
Copy of your Governing Document (signed)
Planning permission
Relevant insurances
Safeguarding policies
Quotes/estimate for equipment
Affiliation to a Governing Body
Equalities and Inclusion Policy

Data protection and consent

Please ensure that you read this section before submitting your application.

Grant application administration

Part or all of the information you supply to us will be held on our IT system. This information will be used for the administration of grant applications and for statistical analysis.

Copies of your application, but with personal details redacted, will be provided at the relevant council meeting for consideration of awarding the grant.

For transparency purposes, information about successful grant applications is added to our website and made available to the local press. The press may request contact details of someone able to provide additional information.

Please indicate below if you consent to us passing on your name and email address to the local press for this purpose.

Yes / No

Grant application support

Please indicate below if you agree if you agree to Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council contacting you by the following methods to provide feedback or offer additional support on completing this application:

Postal address Yes / No

Email address Yes / No

Phone Yes / No

Declaration

I certify that to the best of my knowledge all the information contained within this application is correct.

I confirm that I understand, agree and accept the terms and conditions of this grant as set out in the Grants and Funding Policy.

Signed:
Date:
Name:
Position in group:

For further information on how Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council processes personal data, please view our privacy policy at www.shavingtononline.co.uk or call 01270 42 11 25