The Council has a small grants scheme which offers grants to community groups.  The amount of money available is set annually in the budget. 

This policy aims to simplify and quality assure Dunholme Parish Council’s procedures for ‘donation’ and ‘grant’ making. We make no differentiation between ‘Grants’ and ‘Donations’ but acknowledge that the latter is the usual form of award. For reasons of accountability it is necessary to formalise the application process to ensure access, openness and fairness to the many groups and organisations which we are asked to support. The policy is informed by a few key principles aimed at making our process more robust and user friendly.

Who is Eligible to apply

• Applications must be submitted from recognised not for profit community groups (such as village halls, Mother and tots, Camera Club etc.) with a membership structure.
• A bank account must be held in the name of the organisation.
• The Council will consider applications for small scale capital expenditure such as purchase of special equipment.
• Only one grant will be awarded to an organisation in any one year, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• Where the application is for the staging of an event, the Council can decide to treat it as a request for a loan, which will be repayable (at the Council’s discretion) from excess income following the event.

Who is not Eligible to apply

• Support for individuals or private business projects.
• Projects that are the prime statutory responsibility of other government bodies.
• Projects that simply replace existing facilities with no significant improvement.
• Projects that improve or benefit privately owned land or property.
• Projects that have already been completed or will have been by the time the grant is issued.

Notification

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis as and when they are received.

Submitting An Application

• Applications must be submitted on the Council’s application form.
• Applications will not be considered without audited accounts by a qualified accountant and constitution.  For new groups, a business plan must be submitted in place of accounts, together with a projected income/expenditure.

• The application must include evidence of self-help – i.e. other funding sources or -fundraising activities.
• A reference from a responsible member of the community to support your organisation and project may be requested.
• A maximum amount of 3 applications will be considered for each project.

After Receipt of Grant

• Organisations awarded grants for specific capital expenditure must produce proof of that expenditure within 6 months of the expected finish date.
• Any grant not spent within 6 months must be returned.
• Non-capital expenditure – i.e. for an event or forming a new community group, must be returned if the event is not held or the group not formed.
• Evidence of the benefit to the community from the grant must be submitted to the Council within 6 months of expenditure.
• The Parish Council may request to be included in any publicity material.

How will decisions be made

Unfortunately, we may not be able to fund all projects, as there may be more applications than there is money available. However, all applications will be considered carefully. They will be assessed based on the following criteria: -

• General eligibility
• Community Support
• Value for Money
• Environmental impact
• Community Involvement
• Impact on key local need
• Feasibility
• Likely effectiveness
• The number of people who will benefit, and taking into account age group, sex, ability/disability
• Other sources of funding available to the organisation or group
• Current bank account balance/other funds held by the organisation or group
• Availability of similar services/activities
• Previous parish council funding

Dunholme Parish Council reserves the right to vary the application of this Policy in circumstances where significant economic benefit to the district is demonstrated.