Member Grants - Progress Flowchart - Charnwood Borough Council

The process of a Member Grant application can be found below.

It features:

Please visit our Member Grants - Frequently Asked Questions webpage if you have further queries.

Eligibility

Are a ‘not for private profit’.
Have a governing document (e.g. constitution/set of rules/terms of reference etc).
A bank account in their name with at least two signatories who are no related or co-habiting.

Community Groups / Charities
Uniformed Groups (e.g. Scouts / Guides / Cubs / Brownies)
Residents’ associations
PFA/PTA groups (if they can demonstrate a wider community benefit and not for national curricula activities / items)
Faith groups (if they can demonstrate a wide community benefit)
Political organisations
Statutory bodies including Town/Parish Councils
Schools/Universities (excluding PFA/PTA groups)
Private/commercial sector organisations
Individuals

Funding towards general running costs e.g., rent, utilities, insurances, project specific sessional worker (not salaried positions), website maintenance, bank account charges, affiliation / subscription fees.
Provision of equipment e.g., IT equipment, craft materials, furniture.
Funding towards costs of community events/activities – e.g., community fun day, tree planting day, grassroots sports clubs, trips, summer fete.
Funding towards specific projects – e.g., school holiday youth project,
playscheme, coffee morning, gardening group projects.
Projects which promote a religious belief
Projects which promote political activities
Retrospective funding for projects which have already taken place
Any form of gambling (except small fundraising activities e.g. raffle, tombola etc)

A minimum of £250 and maximum £500 from each councillor.
An organisation can apply to more than one councillor in their ward or councillors in other wards if their project supports communities in more than one ward.
An organisation can submit more than one application in a financial year but the application must not relate to the same project/scheme.

Each councillor has £500.
Councillors have an allocation of £500 which can be used to support one project, can be divided between two projects or can be combined with funding from another councillor(s).

Councillors are responsible for assessing any applications they receive and approving/rejecting them.
If an application is only partly supported or rejected then organisations will be provided with reasons.

Organisations should first contact their local Councillor to discuss their project. Councillors should use this opportunity to ask questions and decide whether they would consider an application from the organisation.
When processing the application, Officers may include comments on the Decision Form sent to Councillors to help with the assessment.
Councillors should contact the organisation directly if they have any further questions after receiving the application form and provide details on the Decision Form.
Councillors should have a joined up conversation if an application has been made to more than one Councillor.

Does the project fulfil the Council’s aims and objectives listed in the application?
Is the project inclusive for everyone regardless of their background and protected characteristics?
Is the project/activity duplicating a service already being offered in the locality?
Does the project demonstrate value for money? Have they applied for funding from other Councillors? Is the amount requested reasonable?
Has the organisation provided a detailed budget breakdown? Are the costings realistic?
Has the organisation demonstrated their staff/volunteers are qualified to deliver the activities for which funding is being requested?
Has the applicant identified evidence of need or demand for the project?
Has the applicant identified other sources of funding if the total cost of the project is higher than the amount being requested?

Check the council's website to find out if their councillor has funding available
Contact their councillor(s) to discuss their project BEFORE submitting an application
Send completed application along with supporting documents to the Member Grants email address.

Check the eligibility of the organisation and review the application for completeness
Contact the applicant if any information is missing and will add comments on the Member Decision Form
Send the application form and Member Decision Form to the relevant Councillor(s)

Review the application and contact the organisation if further information is required
Complete the Member Decision Form stating reasons why an application is only partially supported or declined
Send the completed Member Decision Form to the Grants team within 10 working days of receipt.

Once the Grants team have the Member Decision Form they will notify the organisation of the outcome.
Reasons will be given if an application was only partially supported or rejected.
Payment to successful organisations will be made once of they have accepted the terms and conditions of the grant.
Grants awarded by individual Councillors will be published online on the Council website.
Organisations will have to complete a Monitoring Form once the grant has been spent.

Organisations will be notified of the outcome of the application within a maximum of 28 days from the date on which a complete application (including all required additional documentation) is received.
Organisations should apply at least four weeks in advance of any planned activities or events.
All applications must be received by the Grants Team by January 21, 2024.

Telephone: 01509 634730
Email: membergrants@charnwood.gov.uk

Bryony Williamson and Louise Kingham

A downloadable version of the process flowchart can be found below:

Last updated: Fri 26th May, 2023 @ 11:55