Councillors’ Grant Fund

WCC Councillors’ Grant Fund 2019-20

Guidance Notes

The Warwickshire County Council Councillors’ Grant Fund is aimed at community and voluntary organisations. The Fund provides each of WCC’s 57 Councillors with a pot of £6000 to support small-scale projects within their division that support the following outcomes:

Warwickshire’s communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent; and,
Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure.

All applications should aim to build community solutions to local issues and improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Warwickshire. In particular, applications which address one or more of the following priority categories will be favoured:

Improve community assets and their sustainability;
Improve access to services;
Improve financial capability; and/or,
Reduce loneliness and isolation.

2019 is the year of Health and Wellbeing across Coventry and Warwickshire. Click on the link below to find out more and to see whether your project meets the criteria.

https://www.bettercarecovwarks.org.uk/year-of-wellbeing-2019/

Who can apply?

Constituted ‘not-for-profit’ community organisations in Warwickshire;
Non-constituted or new ‘not-for-profit’ groups working in Warwickshire that can be supported by a mainstream service or community group willing to administer the funds through an organisational bank account; and,
Warwickshire Town and Parish Councils.
Schools, if applying as a PTA or ‘Friends of’ group

Who cannot apply?

Groups or organisations that have failed to meet the conditions of previous award agreements from Warwickshire County Council’s Community Safety and Locality Working Service;
Party Political groups;
Individuals; and,
It is unlikely that applications from statutory organisations will be supported, with the exception of applications from town and parish councils.

What will not be funded by the grant fund?

Projects that promote religious or party political beliefs;
Projects for personal profit;
Costs relating to items purchased or work already carried out before the grant has been awarded;
Loans or debt repayments;
Activities that are part of statutory obligations;
Running costs of an established group or activities which are that group’s main service; and,
Existing contractual arrangements with WCC.

All projects must follow national legislation, guidance and good practice in relation to: equality and diversity; health and safety; and safeguarding.

Application Process

Before you begin, you will need:

Charity number (if applicable);
Constitution;
Contact information for named representative including email;
Budget and cost breakdown including quotes;
Timescale of project and plan.

Please note the application form cannot be saved and should ideally be completed in one session. If you are unable to complete the entire form in one go, please complete it up until the end of Section 13, accept the declaration and privacy statement at the end, then submit your form. You will be emailed a link to return to the form to either complete the rest of it or edit your responses.

To help you get ready here is the list of questions and information you’ll need to complete the application form – Application Questions (pdf, 203 Kb).

Please fill in the application form carefully, bearing in mind the following:

Pay careful attention to the questions that are being asked, and to the scoring criteria (as set out below). In order to score highly, your application will need to provide clear evidence that it meets the stated criteria;
Applicants should submit evidence of cost (eg. quotes) where appropriate;
Applicants are free to submit any additional information they wish in support of their application, but this will not form part of the scoring;
Applicants are required to submit their governing document as part of their application (electronically if possible, or as hard copy where this cannot be done).
Applicants are welcome to discuss their project idea with the local Area Team. For help with completing your application form please contact your Locality Office (see contact details below) or Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action
Applications must be submitted by the deadline date as detailed above. Application forms can be submitted at any time, but funding decisions will only be made following the deadline.
You will receive an automatic acknowledgement of your application – please also check your spam.
All applications will be assessed against the scoring criteria (see below) and will be considered by the County Councillor(s) for each division before grant awards are made.

We will endeavour to inform all applicants of the outcome of their application within 8 weeks of the deadline dates. We will notify successful applicants of arrangements for receipt of funding. This will be dependent on all paper work received and completed within the given time frame. All successful applicants will also be required to complete a simple monitoring report on the impact of their project.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY ONLINE

Scoring Criteria

All applications will be scored out of a total of 18 points against the following criteria, based on the information you provide in your application form. Projects will gain marks by clearly demonstrating they meet the criteria as detailed.

Criteria	Maximum points
Project clearly demonstrates how it builds community capacity.	2
Project clearly demonstrates how it improves health and wellbeing.	2
Evidence that the project meets one or more of the priority categories for the Councillors’ Grant Fund: Improve community assets and their sustainability Improve access to services Improve financial capability Reduce loneliness and isolation.	2
Evidence of need for the project from within the local community, and evidence that the community has been involved in shaping the project.	2
Projects that can demonstrate they are working effectively with other organisations.	2
Evidence that the project will provide a direct benefit to the local community within the division in which the funding has been applied for.	2
Evidence that the project will provide a lasting benefit to the local community and that the project can be continued after the Cllrs Grant Fund funding has been used.	2
Evidence that volunteers will be directly involved in the delivery of the project, and explanation of how volunteers will be recruited, managed and retained.	2
Evidence of match funding (none / pending / secured). (Please note: this can include volunteer time, costed at £7.25/hr.)	2

Scoring Range

Criterion not met – 0 points;
Criterion partially met – 1 points;
Criterion fully met – 2 points.

The maximum score for applications is 18 points.

The benchmark for scoring is 10. Applications scoring 9 or less are unlikely to be awarded.

Help and Support

Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WCAVA) provide general advice and support to Third Sector organisations across Warwickshire including accessing volunteering opportunities, developing a community group, accessing funding or strengthening governance arrangements. They are a free resource for you to use.

WCAVA are holding a series of funding workshops to support groups or organisations considering applying to the Councillors’ Grant Fund. This will include providing guidance on: eligibility of projects, advice on completing a funding application, and signposting to other funding or support sources.

Locality Team Contact Details

Stratford: Amanda Wilson-Patterson – amandawilsonpatterson@warwickshire.gov.uk or 07780 995817.

Warwick: Alistair Rigby – alistairrigby@warwickshire.gov.uk or 07881 920605.

Rugby: Jennifer McCabe – jennifermccabe@warwickshire.gov.uk or 07887 650641.

Nuneaton and Bedworth: Mike Slemensek – mikeslemensek@warwickshire.gov.uk or 07557 814937.

North Warwickshire: Lori Harvey – loriharvey@warwickshire.gov.uk or 07827 284406