Drybrook Parish Council Community Grants

1. Policy

1.1. Drybrook Parish Council (DPC) offers grants at its discretion to organisations which provide advocacy, social, cultural, sporting, and other services which increase the well-being of parish residents.

1.2. Grants are made to those organisations who demonstrate a clear need for financial support, and who provide adequate information to enable DPC to make an informed decision. Details of how to apply are set out in part 2.

1.3. The Council may recommend grant awards up to 50% of DPC’s annual grant budget.

1.4. Applications will only be considered from those who meet the applicant criteria (see part 3) and who agree to the terms and conditions of the grant (see part 4).

1.5. Drybrook Parish Council will consider all applications equally on merit.

1.6. Any variance to the grant process or conditions of awards may only be made by a specific resolution of full Council.

1.7. Grants will not be provided for activities which are part of statutory obligations.

1.8. Applicants must demonstrate that they observe equalities procedures and practices.

1.9. Drybrook Parish Council may follow the progress of the project after any award is made and may require the successful applicant to provide relevant information.

2. Process

2.1 Applications must be complete and contain all required additional information.

2.2. Applicants are strongly advised to seek pre-application advice from the Clerk to avoidunnecessary mistakes in the application form.

2.3. Organisations seeking to make a bid for support should complete DPC’s grant application form and submit it by email or post.

2.3.1.  DPC may also consider the purchase of goods or services on behalf of the applicant rather than the allocation of funding, this may be in part or full payment.

2.4. Applications will be considered by the Council at the next Parish Council meeting providing the application is received before the 5^th of the month, applications received after this date will normally be considered at the following Parish Council meeting unless it is considered an emergency by the Chair, Vice Chair or Clerk.

2.5. Applicants will be informed of the outcome in writing. Feedback and/or details of any additional conditions imposed on grants awarded will be provided.

2.6. The names of successful organisations and the amount awarded will be made publicly available via the DPC meeting minutes published on the DPC website and on notice boards in the Parish.

2.7. Successful grant holders are requested to give credit to DPC as set out in the terms and conditions (see part 4).

3. Applicant criteria and general guidance on applications.

3.1. Applicants should be local to Drybrook Parish, or their work should be of significant benefit to the residents of Drybrook Parish.

Applicants from outside the Drybrook Parish Council area or where a significant number of people from beyond the Parish area will benefit from the project must demonstrate that grant funding applications have been made to other public grant awarding bodies.

3.2. DPC will not fund:

• Retrospective expenditure
• Commercial Organisations
• Private membership-based sports clubs and facilities unless membership is open to the public without undue restriction (See item 3.14 below)
• Projects that only benefit one person
• Personal benefit
• Funding continuing core costs in organisations (for example running/administration costs, staff wages etc). Grants may be awarded to fund some self-employed activities, for example performance or commission fees, consultancy, or other casual employment costs. It must be clearly explained in the application as to why this is necessary.
• External (National) charities with no local connection
• Gaining or obtaining or financing a loan

3.3. Applications will not be considered from organisations whose accounts are not in good order or up to date.  DPC may request to see an organisations accounts as part of the application process.

3.4. Generally, grants will be awarded for capital and project expenditure, but applications for revenue expenditure may be considered. Grants for revenue expenditure will not imply any future grant award.

3.5. Applicants may apply more than once in a financial year, but the history of previous applications will be considered in the decision-making process. The provision of one grant does not set a precedent for following grants, but nor does it preclude further grants.

3.6. Preference is for the grant budget to be spread as widely as possible, so a large capital project which may consume a large part of the funding available, may be less likely to be approved.

3.7. Evidence of applications to other grant awarding organisations should generally be provided and in the case of an application which is based outside the DPC area, or which will provide benefits for many people who are not residents of the DPC, must be provided.

3.8. Grants will not be awarded to organisations which hold significant unrestricted funds.

3.9. Multiple applications from the same organisation but in different names or subsidiaries will not be accepted.

3.10. For membership organisations, evidence that the organisation has an open membership policy must be provided. Organisations whose membership criteria do not comply with equal opportunities policies will not be considered for awards. The constitution or membership policy document must be included with the grant application form.

3.11. Supporting documents, including copies of the most recent accounts, and where necessary quotations or confirmation of rights to carry out works may be requested.

4. Terms and Conditions

4.1. DPC reserves the right to award a proportion of the total sum requested. Applicants are asked to indicate on the application form whether the project would be viable if part funding only were offered.

4.2. DPC reserves the right to impose additional conditions on the granting of an award if considered necessary.

4.3. Grants must be fully committed within 12 months of the award. If for some reason this is delayed an extension of time may be requested through the Parish Council by writing to the clerk and explaining the circumstances leading to the delay and the new spending timescale.

4.4 DPC reserves the right to reclaim money paid where there have been breaches of any of these regulations or where an extension of time had been denied by the Parish Council.

4.5. DPC reserves the right to request a copy of invoices and/or other documentation as evidence that the expenditure has been incurred or is planned. Written permission must be obtained if there is any change to the use of funds.

4.6. DPC reserves the right to recover the grant and/or moveable equipment purchased with grant monies if the awarded organisation ceases to exist, if the grant is not used for the purposes specified, or if the conditions of the grant are not complied with.

4.7. Grant award holders are requested to provide DPC with a photograph and a short piece of text about how they have utilized the grant for use in the Council’s publicity. (If photographs include images of adults please ensure that they are accompanied by written confirmation by name that the adults give permission for their image to be displayed on the DPS website and social media. Please avoid images of children as we will have to pixelate images that show childrens faces before we can use them).

DPC also requests that award holders credit its support where appropriate, for example on the benefiting organisation’s website or newsletter. This enables DPC to raise local awareness of community grants and enables DPC to promote the local organisations it supports.

4.8. All grant awards will be made by bank transfer, and organisations applying must therefore provide bank details. Applicants must confirm that they have a bank account with at least two unrelated signatories OR have the support of a constituted organisation which has agreed to be its banker.

To apply, or if you have any queries about our grants or the application form, please use the contact below:

Parish Clerk

C/o Pound Cottage, Latchen, Longhope, Gloucestershire, GL17 0QA

Telephone: 07539155114

Email: info@drybrookparishcouncil.gov.uk

Web site: www.drybrookparishcouncil.go.uk