collingham with linton parish council
Grant Awarding Policy
Grant Applications
Collingham with Linton Parish Council has a small budget for the award of grants. The Council can only award grants using certain legal powers. The Council must be confident that any grant awarded will benefit Collingham with Linton residents.
Grants will be considered as and when they are received by the Parish Council. Grants must meet the Council’s grant criteria which are set out below and applications must be made on the Parish Council’s application form. Application forms can be downloaded from the Parish Council’s website. All applications must be accompanied by appropriate accounts or supporting financial information. Forms and the supporting information must be returned to the Clerk of the Council by the deadline stated on the form.
Download the Grant Application Form
Terms and Conditions
- The amount of the award will be at the discretion of the Parish Council.
- All applicants must attend a Parish Council Meeting and explain the nature of their grant application.
- All applications will be considered on their merits, but in general grants will be awarded for projects, such as the purchase of equipment, works to buildings, improvements to premises. In addition, the Council may support a community event, festival or other special event. Grants towards running costs, salaries or consumables, may be considered in exceptional circumstances.
- Grants will be awarded to voluntary groups and societies, clubs, not-for-profit organisations or charities operating in the Collingham with Linton area where the benefit will be for the this area. This list is not exclusive, and may be added to at the council’s discretion. Only one application for a grant will be considered from any organisation in any one financial year. Ongoing commitments to award grants in future years will not be made. A fresh application will be required each year. This will be at the discretion of the council. Grants will not be made retrospectively.
- For grant requests for projects costing over £3,000 the Parish Council will require that the organisation has robust tendering regulations, e.g. obtaining a minimum of three tenders. The Parish Council reserves the right to request proof of the tender process. Projects notified and included in the Parish Council’s budget will only have the funds released on completion of the work. Whilst the Parish Council would not normally consider applications for Capital Projects, any such applications will require a more substantial case with supporting evidence of community benefit. For these grants, the council will expect to see some form/evidence of other third party funding.
- All grants awarded will be subject to regular ‘report back’ to Collingham with Linton Parish Council as to progress and/or community benefit.
- Grants will not be awarded to individuals or to regional or national charities unless it is for a specific project in the Collingham with Linton area or where there will be obvious benefit to the Council’s area.
- The purpose for which the grant is made must be in the interest of the Collingham with Linton area or any part of it or all or some of the inhabitants of the Collingham with Linton area which is defined by the boundaries of the Parish Council. The benefit to the area or inhabitants must be commensurate with the expenditure.
- Groups from outside the Parish who can demonstrate direct benefit to the area are eligible to apply.
- The Parish Council will take into account any previous grant made to an organisation or group when considering a new application.
- No grant will be awarded to or for any commercial venture or for private gain.
- Retrospective applications will not be funded where the expenditure has been made, the project has been carried out or the event has taken place.
- All grants will be conditional upon submission of audited accounts and supporting documentation detailing costs of capital expenditure, project or events for which the funding is being sought.
- All grant recipients are required to provide the Parish Council with a brief report, including photographs where appropriate, of how the grant has been utilised, how it has assisted the organisation or group and what it has achieved. This must be submitted within two months of the purchase of the capital equipment or completion of the project.
- If the grant is put to purposes other than those for which it was awarded without the prior approval of the Parish Council, the recipient organisation will be required to repay the grant to the Parish Council.
- The organisation or group should supply such information as the Parish Council may request regarding the impact of the project on the Parish Council’s area.
- Recognition of the grant from Collingham with Linton Parish Council must be made in any publicity.
How will the application be assessed?
- How well the grant will meet the needs of the community, providing positive benefit to the inhabitants
- How effectively the group will use the grant
- Whether costs are appropriate and realistic
- What level of contributions has been, or will be, raise locally
- Whether the organisation or group could reasonably have been expected to obtain sufficient funding from another, perhaps more appropriate source
- How the organisation or group is managed, as indicated by the constitution
Updated June 2019