£10,000 - £20,000 Capital Community Grant

capital

Capital costs can include either new assets or the refurbishment of existing assets. These are expected to have community benefit and to have an expected lifespan of at least 5 years.

Examples include:

• New buildings and repairs/refurbishment to existing buildings
• Outdoor space including play areas, gyms, gardens and allotments
• Assets for community/village halls e.g. PA and audio/visual systems or broadband routers, cabling and installation
• Vehicles
• Artwork for public display/enjoyment.

revenue

Revenue funding can be used where there is no lasting asset.

Examples include:

• Setting up classes/sessions/activities/events for the community
• Travel costs which are integral to an activity
• Buying equipment for a community-based activity
• Marketing and promotion to increase participation in activities
• On-costs of the project (e.g. staff time, equipment and resources required to deliver the project).

If you are unsure as to whether your proposal includes eligible costs, please contact us to discuss this with us so we can advise prior to submitting your application.

We welcome applications from:

• Registered and exempt charities
• Community groups
• Schools
• Social enterprises
• Voluntary groups
• Community interest companies.
• Town, parish or community councils
• Faith groups/venues.

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from:

• Individuals
• Private companies, or “for-profit” organisations
• Party political groups
• Those whose objectives and ethos do not meet believe housing’s charitable objectives.

To help you prepare to make a large grant application please consider some of the following questions:

• What are you wanting to do, where and when will it happen and who will take part?
• How do you know there is a need for your project? Do you already have a waiting list of people or do you have more demand for your service? Have you found a gap in services for the people you support? Have people come to you asking for this support? Do you work with other organisations who will direct people towards your activity? How do you know people will access your project?
• How will you ensure at least 30% of your beneficiaries are believe customers?
• What are your project milestones? These are the key stages in your project and could be planning, marketing and publicity, purchase of resources, delivery of events, recruitment of volunteers etc.
• What are your targets? How many people will benefit from your activities? Targets should be specific and outline how often an activity takes place – for example, we will deliver weekly craft activities over 40 weeks, 25 people will attend overall with an expected average weekly attendance of 10-12 people.
• What are the outcomes of your project? These are the difference your project will make in the long term. Do your outcomes reflect our priority themes?
• What are your project costs? These should be detailed and give us an idea of how you have calculated these costs. For example, staff costs should show the hourly rate for the member of staff and the number of hours they will be working.
• What is the long-term impact of your project? If it is to continue beyond our funding period, how will this happen?
• How could believe staff volunteers support your project?

• Items that are purchased on behalf of another organisation
• Applications to develop the financial reserves of the organisation
• Ongoing running costs of an organisation
• Religious, party political or lobbying activities (non-religious and multi-faith activities that are open to all may be funded)
• Loans or debt repayments
• Projects/activities for personal profit.

Organisations can apply for grants of between £10,000 – £20,000.

The grant allocation will be spread equally between central, east, and west areas of County Durham where believe housing have properties. Please see the locations list above for the breakdown of areas.

Once you have submitted your application, we will contact you to acknowledge receipt of this application with five working days.

Your application will then be reviewed and be part of a shortlisting process. If your application is shortlisted, this will then go to a grant panel within 6 weeks of the closing date. A grant panel will be made up of the director of corporate strategy & assurance , engagement and corporate social responsibility manager and community investment performance team leader.

Once a decision has been made, we will then contact you to advise you of the outcome.

You may be asked to provide additional information prior to a final decision being made.

If your application is successful, we will contact you to agree the payment schedule and reporting dates. You will need to provide us with:

• a copy of the organisation’s bank statement dated within the last 3 months
• relevant paying in bank details (name of bank, account name, sort code, account number and business address)
• policies and procedures that will support your project. For example; safeguarding, equality and diversity, health and safety etc
• a copy of your constitution or relevant document.

We will also require three quotes for capital works over £5,000.

Once initial checks have been carried out, you will then receive an agreement letter which is a contract between your organisation and believe housing for the project delivery. We will also discuss the details of publicity and quarterly reporting requirements, these include:

• evidence that the purpose for which the grant was awarded was achieved including a written update detailing progress against targets, milestones, and outcomes. It should also include case studies and photos where possible
• records of attendance
• data from participant surveys (the details of the survey will be agreed at your start-up meeting)
• a detailed statement of expenditure including receipts and/or evidence of spend e.g. invoices or staff wages claim form.

Grant funding will be paid via BACS in instalments.

If believe housing agree to award a grant to help fund your project or activity, then you will be required to agree to terms and conditions.

To read the full terms and conditions, please click here.