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Congleton Town Council

Version Number – CTC/33/2324 V09 JUL23/Owner RFO

Congleton Town Council

Grants & Funding Policy

There are 3 sections with regards to our Grant Scheme

Individuals: a maximum award of £150
Small Grants: A maximum award of £250
Large Grants: £251 to a maximum of £1,000 (With Committee discretion)

All grants are considered by the Finance and Policy Committee.

Requests for grant aid or sponsorship of an event will only be considered from the following categories of applicant:

  • A Congleton Town based charity.
  • A Congleton Town based community group.
  • A Congleton Town based voluntary group.
  • A Congleton Town not-for-profit community business.
  • Citizens of Congleton requesting grant aid for a project or event that will benefit a wider group in Congleton.
  • A charity or group based outside of Congleton Town, as long as the project benefits residents of Congleton.

We will not fund/ consider:

  • Incomplete applications
  • General running costs: Utilities, Rent/Lease fees, staffing or salary costs
  • Applications from a National Body without a proven direct link to Congleton Town
  • Applications over £1,000 (with discretion)
  • Retrospective applications
  • Applications from Schools funded by the Local Authority

INDIVDUAL GRANTS
There is maximum grant of £150 for individual of Congleton Town. For an application to be accepted, the applicant must prove that other fundraising to taking place to fund their project. We will only fund up to 50% of the project cost. The applicant must be part of an established Congleton Based Organisation which is supporting the project.

SMALL GRANTS UP TO £250
A financial breakdown of the project must be provided for this criteria and the applicant must prove that other fundraising is taking place to fund their project. We will only fund up to 50% of the project cost.

LARGE GRANTS £251 to £1,000
A financial breakdown of the project must be provided for this criteria and the applicant must prove that other fundraising is taking place to fund their project. We will require quotes for items over £251 (see Criteria 13 below) and a financial statement or accounts of relevant bodies. We will only fund up to 50% of the project cost.

CRITERIA

  1. 1. The maximum grant Congleton Town Council awards is £1,000 with Committee discretion.
  2. 2. An award of a grant must give direct benefit to all or some of the inhabitants of the Town, and the size of the grant should be commensurate with the benefit delivered.
  3. 3. Grant forms will be scrutinized to ensure they meet the criteria set out in the Grants and Funding Policy before being put forward for decision at the Finance and Policy Committee. Applications which do not meet the criteria will be rejected and returned.
  4. 4. The Town Council as a body does not affiliate to any political party and legally cannot provide a grant or support to any party political activity.
  5. 5. The Town Council does not affiliate to any religious group; however, applications will be considered where there is a clear community-wide benefit.
  6. 6. Applications will only be considered when made on a formal application form with all relevant sections completed.
  7. 7. Applicants will need to demonstrate how their activities or the particular project for which financial support is being sought will benefit the residents of Congleton Town.
  8. 8. The Council will give priority to the projects/organisations which progress one or more of its corporate objectives.
  9. 9. The Council will normally require details of the structure and funding of the organisation, and will probably request copies of budget/accounts and business plans for applications over £250.
  10. 10. The Council will require details of any project which is the subject of the application, including standards to be attained, costs, timescales and how the remainder of the funding will be provided.
  11. 11. The Council will only fund up to a maximum of 50% of a project cost and priority will be given to requests for grants of £250 or less. Any request above £250 will require detailed justification for the project, including matched funding as a prerequisite.
  12. 12. Sponsorships – When there is a request for sponsorship, it needs to be clearly demonstrated how the Town Council’s support will be recognised.
  13. 13. Sponsorships – When there is a request for sponsorship, it needs to be clearly demonstrated how the Town Council’s support will be recognised.

Grant requests for tangible products or services.
Quotes are required for grant applications as follows:

  • Under £250 – No quotes
  • £251 – £500 – One quote
  • £501 – £1,000 – Two quotes
  • 14. Applicants will be required to state the amount of grant sought from the Council and provide details of other grants or awards applied for or gained, which must be disclosed in full.
  • 15. Where projects cross financial years, the Council may “ring fence” an approved amount of grant. It will reserve the right to withdraw approval where a project does not look likely to go ahead within a 12-month period from the grant approval date.
  • 16. Payment will not normally be made until a project has been completed. Payments will then only normally be made against a formal receipt or invoice. Stage payments may be approved for larger projects.
  • 17. The Council will usually only consider requests for specific projects, not on-going or core costs. You are not able to use the Grant to pay for Room Hire for Congleton Town Council bookings. For Charities and Local Groups, a Subsided Grant exists and is dealt with separately from this Grant budget.
  • 18. The Council may, where it appears to be a more cost effective or efficient use of resources, prefer to act in partnership with another organisation, or provide support “in kind”, rather than provide grant assistance.
  • 19. An evaluation of the project must be provided once the project is complete to provide evidence that the benefits and outputs have been achieved. The Grant Monitoring form must be returned to the Council within 4 weeks of completion of the project. Future requests for grants may be rejected if this is not completed.
  • 20. The Council will advertise its Grant and Financial Assistance Scheme widely to ensure an equitable distribution of resources.
  • 21. For grants and sponsorship, the applicant will acknowledge the contribution made by the Council when arranging promotional activity or literature, including press releases relating to the application.
  • 22. The applicant acknowledges and agrees that all decisions made by the Council for such a grant request are solely a matter for and at the discretion of the Council. The applicant will provide to the Council all such assistance as is reasonably necessary to enable the Council to comply with its requirements under the Freedom of Information Act.
  • 23. Per Group/Charity there may be only two successful applications per financial year.
  • 24. There is a 10 working days deadline prior to a meeting for all information to be submitted in order for an application to be presented.
  • 25. Grants awarded by Congleton Town Council should only be used for the original project in the application.
  • 26. Congleton Town Council actively encourages applicants to attend the meeting to support the application to enable any queries/presentation.
  • 27. The applicant acknowledges and accepts when completing an application that supporting documentation may be included in the public agenda; documents will be redacted where necessary. Our Data Privacy Policy and Information and Data Policy can be found at: Constitution – Congleton Town Council