Community Chest: A Summary

Community groups and voluntary organisations across Northumberland provide a whole host of activities and services which support their communities. These groups are often enthusiastic to do more to meet the demands and needs of their communities, but their ambitions are often constrained by available resource. The County Council has therefore put in place a ‘Community Chest’ scheme which gives local organisations a chance to continue doing what they do best or bid for funding for something they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. This might be a tea dance or buying new equipment for a youth centre or contributing to the cost of keeping your organisation going. The Council is considering making £300,000 available in 2010/11 which will be administered through a straightforward application process. Local County Councillors through the 3 Area Committees in Northumberland will consider all applications.

Purpose of Community Chest

The Community Chest Scheme is a Northumberland County Council initiative to provide access to funding support to deliver priority activities appropriate to each 3 Areas as determined by the 3 County Council’s Area Committees.

The aims of the community chest are as follows:

• To support voluntary and community groups/organisation to deliver services which will make an impact in the relevant Area.
• To support one-off initiatives that are seen as valuable to the Area, but were not able to secure mainstream funding from the Council or other service providers.
• To provide an easily accessible process of funding support.

Who can apply?

The scheme is open to any voluntary/community or not-for-profit group or organisation (to include charities) based in or predominantly serving Northumberland which is properly constituted with a bank account that has at least two signatories.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Local Councils and schools are not eligible to apply.

What can be applied for?

The Scheme is designed to support organisations and groups which benefit the community in the respective Area. The following conditions and tests will be applied:

• The proposal must support the Council’s strategic priorities as outlined in the application form.
• The proposal must not be in conflict with any existing national government or local Council policies (e.g. equality and diversity policies).
• The majority of people benefiting from the proposal should be from Northumberland – with particular emphasis on the relevant Area.
• Proposals which contain any provision of financial assistance – that will in turn support small grants to community and/or individuals will not be supported.
• Retrospective applications cannot be considered.

How much money is available?

The total available within the scheme is still to be determined by the County Council.

The following conditions are placed on accessing the funding:

• Grants will not exceed £10,000.
• There is no minimum amount for grants.
• Applications must demonstrate financial need

When can applications be made?

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, therefore there are no deadlines for submitting application forms.

It is expected that applications will take no longer than 12 weeks to be assessed. Wherever possible, applications will be processed in a shorter timescale.

How will applications be assessed?

Each application will be submitted on a simple standardised application form. Additional information may be provided to support the application if appropriate (e.g. business plan where one exists, confirmation of match funding if relevant etc).

Once the proposal and applicant are deemed eligible, it will be considered on its merits and assessed against the following criteria:

• There is a clear rationale and evidence of need.
• The proposal adds value.
• The benefits to the community are clear.
• The proposal contributes to the priorities of the County Council which appear in the Application Form.
• Appropriate match funding to be demonstrated to add value to the project (e.g. Grassroots Grants Programme or Members Small Grant Scheme for capital projects). Match funding can include in-kind support.
• The applicant group/organisation is able to demonstrate their ability to deliver activity successfully.
• If the proposal is a project, it has a clear exit strategy or plan for forward sustainability.

Each application will be assessed against these criteria by 3 funding panels which are made up of Councillors from each Area. Each funding panel will be responsible for making decisions to fund, or not, the funding applications presented to them. These decisions will be reported to the next available Area Committee Meeting.

How will grants be paid?

When a grant is approved by the Area Panel and all conditions satisfied, an offer of funding letter will be sent out to the applicant. A cheque or BACS payment for the agreed amount will be raised and should normally reach the applicant within 28 days. This timescale should be taken into account when deciding when to make an application.

A condition of grant approval will be for the successful projects to recognise the Council’s contribution to the project in all publicity.

How will approved projects be monitored?

In order to track the impact and success of the investment made through the community chest, monitoring forms will be sent to all successful applicants with their offer letters. These forms should be returned on completion of the expenditure. This will outline any demonstrable outcomes achieved from the delivery of the project and reflections on the impact and sustainability of the activity.

How do I get an application form?

Application forms are available from the Locality Development Team within Northumberland County Council or can be download from the following link

Community Chest Scheme Application form

Completed applications should be returned to the same address:

Please contact for application forms and for further information/queries:

Susi Goncu

Locality Development Team

Policy and Partnerships

Northumberland County Council

County Hall

Morpeth

NE61 2EF

T: 01670 534 264

E: Susi.Goncu@northumberland.gov.uk