Supporting Communities Grant form guidance

To help you with your application, you can find all the application questions below together with some guidance about what to include in your answers.

You will need to complete all sections on the form, including the eligibility questions and declaration. As part of the application process, you will need to provide documents showing:

• Your organisation's bank account
• Your organisation's constitution or objectives
• Quotes and costs
• Any permissions that you have applied for

We cannot consider your application without these documents.

Information we need to check about your application

• What type of organisation are you? Please select your type of organisation.  If you are a charity, you will need to provide your charity number
• Does your organisation have stated objectives that are for the benefit of the community and an agreed way of working? You will need to upload evidence of this. This could be demonstrated by a constitution, statement of purpose, annual report, notes from meetings, information on your website or other organisational documentation. This document should be recent (or recently reviewed)
• Does your organisation have a bank account in its name? You will need to upload a recent (within the last 3 months) bank statement or account summary clearly showing the account name, account number, sort code and opening and closing balance.  (Please obscure any personal information such as individuals’ names before submitting)
• When do you plan to spend the grant funding? Please do not apply if you need the funding before December as decisions on who receives a grant will not be made until late November/early December. You will need to spend the grant within six months of the award. Projects funded in round 1 must be spent between December 2023 and Mary 2024. Funding from round 2 must be spent between April and September 2024
• Does the project you are requesting funding for benefit Rushmoor residents? All projects must benefit Rushmoor residents - either within a specific ward or throughout the borough
• Which ward(s) are you applying to and which councillors support your application? You can apply to one or more wards, and you will need to indicate which councillors have indicated their support in principle (you will need at least two councillors per ward). You can find details of our wards and councillors on our ward and polling stations page. If your project is across the whole borough, select ‘none’.
• How much funding are you applying for? You can apply for between £100 - £1,000. If you are applying to more than one ward, please list with the amounts you are asking from each (up to a combined maximum total of £1,000)

About the organisation

You will need to provide the following information:

• Organisation name
• Organisation address This should be the registered address of the organisation including the postcode
• What does your organisation do? Briefly outline the main purpose (maximum 500 characters)
• Website (where relevant)
• Does anyone in your organisation have a direct link with Rushmoor Borough Council? If any councillors or officers have a role or interest in your organisation please let us know who they are and what their role is.
• Contact details for the application
  • Name of the person who is the contact for this application and their position in organisation
  • Their email address and daytime telephone number

About the project

• Project title Give it a short snappy title
• Please describe the item or event you wish to be funded This should include what you will use the grant funding for and brief information about the project
• When and where will this be used/happen? Please provide the date of the event or when the funding will be spent by. If applying in round 1, the funds must be spent between December 2023 and May 2024. For round 2, the funds must be spent between April and September 2024. 
• How will the item/event make a difference to people’s lives and help bring communities together? Please consider how a wide range of groups, including minority and marginalised groups may benefit
• Which of the criteria does your project match? Please select all that apply from this list:
  • Connecting communities
  • Mental or physical health
  • Aspirations/resilience for young people
  • Economic hardship
  • Cost of living
• Does your project require permissions (e.g planning permission) or involvement from a third party (e.g. installation)? If you need any permissions for your project to take place these should be obtained before applying. You will need to upload evidence of the permission

Financial breakdown of the project

You will need to list list each item or activity and the cost and then upload evidence (for example a copy of a  supplier quote or screenshot from website). Please make sure that the costs add up.  

If your grant request does not cover the full cost of the item(s)/activities, you will need to tell us how you will make up the difference by listing which other sources of income you will use (e.g. other grants already secured, donations already received or the organisation’s existing funds). 

If you need to add more documents, please email them to communitydevelopment@rushmoor.gov.uk. 

If your application is successful, we will confirm the award by early December.  The grant will be paid by BACS once the signed Grant Agreement and BACS details have been received.  We can only pay the money into the group’s bank account and not into an individual’s personal account.

Declaration

You will need to confirm that by submitting the application:

• You are authorised to make this application on behalf of the organisation and that the information is true and complete
• The organisation has not and does not intend to apply for another Supporting Communities Grant this financial year
• Should you be awarded a grant you will make Rushmoor Borough Council aware of any potential changes to the project as soon as we become aware of them
• You have read the guidance information and will comply with the conditions of the scheme
• The organisation has a bank account into which the money will be paid if successful
• You understand that should the application be successful any grant money received from Rushmoor Borough Council will only be used for the purposes specified in this application and Rushmoor Borough Council reserves the right to reclaim any grant not used for the purposes stated on this form
• The organisation does not need permissions for any item or its use, installation or storage; or has provided all necessary permissions
• You understand that any further costs incurred from the grant funded purchase will not be met by Rushmoor Borough Council and you/the organisation must be able to maintain the funded item(s) without relying on future grants.