Councillor Community Grant Scheme - Guidance notes for applicants

B. Who can apply for the grant

Any not-for-profit organisation that represents or works with a specific community or group of people within a Basingstoke and Deane ward can apply. It will need its own bank account in the organisation’s name and be able to demonstrate that it is an organised group with stated objectives that are for the benefit of the community and has an agreed way of working. This could be demonstrated by a constitution, statement of purpose, annual report, notes from meetings, or other organisational documentation. This documentation should be recent (or recently reviewed).

If your group is just starting out and you don’t yet have these, you can contact Basingstoke Voluntary Action who can offer advice and support on establishing and developing your group.

This includes:

• voluntary or community groups that represent a specific location or group of people
• not-for-profit organisations such as registered charities, Charitable Incorporated Organisations, Community Interest Companies, uniformed youth groups and community benefit societies
• Town or Parish Councils, providing the project is not part of their core service

Whilst schools may apply, grant funding will only be approved if clear and sufficient benefit to the wider community is demonstrated. The wider community relates to those other than the students, parents/guardians, governors and staff. Funding cannot be used to supplement the curriculum or other statutory duties or to improve school facilities or provide equipment that will primarily be for the use of the school and not the wider community.

Faith organisations, churches and other places of worship can only apply where there is clear benefit to those other than the usual church congregation.

You cannot apply for these grants if you are an individual, for-profit-organisation, political party or organisation formed to campaign on a single issue.

You can only receive one grant from this scheme in any one grant year and you cannot receive funding to support the same item, project, event or activity year on year.

In exceptional circumstances, such as where one organisation manages multiple community facilities at different locations within the borough or acts as an umbrella organisation for smaller groups operating in different parts of the borough, you may be able to apply for a grant for each of the facilities/groups managed. For example, a community association managing two centres could make two applications, one for each centre. Please check with grants officers before applying if you think this exception could apply to you.

All grants are discretionary, and subject to the availability of funds. Being an eligible organisation does not give any automatic entitlement to a grant.

C. What you can apply for

• The grant can be used for the purchase of physical or digital items and any costs associated with their initial set up and installation.
• The grant can also be used for one off equipment hire (rather than purchasing new equipment that would only be rarely used) or for the cost to repair an item to prolong its life rather than buying new.
• The grant could also be used to cover additional and one-off costs related to holding a community engagement event or to pilot a new activity but is not suitable for providing funding for people to attend trips or activities or to support a series of events or an ongoing programme of activities.
• The grant cannot be used to fund the same thing year on year.
• The grant cannot be used to cover an organisations core running or operating costs such as those for management, training, admin, accountancy, governance, and compliance or costs incurred by the organisation in the delivery of their usual activities.
• Any costs incurred or committed to prior to the date of the grant agreement letter will not be funded.
• Any grant funded items must be purchased, and receipts submitted within 8 weeks of the date of the grant agreement letter.
• You can apply for between £250 and £3,000 and this must be sufficient to cover the full cost of the item/s unless you can show that you have other funds in place to cover the difference. We will not accept applications for contributions towards a larger fundraising total.
• If you are applying for £2,000 or less this can be funded by one councillor, or two or three councillors can agree to jointly fund this from their allocations. If you wish to apply for more than £2,000 you will need the support of two or three councillors.
• You must be able to maintain the funded item/s without relying on future grants and any future maintenance, repair, renewal or replacement will be the responsibility of the organisation.
• You must ensure that any necessary permissions related to the purchase, installation, use and storage of the item/s are obtained to carry out the funded work including such things as planning consents, or landowner’s approval. These must be in writing and submitted with the application form.

D. How to apply for the grant

1. Check that your proposal meets the criteria in sections A and C and that you are eligible to apply, as shown in section B.

2. Get confirmed costs to support the amount of grant you are requesting. This can be a quote from a supplier, or a cost taken from a website or catalogue, but make sure you include any VAT payable (unless your organisation is VAT registered in which case you should not include any VAT you will be able to recover) and associated costs such as delivery or installation.

3. Contact your chosen councillor(s) to explain your idea and find out whether they think it is appropriate for funding and if they have sufficient budget to support your request. Councillors will need to see a clear benefit to the residents in their ward before agreeing to support an application so applicants should consider where they deliver their services, or where people travel from to access their services when deciding which councillor/s to approach.

• Check the different ward areas on Ward and Parish boundaries webpage
• Find all the relevant contact details for ward councillors on the Find Councillor webpage. If the chosen councillor/s have already allocated all of their annual allocation, you may be asked to apply again at the start of the next financial year.

4. If the councillor/s agrees to support your request, complete sections one to five of the application form. You will need to explain how the funding will make a difference to people’s lives and help bring communities together. If what you plan to use the money for relates to one off or time limited activities, you will also need to demonstrate an ongoing and specific community benefit.

Confirm your acceptance of the Terms and Conditions in section six and send it to them for approval with the relevant supporting documentation:

• a recent (within the last 3 months) bank statement in the organisation’s name
• your governance document (this can be a separate document or a link to where this is viewable online included in the application form)
• evidence of expected cost (this can be a separate documents or link/s to items online)

5. Your councillor will let you know if they are happy with your application, in which case they will send it on to council officers to process. They will contact you if they have questions they would like you to answer or if there is any missing documentation.

6. You will be notified when your application has been received by officers and told when a decision will be made, which should be within six weeks.

7. Do not make any purchases unless you have received a formal grant agreement letter from us.

8. You must acknowledge the council’s support if a grant is provided, and we will tell you how to do this.

E. Awarding of grants

You will be notified by email if a grant is awarded. You will need to accept the terms and conditions as set out in the Grant Agreement attached to the email and you will have eight weeks to purchase the item/s and submit proof of payment for reimbursement. Payment will be made directly into your organisation’s bank account.

Expenditure must be incurred using a debit/credit card or cheque. The Grant will not be made towards expenditure incurred using the payment method of cash.

Once the grant funds have been paid you will have up to four weeks to report back to us on the impact or difference the item/s has made, using a form we will provide. We will ask to see photos of the purchased items in place/use and confirmation that council support has been acknowledged.

We expect our grant funded partners to be open and inclusive to all people within their communities. The grant funded items should reflect this and we welcome applications to support different members of the community including children and young people, families, older people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, refugees and asylum seekers, communities experiencing racial inequity and disabled people. Please consider this when providing your monitoring feedback and explain how you target and engage with the wider community to ensure maximum benefit of your grant funded item.

All grants awarded will be published on the council’s website.

F. Application form and scheme documents

Councillor Community Grant Scheme Application Form 2025-26(DOCX) [76 kb]

Terms and Conditions Councillor Community Grant 2025-26(PDF) [281 kb]