Councillor Community Grant (CCG) Scheme 2026/2027 - Guidance for Applicants

2. CCG Priorities

Applications should demonstrate how they align with the council’s priorities and other policy commitments.

Your organisation’s core values and application should show how your grant request aligns with, and contributes to, the priorities as set out in our council plan 2023 to 2027:

• a place where people can have pride in their communities and the borough
• a borough where we protect, restore, reconnect and enhance our natural environment
• a council that delivers high-quality services for our residents

Organisations and groups should also:

• Support the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan and contribute towards our carbon neutral target
• Support Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within their organisational practices and service delivery, in line with the Council’s Corporate Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan 2024-2028

3. Who can apply for the grant

The following not-for-profit organisations, groups and clubs located or delivering services within Basingstoke and Deane can apply:

• Unincorporated Organisations, Groups and Clubs
• Registered Charities and Charitable Companies
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO’s)
• Community Interest Companies (CIC’s)
• Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC's)
• Town or Parish Councils

To apply, organisations and groups must have:

• a bank account in the organisation’s name
• a governing document to demonstrate that they are an organised group, with stated objectives that are for the benefit of the community and have an agreed way of working

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 with establishing and developing your group.

Schools may only apply where there is clear and sufficient benefit to the wider community, meaning people other than students, parents/guardians, governors and staff. Funding cannot be used to support the curriculum or other statutory duties or to improve school facilities or equipment that would be primarily for school use rather than wider community benefit.

Faith organisations, churches and other places of worship may apply only where the funded item(s) or activity benefit people beyond the usual congregation.

In exceptional circumstances, organisations that manage multiple community facilities or act as an umbrella body for smaller groups across different locations in the borough may be able to submit more than one application, with each application relating to a distinct facility or group. Applicants should contact the grants team before applying if they believe this exception may apply.

4. Who cannot apply

We cannot grant fund:

• individuals, sole traders and for-profit companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
• political parties or organisations formed to campaign on a single issue or that exclusively promote political activities
• organisations that exclusively promote religious activity

5. What we can fund

The fund can support one‑off item(s) or activity that address a clear community need and deliver tangible purchases or outcomes with ongoing community benefit. All funded costs must be paid for within 8 weeks of grant agreement being in place.

Examples include:

• Costs for one-off item(s) (including physical or equivalent digital) or activity, that will provide ongoing community benefit, such as equipment, furniture, health and safety items, books or community infrastructure such as fencing and notice boards and their initial set up and installation
• Costs to repair items that provide a community benefit; to prolong their life rather than buying new, to promote sustainability
• Costs that support your organisation to understand or respond to community needs such as piloting a new activity or approach, holding a community engagement event or creating new materials

Please note that restrictions apply (see What we cannot fund).

6. What we cannot fund

The fund is not intended to support ongoing operational costs or the usual delivery of an organisation’s activities.

Examples include:

• Retrospective costs: costs incurred or committed to before a Grant Agreement is in place
• Personal expenses or costs for individuals or groups of people to attend trips, activities or events
• Ongoing or core organisational costs, including but not limited to staffing, management, training, administration, governance, insurance, maintenance, or ongoing consultancy
• Grants for the same purpose year‑on‑year, including repeat funding for the same event, activity or cost*
• Ongoing programmes or repeat activity, such as regular sessions, clubs, services or a series of events*

*Grant awards from the previous two financial years will be taken into account when assessing applications.

7. Conditions of grant funding

For this scheme, the grant start date is the date the Grant Agreement is issued.

Eligibility and access

• Organisations can receive only one grant per grant year under this scheme. Applicants should carefully consider what they are applying for and the amount requested, as once a grant is approved, they cannot request further funding.
• Grant funded organisations are expected to be open and inclusive to all people within their communities. Grant applications should reflect this.
• We welcome applications that support different members of the community including but not limited to 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 request.

Councillor support and funding thresholds

• Applications up to £2,000 or less may be supported by:
• One councillor (subject to sufficient budget being available) or
• Two or three councillors jointly
• Applications for more than £2,000 require the support of at least two, and up to three councillors
• Councillor/s support must be confirmed before an application can be submitted for processing

Delivery considerations

• Grant funded requests must be purchased within 8 weeks of the date of the Grant Agreement.
• Organisations must be able to maintain the funded requests without relying on future grants and any future maintenance, repair, renewal or replacement will be the responsibility of the organisation.
• Organisations must ensure that any necessary permissions related to the purchase, installation, use and storage of the grant funded requests are obtained to carry out the funded work including such things as planning consents, or landlord’s approval. These must be in writing and submitted with the application form.

Financial requirements

• We cannot fund costs incurred or committed before a Grant Agreement is in place. Applicants may seek quotes or estimates while preparing an application. However, any formal or contractual commitments made in advance are at the applicant’s own expense and will not be covered by any grant later awarded.
• The grant request must cover the full costs of the item(s) or activity, unless the organisation can clearly demonstrate that they have other funding already in place to cover the difference.
• We will not accept applications for contributions towards a larger fundraising total.
• Expenditure must be incurred using a debit/credit card, bank transfer or cheque. The grant will not be made towards expenditure incurred using the payment method of cash.
• Proof of payment can be copies of paid invoices or receipts (paper, email or screenshot) showing the payment date, or a bank statement showing the relevant payment.
• If the actual cost of the grant funded item or activity is lower than expected, we will only pay the actual costs after we receive the relevant proof of payment.

Discretion and publication

• All grants awarded under this scheme will be published on the council’s website.
• All grants are discretionary and subject to the availability of funds. Being an eligible organisation or having an eligible request does not give any automatic entitlement to a grant.
• The council reserves the right to refuse any application that does not sufficiently demonstrate value for money or community benefit, even where the requested costs may seem eligible

8. How to apply

1. Check eligibility

Check the guidance to ensure that your item(s) or activity can be funded and that your organisation is eligible and has the required eligibility documents

2. Confirm costs

Obtain relevant costs to support your request. This can include:

• a supplier quote or estimate,
• a cost from a website or catalogue,
• any VAT that cannot be recovered,
• associated costs such as delivery, installation or required planning or other relevant permissions

3. Contact a councillor/s

Contact your chosen councillor/s to discuss your request, confirm it is appropriate for funding and check that there is available budget. Councillors must see a clear benefit to residents in their ward, 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.

Find contact details for councillors on the Find Councillor webpage.

If the chosen councillor/s have already allocated all of their funds, you may be asked to seek the support of alternative councillor/s or to apply again at the start of the next financial year. If you would like to see which wards could be relevant to your services, Check the different ward areas on Ward and Parish boundaries webpage

4. Submit your application

If the councillor/s agrees to support your request, you will need to complete the Application Form and submit it to them with the following documents:

• a recent bank statement in the organisation’s name (dated within the last 3 months, showing the account name & address, account number & sort code)
• your organisation’s governing document (constitution, statement of purpose, annual report, notes from meetings or other organisational documentation. This documentation should be recent or recently reviewed, signed and dated)
• evidence of expected cost (this can be a separate document or link/s to items online)

The supporting councillor/s should forward the application form and required documentation along with their formal declaration of support on to council officers to process.

5. Assessment and decision

You will be notified when the application has been received by officers, whether there is any additional information required and when the application is likely to be approved, which should be no longer than six weeks after council officers have received it.

Applications can be submitted, and are approved, monthly throughout the year, so organisations are encouraged to apply early to ensure councillors have sufficient budget remaining.

Note: Do not make any payments until you have received a Grant Agreement letter from us.

6. Closing date

No applications will be accepted after the scheme closing date of midday, 1 March 2027 (this means that the application, supporting documentation and evidence of councillor/s approval must be received by grants@basingstoke.gov.uk by this date).

9. What happens after you apply

All applications will go through ‘due diligence’ checks to ensure the grant request and organisations are eligible and all required documents have been submitted. When officers are satisfied, they will include applications for formal executive approval.

You will be notified by email if a grant is approved. 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) or deliver the activity and submit proof of payment for reimbursement. Payment will be made directly into your organisation’s bank account.

After the grant has been paid, organisations will have up to four weeks to provide a short monitoring report on the difference or impact the funded request has made. This will include submitting:

• a description of the impact the grant has made
• photographs of the item(s) or activity in place or in use and
• confirmation that council support has been acknowledged.

10. Further help and advice

The final closing date for receipt of completed applications is midday, on 1 March 2027, so you must ensure that it is received by the supporting Councillor/s in good time for them to forward it on to us by this date.

Please:

• Use the provided application form and complete it electronically
• Submit the application as a Word document via email (not PDF or file-sharing links)
• Responses should be proportionate to funding requested
• Please use bullet points and avoid long text.

Support

If you have any questions or require any support to discuss and/or apply, please contact the grants team by emailing Grants@basingstoke.gov.uk

If you require an alternative format, such as a printed version, please let us know. Contact the grants team at least 6 weeks before the grant is needed and before the final closing date, if you need help accessing the form or have any other queries.

11. Documents

Councillor Community Grant Scheme Application Form(DOCX) [93 kb]