Comic Relief Local Communities - Grant Guidelines 2011/12
Aims of the Programme
There are still many communities in the UK that suffer from economic and social deprivation and the current economic climate may make this situation worse. For this reason, Comic Relief has decided that £4.5 million should be available to fund projects across the UK which are addressing these issues through a second phase of the "Local Communities" programme.
Comic Relief is pleased to be working with the Community Foundation Network (CFN) and Community Foundations across the UK, to deliver this Local Communities Programme. The Capital Community Foundation is one of the delivery partners and will be delivering the programme across all London boroughs.
The Local Communities Programme will run for two years and during this time, grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 will be available.
The programme aims to empower local people, enabling them to create lasting change in their communities. Projects should be run by people directly affected by the issues they are dealing with and priority will be given to small, locally based groups and organisations in areas of disadvantage that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community.
Themes
Under the programme, organisations can apply for funding to:
- Increase local services;
- Build skills of local people;
- Increase community cohesion;
- Respond to local economic needs;
- Increase access to sport and exercise for people who face social exclusion and isolation.
Organisations which have received a Community Cash grant or any other grant from a Community Foundation can apply for a Local Communities grant. However, organisations which hold a grant directly from Comic Relief can not apply for a Local Communities grant. A Local Communities grant must be at least 50% of the total cost of the project.
Who can apply?
Not-for profit, voluntary organisations including:
- Community Groups
- Resident Associations
- Community Centres
- Social Enterprises/Community Interest Companies
- Credit Unions
- Charities
Types of activities that might be funded
- Furniture project
- Project providing access to benefits advice
- Projects combating fuel poverty
- Community consultation exercises
- Community employment projects
- Food Co-ops
- Running costs; including salaries, core costs and project costs
- Committee and volunteer/staff training
- Community sports activities
Exclusions
Grants will not be awarded to:
- Individuals;
- Statutory organisations, including schools;
- Fund trips abroad;
- Fund buses, mini buses or other community transport schemes (not including transport costs forming part of a project)
- Fund building costs, including access adaptations to buildings
- Organisations which are in receipt of a grant directly from Comic Relief;
- Activities that promote religious or political beliefs;
- Spending that has already taken place;
- Organisations with overdue monitoring/reporting for any of the Foundation's grant programmes.
Please read the instructions carefully, tick to say you agree and have understood, enter your e-mail address and click on “Send e-mail and continue”.Once you have done this you will be sent an e-mail with a link to your unique online application form. You should receive the email within a couple of minutes (please check your spam folder).
Part A of the application
To begin "Part A" of your application please click on the link within the email that you have received from us. There are help notes available as you go through the online application form and you can save your application at any point and come back to it to complete it at any time before the closing date.
Once you get to the end of the application from there will be a "Submit" button. Once you press this it will automatically send your application through to the Foundation and this will be accepted as a completed application. You will also be emailed a copy of your completed application.
Part B of the application
As well as receiving the link to "Part A" in the email you will also receive a "Part B" of the application. Part B should be return to The Capital Community Foundation by the deadline date along with all your supporting documents. We regret we are unable to consider incomplete or late applications.
You can send your Part B and supporting documents via email: applications@capitalcf.org.uk
Or post to: The Capital Community Foundation 357 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY
If you are emailing your documents, please clearly state your organisation's name in the subject line along with the fund name.
eg. Friends of Bickley Playground Comic Relief Application. Where possible, please try to send all your attachments in one email by zipping your documents. However, if you need to send more than one email, please number them as follows:
eg. Friends of Bickley Playground Comic Relief Application, Email 1 of 2
If you are unable to use the online application facility please contact the Programme Manager - Cat Dix on 020 7582 5117
What happens after you have applied?
We may contact you to discuss your ideas. You will get a decision within 8 weeks of the deadline; therefore projects should not start until 10 weeks after the deadline date. If you are awarded a grant you will have 12 months to spend it.
Monitoring
Grantees will be required to complete a short form outlining how the grant was spent and highlighting the benefits for residents.
Monitoring and evaluating our grants enables us to better understand the impact of our grantmaking. It helps us to understand community need, enables us to learn from our grantmaking and inform future strategies, and also enables us to show donors the impact of their funding and hopefully encourage them to give more!
It should also help organisations to collect valuable information on how service users benefit from your work, what works and what doesn't, how you can make your services more effective, and also demonstrate to funders (and donors) the value of your work.
Further information can be found at the Charities Evaluation Services website, www.ces-vol.org.uk .
If your application is successful, you will be required to:
- Credit support from Comic Relief and CCF on all materials related to the funded work;
- Complete your spending within 12 months;
- Complete a project review form about the project within 6 weeks of completing your grant;
- Maintain financial records for all grant spending and submit requested information to CCF, including original invoices;Be available for a potential monitoring visit, or visit by Comic Relief.
Contact Us
Please contact the Programme Manager if you have any questions about the programme:
Cat Dix
Tel: 020 7582 5117
Email: cat@capitalcf.org.uk
Applications for Comic Relief are now closed.