Grassroots Grants
Apply online: Application Form or if you are applying for less than £1,000 the Small Grants Application Form
Easy-to-access grants for project or continuation funding for groups
Funded by The Office of the Third Sector
£243,927 available this year
Aims to support small voluntary and community groups and organisations (grass roots groups) enabling them to continue or expand their work including advocacy, community voice and service provision for local people
Who can apply?
* groups with an average annual income up to £30,000 in the last three financial years (average to date if not three years old)
* volunteer-led groups helping people facing disadvantage
* applications from new and small groups are particularly welcome
Last year we gave 106 grants for an average of £2,050 and approved 82% of applications
Examples of activities supported
* junior football club coaching and training
* disabled access
* community market garden
* marquees
* grass cutting machine
* drop-in club for older people
* replacement of boiler and showers
* pre-school lunch club
If you are interested, please read the following details carefully along with our Applying for Money guidelines page
We will not fund
* statutory organisations eg schools or parish councils
* individuals
* non-charitable sports or arts
* promotion of religious doctrine
Groups must be active in their local community for a year before applying
All grants awarded must be spent by March 2011
How much can you apply for?
* minimum grant is £250
* maximum grant £5,000 over the period 2008-11 - this can be a one-off grant, a series of grants or a grant paid over two or three years
* full cost recovery principles are expected in applications
Full cost recovery means securing funding for all the costs involved in the delivery of the work. Your budget should reflect the full costs to your organisation, including the direct costs of projects, and all the overhead costs associated with running them. After you have worked out the costs of each project, look back over it to make sure that you budget all the running costs of that activity such as rent, electricity, telephones etc. You should try and apportion some “core” costs such as rent (share the costs between projects / activities) because it will apply to many projects at the same time. It is easy to focus upon developments and forget that you need to cover the core costs of your existing work.
We also administer a number of small funds using the same criteria which cover specific areas or ages (eg CN Group Fund, Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Fund, Foundation Grants, Kipling Fund for older people, Kipling Fund for younger people, Russell Armer Fund) and will automatically consider appropriate applications
If you would like to know more about this fund please contact David Andrews (Tel 01900 820828/825760 Fax 01900 826527)
Apply online: Application Form or if you are applying for less than £1,000 the Small Grants Application Form
updated 26.07.2010