Parish Grant Fund
Under Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972, Hunts Grove Parish Council has discretionary powers to award grants to local groups or organisations for the purposes of bringing a direct benefit to the parish or its residents. To be considered for an award, applicants must apply for a grant using the downloadable application form and provide the necessary information.
The total grants fund budget as available from May 2022 to April 2023 is £1,000.
Considerations: Section 137 states that if the grant application will only benefit, say 10% of the residents, then only 10% of the total budgeted Section 137 monies can be granted. Grants considered will normally be 20% of the total cost of the work or project, although councillors will consider exceptions on individual merit. It is expected that groups and organisations will look at accessing different sources of funding for their project alongside any application to the Parish Council Grants Fund.
The application form is also available in hard copy or email form from The Clerk
Who can apply?
To be eligible for the award of a grant under Section 137 an organisation must:
- be established for charitable, benevolent, social, cultural, recreational, or philanthropic purposes.
- have a constitution, or set of rules, which defines its aims, objectives, and operational procedures.
- be able to provide a copy of its latest annual accounts and/or most recent bank statement. Its accounts are to be checked and signed by a person independent of the group.
- have a bank account operated by a minimum of at least two joint signatories.
What can be funded?
- the project should be something that makes the local community a better place in which to live, work or visit.
- it should benefit people who live in the parish.
- there must be clearly presented evidence that local people support the project and are involved in carrying it out.
- applications do not have to be from groups that already exist.
- each group may only make one application per financial year (1 April to 31 March).
Not eligible
- Support for individuals or private business projects.
- Projects that are the prime responsibility of other statutory authorities
- Projects that improve or benefit privately owned land or property
- Projects that have already been completed or will have been by the time the grant is made.
Conditions of support
The council may make the award of any grant subject to all or some of the following conditions.
Required conditions will be at the discretion of the council and take into account the organisation’s individual circumstances.
- The application must be made using the official application form.
- Details must be provided of the extent to which funding has been sought or secured from other sources or own fund-raising activities.
- Funding must only be used for the purpose agreed with the parish council and if all the monies are not spent on the items agreed, the balance must be returned.
- Funding must be spent within the financial year awarded and cannot be added wholly or partly to the organisation’s reserves.
- If project costs are more than anticipated on application, any shortfall must be met by the group
- In order to fully understand your project or activity, parish councillors may wish to visit the project or activity prior to the project or activity commencing. They may also wish to conduct a site visit once the funded project is underway.
- As a minimum, the group will write to confirm receipt of the cheque (or bank transfer) for audit purposes, or as the cheque is handed over a representative of the group will sign a form or receipt at the same time.
- The need to provide evidence of expenditure (receipted invoices) to the Clerk to the Council on completion of project will be discretionary – based on the amount given and the purposes given. (If required, this evidence of expenditure should be equal to, or more than, the total of the amount of the grant detailed on application.)
- Any unused funds at the end of the financial year in which the grant is paid out must be returned to Council.
- You must acknowledge the Parish Council’s support in all publications, publicity, and annual reports.
- You should show the funding awarded separately in your published financial accounts and the Parish Council should have access to your financial records, on request, where appropriate.
- A representative of your organisation should give a report at the Annual Parish Meeting (held on an evening between March and May each year) on how the group spent the money and, if appropriate, how the group or project is progressing.
When to apply
For 2023, the Parish Council is open to applications at any time for the 2023-24 funding year.
Standard Procedure: Organisations should write/apply by the end of September each year in time to be considered for the main bids and fit within the Parish Councils budget process and timelines.
Any award granted would become available for payment after April the following year.
This is a competitive process against other bids and the quality of each bid is important.
All groups will be treated equally. If an organisation has had a grant previously, they are not guaranteed to receive financial support again but are not excluded from applying again. A fresh application will be required each time.
Whilst ad-hoc requests can be made at any time, there is no guarantee that funds will remain available.
How decisions are made
All major grants are to be judged after the agreed closing date.
Decisions will be made by Parish Council. The Council’s decision is final.