Community Foundation Grant funds

Funds for Groups

All applicant groups need to have;
1. a constitution or set of rules and
2. a bank account in your group's name, or another eligible organisation that is happy to receive the grant on your behalf.

If you are applying for a Small Grant we may be able to fund you before you have a constitution, but only if you are working towards adopting one.
 
If you are not sure whether or not you can apply, please contact us to talk it through.

Who can apply?

The purpose of Grassroots Grants is to support small informal voluntary and community groups and organisations, many of who are dependent on volunteers.  The Community Foundation particularly welcomes applications from groups that have not had a grant of any kind before.  The types of group or organisation that we will fund through Grassroots Grants will:
· be a not-for-profit, third sector voluntary or community group.
· have been active in the local community for not less than 12 months prior to 31 December 2007.
· be able to prove that their income over the last three years, or over the group’s life if they haven’t been going for three years, has been less than £20,000 per year on average.
· be volunteer led i.e. most of the work is being done by volunteers rather than paid staff.
· be connected with and /or meeting the needs of their local community.
· have a governing document, though the group does not have to be a registered charity.

If you are not sure if your group fits these criteria, does not have a governing document or is missing something else from this list please contact The Community Foundation on 01380 729284 to see if we can help.

How much can be applied for?
Grants of between £250 and £5,000 are available.  £5,000 is the maximum that any one group can have from the Grassroots Fund, whether it is from The Community Foundation for Wiltshire or Swindon or from another area. Grants can be requested as a one-off payment or over more than one year, up to 2011. 

What can be applied for?
Grassroots Grants can fund both capital and revenue costs of any kind. 
 
How to apply?
Please follow the links to the “Expression of Interest Form”. Send this to us and we will contact you to let you know if you are eligible to apply to Grassroots or any of the other Community Foundation Funds.

Apply by the 15th of the month and, if everything is OK with your application, we will let you know the decision by the end of the first week of the following month.  

The Main Grants Fund

At the heart of our grantmaking is the Main Grants Fund.  Groups can apply to Main Grants to support a wide variety of project, core and ongoing costs.
 
All applications need to show how they will make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged people under our criteria headings; 

• Supporting Community Care - working especially with: service users. e.g. frail older people, and disabled people, and carers e.g. those caring at home for older or disabled relatives, neighbours or friends.
• Tackling Isolation - working in particular to improve access to services and information.
• Investing in Young People - concentrating on the 12 - 25 age group.

We do not make contributions to large building projects under Main Grants, but can help where our grant will help increase accessibility and you can't get the funding elsewhere. You can apply for either £3,000 per year for up to three years (£9,000 overall) or £5,000 per year for up to two years (£10,000 overall).

The Small Grants Fund

Grants of up to £500 are available to small projects that have an annual income of no more than £10,000pa. This is a fast track programme and applications can be turned around within a month.

Sport Relief

Community Foundations across the country are helping Comic Relief to distribute small grants from the funds raised during the second Sport Relief event in 2006, after great success in awarding grants from Sport Relief 2004. We fund local projects that are using sport and exercise to strengthen communities and provide opportunities for disadvantaged people.

The Haydon Wick Fund

This fund supports projects that benefit the Haydon Wick area of Swindon.

The Gazette & Herald Community Fund

This small grants fund supports projects operating in the Gazette & Herald Circulation area. Look out for details in the Gazette & Herald newspaper every November. Grants are awarded in December.

To apply for any of the above funds please fill in our expression of interest form

Fair Share

The Community Foundation is also working with the communities of Penhill & Pinehurst in Swindon to deliver Fair Share, an exciting programme of development work aimed to increase local capacity and improve the local environment. Over a ten year period the community will benefit from £818,000 of funding to help put the building blocks in place to create a thriving community.

Funds for Individuals

The Greenacres Fund

The Greenacres Fund supports the education and training of children and young people aged under 21 who live in Wiltshire or Swindon. Applicants will be, or will have been living in the care of Wiltshire County Council or the borough of Swindon, or will have long-term health needs or a disability. If an applicant is not currently living in care, they or their parents will need to be in receipt of means-tested benefits to be eligible for a grant from the fund.

The Shuker Educational Fund

The first grants from this fund will be made in 2008. The Shuker Educational Fund will be supporting young people from West Wiltshire District aged 17-24 who are studying for, or planning to study for, a Degree or Doctorate. 

The aim of the Fund is to help Students from poorer backgrounds who are studying a practical subject at a well-established University.

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