Micro Fund: Community
Application Form and Guidance
The closing date for this application round is
5pm on Monday 14th August 2017
We’ll let you know our decision by 25th September 2017
Clicking on the text in blue takes you straight to the documents on our website
If you are applying as a business / enterprise, this isn’t the Form for you – you’ll need our ‘Micro Fund:
Micro Business’ Form.
Please read through the form guidance notes before you start writing.
Who can apply?
Voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, community and town councils, and school PTAs can all apply
for Micro Fund: Community grants. Although statutory bodies are not eligible, we welcome partnership working
between the voluntary and statutory sectors.
How much can I apply for?
You can apply to the Micro Fund for one-off grants from £300 - £5,000 to support important aspects of community life.
What kinds of things does the Fund support?
The Micro Fund can support, for example: the purchase of small items of equipment; minor capital works; activities,
events and projects; start-ups; training courses; pilot projects. The Micro Fund cannot support ongoing costs and you
shouldn’t expect to apply every year for the same activity. You should be able to demonstrate that you are working
towards making your activity sustainable.
Please write simply and clearly and avoid jargon and abbreviations – we might not know what they stand for! Do answer
all the questions – if they are not relevant to you, tell us why. Make sure you explain exactly what you’re proposing to
do, who will benefit and why you know it’s needed. Be as specific as you can. If we need to come back to you with
queries, or are not sure what the proposal is about, there’s the risk that your application may be unsuccessful or the
Grants Panel may defer making a decision about it.
Submitting your application (you are welcome to apply in the language of your choice)
It’s always useful to ask someone outside your organisation to check over your application before you send it off. We
prefer to receive applications by email, but it’s also fine to post paper copies – remember to keep a copy for yourself.
By email: [email protected]
Please put the names of your project and organisation in the subject field of your email. We’ll send you confirmation
that we’ve received it.
By post: Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund CIC, 4 Gadlys Enterprise Centre (Venture Wales Buildings), Depot
Road, Aberdare CF44 8DL
Please read the Guidance and answer all the questions – we’ll have to come back to you if you
don’t, and it’ll take us longer to make a decision.
1
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
Application Reference:
(internal use only)
M F
C
1. ORGANISATION AND CONTACT DETAILS
All the questions in section 1 help us to understand your organisation or group - what your overall aims and
priorities are, how you’re set up and so on. If your group is new, tell us as much as you can about how you plan to
address each issue.
1.1
Organisation Name:
Organisation Registered Address:
(including postcode):
Contact Telephone Number:
Email Address:
Website (if you have one):
Who will be our main contact? To help protect the Fund from fraud, if your application is successful, we will use an
independent agency to carry out basic identity checks as part of our risk assessment procedure. These are not credit checks.
Name:
Email Address:
Landline Number:
Mobile Number:
Date of Birth:
Main contact’s personal address:
(if you have lived here fewer than 3 years
please provide previous address)
Role/Position in the Organisation:
2.
ABOUT THE ORGANISATION
2.1
What does your organisation do – what are its main aims and activities?
2
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
2.2
List the main objects in your governing document.
2.3
Tell us how you reach out to and involve your community? How do people find out about you and your work? How
do you publicise your activities? Explain what you do to make sure that people from all backgrounds know about your project
and how to benefit from it. How can people involved in your work have a say in how the organisation is managed? Can
anyone join or take part? Your governing document should make this clear. Anyone who wants to take part in your
organisation, group or activity should be welcome to do so, unless there are clear reasons why this isn’t possible (e.g. the
activity is exclusively for women, young people or older people). If there are any restrictions, you should explain why.
2.4
When was your organisation established?
2.5
What type of organisation are you? Registered Charity
☐
Number:
☐
CIC
Number:
Charitable Incorporated
Organisation
☐
Number:
Company Ltd by Guarantee
☐
Number:
Community and Sports Club
☐
Other
(please explain:)
☐
3
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
2.6
How many of the following are involved in the organisation?
We’re asking this to give us an idea of the size of your organisation, who is involved and how they are involved.
Paid Staff
2.7
Trustees / Directors
Management
Committee
Members
Volunteers Users/Participants Members
Does your group have the following? (please tick and explain)
☐
Public Liability Insurance?
Other Insurances? (if you have tell us what ☐
they are)
3
Safeguarding Policies and Procedures?
(For certain activities, it will be essential
that you have appropriate safeguarding
policies and procedures in place please
see Guidance note 2.7)
☐
DBS checks for staff?
(if appropriate)
☐
Affiliation to a Governing Body? (if so
what is it)
☐
MANAGING YOUR MONEY
3.1
How does your organisation / group
authorise spend?
E.g. how many cheque signatories do you
have? How are decisions made to make
purchases?
3.2
Are you VAT registered?
If you can reclaim VAT from HMRC, you
should exclude it from your grant
application
3.3
Yes ☐
No ☐
Give us the main details of your organisation’s income and expenditure over the last year?
Total Income last accounting year
£
Total Expenditure last accounting year
£
Net Surplus / Deficit
£
Current Unrestricted Reserves
£
Why can these unrestricted reserves not
be used for this project?
4
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT OR ACTIVITY
4.1
What’s the name of your proposed activity or project?
Give it a short and snappy title!
4
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
4.2
Which Micro Fund themes best match your activity aims? See the Prospectus and application guidance notes for
more information about what each theme includes:
Local Jobs Transport
Health and Safety Community
and the
and
Wellbeing and
Spaces
Economy Connections
Housing
Environment Tourism Culture
4.3
Tell us about your project. Be as specific as possible and stick to the word limits shown.
A
What are you applying for funds to do? What will it involve?
Up to 300 words
B
How do you know it’s needed?
Up to 200 words
C
How do you know there are no other organisations out there doing the same thing?
Up to 100 words
D
Who will directly benefit and how? Up to 200 words
E
Approximately how many people will benefit?
5
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
Schools
and
Training
F
Where do the people who will benefit live – what’s the name of the main community / town / area?
It is possible for applicants to be based outside the area of benefit, but you’ll need to explain clearly how the activity or project
proposed directly benefits communities in the upper reaches of the Neath, Afan, Rhondda and Cynon Valleys. Include details of where
your members live and where the people who will benefit live.
G
Will you be working with any partners?
If YES, tell us who are they and what their
role will be?
If you are working with partners, please include brief letters of support and confirmation from them with your application.
4.4
When is the expected start and end date of the project?
The start date should be at least two months after the date you submit your application to give us time to assess it and make a
decision.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, you should aim to spend your grant within 12 months of receiving our offer letter.
Start Date
4.5
End Date
What will have been achieved when your activity or project is completed? What difference will it have made? Up to
300 words
This is an important question – we’ll look carefully at your response when assessing your application. Tell us, for example, if
people will have developed new skills or social networks, if there will be better access to the outdoors, improved social
interaction, or health and wellbeing, better collaboration between local organisations etc.
At the end of your activity, we’ll ask you to let us know how it all went - what was achieved, what you learned and what you
might do differently next time.
4.6
Details of Grant Requested
Item or Activity
Total Cost
Amount Requested from Pen y Cymoedd Community Fund
Total £
If you are not requesting 100% funding and are contributing your own funds or applying for funding from other sources, please
complete the table below:
6
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
Amount £
Source
Date you Expect to Know Result
5 Referee
5.1
Please give us the name and contact details of someone outside and independent of your organisation who knows
about your proposed activity and who would be willing to talk to us about it. Make sure you share your application
with them and have their permission to include their name here.
Name:
Organisation / Position:
Telephone Number:
Email Address:
Address:
5.2
Confirmation and Sign-off
By signing this application, I am confirming that:
 I’m authorised to make the application – the Management Committee /Board has discussed and agreed it
 The Objects in our governing document enable us to undertake the project we’re proposing
 The information I’ve given is correct to the best of my knowledge
 I’ve read the Micro Fund Guidance
 I agree that we can use the information you give us
for identity verification, fraud prevention and detection purposes
Name:
Signature:
Date:
5.3
How did you hear about the Micro Fund?
5.4
Please help us to improve how we manage the Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund!
We welcome and act on feedback and would appreciate the opportunity to ask what you think of the application process and
service you've received.
Tick if you DO NOT wish to be contacted. ☐
5.5
Data Protection Statement
We will keep and use the information you give us during assessment and during the life of your grant (if awarded) to administer
and analyse grants and for our own research purposes. We may give copies of all or some of this information to individuals and
organisations we consult when assessing applications, administering the programme, monitoring grants and evaluating funding
processes and impacts. These organisations may include accountants, external evaluators and other organisations or groups
involved in delivering the project.
We have a duty to safeguard the Community Fund, and so we may also share information with organisations providing match
funding or for the prevention and detection of crime.
7
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17
We might use personal information you provide to conduct appropriate identity and verification checks. Personal information
that you provide may be disclosed to a fraud prevention agency, which may keep a record of that information. If you provide
false or inaccurate information in your application or at any point in the life of any funding we award to you and fraud is
identified, we will provide details to fraud prevention agencies, to prevent fraud and money laundering. We recognise the need
to maintain the confidentiality of vulnerable groups and their details will not be made public in any way, except as required by
law.
Guidance Notes
2.5
In order to apply to the Micro Fund, your group will need to have a governing document – at least a basic
constitution – and a bank, Building Society or Credit Union account in the name of your organisation. Guidance
and support is available from Neath Port Talbot CVS and Interlink.
2.7
It’s essential that you have appropriate insurance cover in place for the activity or project you’re running, and
appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place. We may ask to see these.
If you need guidance on this, the Neath Port Talbot CVS and Interlink websites have links to useful
information sheets.
It’s essential too that you have appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place. Guidance on this is
available from:
Children: Children in Wales website
NSPCC ([email protected] / 0808 800 5000)
Adults: The Cwm Taf Safeguarding Adults Board – RCT
Western Bay Safeguarding Adults Board - NPT
Neath Port Talbot CVS and Interlink will also be able to advise.
3.4
We’re asking for this to help us understand as much as we can about the size and scope of your organisation.
You’ll find these figures on your latest set of annual accounts. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t yet raised any
funds and don’t yet have accounts, but we may need further information about how your finances are or will
be managed.
4.2
If you think only one or two themes apply that’s fine, but think carefully about your proposal – it might have
wider benefits that you haven’t spotted.
4.3 C It’s good to investigate what might be happening already to avoid duplication. If there are similar activities
taking place, tell us how your proposal differs from or complements these.
4.3 G We welcome collaboration, but it’s not essential that you work with partners. If you are a new group though,
we’d expect you to be linking up with others.
4.4
The Fund will be in place for 20 years, so no need to panic – there will be further and regular grant invitation
rounds. If your activity idea needs a bit more work before you apply, it’s better to take your time and make
sure that everything is in place.
4.6
Micro Fund grants can be from £300 - £5,000
The Fund can pay for part or all of your activity or project. If your activity will cost more than £5,000, tell us
where the rest of the funding will come from and when it’s likely to be in place.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, you should aim to spend your grant within 12 months of receiving
our offer letter.
Your costings should be as accurate as possible – actual quotes are helpful. Don’t include any VAT you can claim back
from HMRC if you are registered.
If your application is successful, we may ask to see copies of receipts, bank statements etc. – so do keep them safely.
6.1
We may ask for these to help us in the application assessment process. Referees could include, for example,
Local Authority, Town or Community Councillors, local teachers. Please make sure that your referee has seen
your application before you submit it, and that you have permission to give us their names.
6.4
This helps us to understand how Fund publicity is working. We want as many people as possible to know
about it.
8
MFC Round 2 V2 9.5.17