CCSU GRANT SCHEME 2020-2021
                            APPLICATION GUIDANCE NOTES

APPLICATIONS CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM

www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/community

CLOSING DATE FOR COMPLETED APPLICATIONS IS 4.00 PM ON THURSDAY 23rd JANUARY 2020

Why do we fund the Third Sector?

Local groups play a crucial role in communities and add value to what Council can do by itself. Local groups support Council in delivering its own strategic outcomes, especially those in the Community Plan.
We understand that smaller groups are engaging people and connecting them to others; that larger groups are providing support services and creating active citizens and that all groups are adding value through volunteering fundraising and building networks across the Council area. In doing so they are contributing to the delivery of the wider strategic (population) outcomes of our Community Plan.

Our Grants

Council offers a range of grants throughout the year.  

Visit www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/community to see which grants are open at present. 

The Guidance Notes covers all of our grants and should be read along with the Guidelines for the grant that you apply for, these will also be available on the website.

General Eligibility For all Funding Rounds

The following list is a basic eligibility criteria that your organisation must meet to be able to apply for any grant from Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. If your organisation does not meet the eligibility criteria, we will not consider your application for funding. Council officers will perform an initial eligibility check on all applications to ensure that the application meets the basic eligibility criteria including the following:

•	Evidence that the application is from a formally governed community/voluntary sector organisation, which includes a community forum, network or similar body 
•	Evidence that the applicant group’s governing document open and accountable
•	Evidence that the group is based with the Lisburn & Castlereagh area or that the project beneficiaries are resident of the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area
•	Successful applications will be determined on the basis of merit.
•	If more than one group operates within a particular locality, the Council would welcome partnership applications, however a lead applicant will need to be identified. Please note in this case the applicant must demonstrate that there is no project duplication
•	Organisations must be based in the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area and funding must be spent between the date of the Letter of Offer and the published closing date. 
•	Applicants can apply to other sources of public support, outside of the Council, but must declare this in their application form.
•	Organisations in receipt of a grant must comply with all statutory obligations regarding the delivery of and access to their programme, including Council procurement/ Health & Safety/Safeguarding and licensing requirements.
•	Applicants will be expected to make every effort to increase capacity within their local community, through for example, skills training and volunteering.
•	It is a prime responsibility of Council to ensure the proper and efficient use of, and accountability for, public monies.  To this end, applicants must forward all supporting documentation requested along with the application. The Council will be unable to assess applications without all supporting documentation being received.
•	Applicants will be required to demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of their project, and adequately show how it will have a positive and measurable impact on the local community.
•	Future funding may be withheld if any required closing documentation is still outstanding for previous grants administered by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, including invoices, receipts, accounts, bank statements and evaluation reports. 
•	Successful applicants in any given year should not presume continued support in subsequent years.
•	Evidence that the project is not of a commercial nature or organized  on a profit / commercial basis
•	Evidence that the projects administration/equipment costs are proportionate to the overall  programme  costs
•	Evidence that the application is not for trade or professional conferences / conventions
•	Evidence that the application is not primarily fundraising for charitable purposes, or deploying potential sources of income to a charity
•	Evidence that the application is not for a social event that has no community benefit

We do not fund organisations that are:

•	not formally constituted, in other words, they do not have a constitution or memorandum and articles of association
•	not operating on a not-for-profit basis (taken from the constitution or memorandum and articles of association) as we cannot support commercial projects or projects that could be carried out commercially. If, in the reasonable opinion of the Council, the organisation applying for funding is a de facto commercial organisation, whatever the legal make-up of the organisation, then the Council shall not fund that organisation. The decision of the Council shall be final in this regard. 
•	able to share out profits (taken from the constitution or memorandum and articles of association)
•	not prepared to share learning from their project with us and other relevant groups 
•	Local authorities or public-sector organisations
•	Local authorities, public-sector organisations or regional voluntary organisations with a focus wider than LCCC area
•	Groups whose primary focus in not community development, this includes groups who deliver community development outcomes however have a different core focus. i.e sports, arts, religious & Culture
•	In operation for less than one year

Projects that:
•	take place outside of the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area 
•	provide no potential benefit to the public, either in the short or long term
•	are of a commercial nature, organised on a profit / commercial basis
•	are aimed at funding the normal running costs of a community organisation
•	have already taken place or are already under way at the time of the assessment
•	duplicate what already exists
•	are party political in intention, use or presentation
•	promote a particular religion
•	are  primarily fundraising events, for charitable purposes, or deploy potential sources of income to a charity
•	are contrary to any Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council policies
As well as the above, the following are considered ineligible for all grants:
•	Application forms that are not completed
•	Projects by individuals/sole applicants
•	Contributions towards general appeals
•	Funding towards campaigning around a single issue
•	Activities related to the promotion of religion or political parties
•	Areas of statutory responsibility or where such funding has been withdrawn
•	Retrospective payments or the repayment of loans
•	Awards ceremony or industry events
•	Holiday schemes
•	Organisations that are in poor financial health or cannot show effective financial control
•	Organisations who have previously received a grant from us that was not managed satisfactorily or was not completed. This includes if you did not send us the monitoring and evaluation forms within the agreed timescales or if you did not seek approval for changes to your project. 
•	Overheads allocated or apportioned at rates in excess of those used for any similar work you carry out
•	Building/capital costs 
•	Costs which are not clearly linked to the project
•	Costs that are poor value for money, or procured outside of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s procurement guidelines (services or items under £1500 require 2 – 3 written quotes) 
•	Costs that are already covered by other funding or income sources 
•	Costs related to private or unfunded pensions
•	Amounts for gifts and donations
•	Reclaimable VAT
•	Alcohol 
•	Prizes and trophies  
•	Funding towards uniforms
•	Equipment costs unless they have an on-going use throughout the project and are essential and necessary to complete the project
The Awarding Process
A panel made up of representatives of Council officers will review all eligible grant applications and make recommendations to Council based on the results of an assessment process.  

The Assessment Process
Part 1: Organisation eligibility and governance
Applications received shall initially go through an eligibility and good governance check, based on the information provided in Part 1 of the application form which covers Sections A, B and C.  
Each section will be marked as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ based on your answers and supporting documentation/evidence.   All sections must be rated ‘pass’ for an application to move on to the next phase of assessment.  

Part 2: Project needs and delivery & Part 3: Making a difference (outcomes)
Parts 2 and 3 will be assessed drawing on the evidence you provide in relation to each of the questions asked. Each question will be given a score out of 3 as follows:
0 -  Very little, very weak or irrelevant evidence presented
1 -  Some evidence presented but lacks in either conviction or relevance
2 -  Clear, relevant and convincing evidence provided 
3 -  Strong, clear and relevant convincing evidence from a variety of sources (proportionate to scale)
Each question will be weighted to reflect its importance. This means the score is multiplied by the weighting number to give a weighted score.

Part 4: Details and declarations
Part 4 must be completed before a grant can be awarded and processed.

The Allocation Process 
All eligible applications that have scored over 50% and provided all necessary documentation and declarations will enter the allocation process. If the total funds requested exceed those available the moderation team may select to fund the strongest projects by raising the bar on the total weighted score (e.g. to 55% or 60%); or to reduce the sum offered to each applicant by the percentage of the shortfall (e.g. if there is a 3% gap between funds requested and funds available, all grants offered will be 3% less that the grant requested); or they may combine both approaches to give a balanced grant portfolio.

THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Scoring system overview

PART ONE:  ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION		
All sections must pass to move to Part Two 	Pass / Fail	

PART TWO:  ABOUT YOUR PROJECT	Max weighted score	Pass mark to move to next section	
Section D: Meeting needs 	21	11	
Section E: People and plans	45	23	
Section F:  Funds and value for money	9	5	
PART THREE: MAKING A DIFFERENCE			
Section G:  Making a difference	33	17	
Total weighted score as % of maximum	108	51%	
Section H:  Funder targeting	na	+%	
Total score			

PART FOUR: DETAILS and DECLARATION	Pass / Fail	

PART ONE:  ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION

Section A: Contact information  	Pass / Fail	
1.	Legal name of your organisation 
2.	Main contact for the group
3.	Contact details for group 
4.	Contact details for main contact 	Name reflects governing document 	
1.		Group address exists	
1.		Contact address (if relevant) exists	
Section B: Your organisation		Yes/No and documentation 	
1.	Formally constituted non-profit distributing	
2.	Charity Commission NI registered
3.	Operating for more than 12 months   
4.	Based in and delivering services in LCCCC  OR Project is entirely within LCCC	Governing document provided and shows constituted and non-profit distributing	
1.		Is registered and gives number  OR  Is pending	
	Date of incorporation on document is more than 12 months ago	
	Statement that funded service is 100% in LCCC 
	
5.	Main purpose of organisation	The description reflects the purposes set out in the governing documents.	
	The organisation’s role is consistent with community development defined by NOS (see also D1)	
	The organisation engages volunteers.
(see also C5, E1)	

Section C: Running your organisation  	Evidence should be clear, concise, reasonable and proportionate to the group, work and grant	
1.	Has adequate insurance 	Provided certificate or quotation 	
2.	Appropriate policies for 
•	Health and Safety	
•	Safeguarding  	
•	Other		H&S suited to scale and nature of work
Safeguarding suited to risk exposure
Note only if are missing policies of direct relevance to nature of work or event	
3.	Banking account and signatories	Account details and names given Part 4 Q1	
4.	Most recent accounts
	Accounts less than 18 months old Summary adds up and matches accounts
Signed and checked accounts supplied	
5.	Number of people involved in running organisation
	There are three or more Board members 

The total number of people running the group appears reasonable given the nature of the group’s usual work.	
6.	Responsibility for decision making, reporting and monitoring on programme delivery and finances	There is evidence that individuals are responsible to others through a formal system for making decisions, reporting and checking on both activities and finances.	
7.	Replacing and recruiting committee members and any other volunteers	There is evidence that committee roles and volunteering opportunities are open to members of the community. (eg AGM, word of mouth, advertising)	
8.	Ensuring committee members and any other volunteers have the skills they need	There is evidence that the group recognises and addresses skills needs (eg mentoring, training, buddies)	
9.	Ways group connects with other organisations for support or advice	There is evidence that the group has access to external support and has made use of it.	
10.	Knowing that the work of the organisation makes a difference	There is evidence that the group is aware of the nature of the difference it makes and to whom, and can evidence this.	

Application will proceed to Part Two if all sections, A, B and C pass
PART TWO:  ABOUT YOUR PROGRAMME OR PROJECT

Section D: What needs you plan to meet and for whom	Evidence should be clear, concise, reasonable and proportionate to the group, work and grant	Weighting	
1.	Annual programme 	There is no obvious clash between the types of activities and the nature of the main beneficiaries in D2
The activities seem likely to address the need identified in D3 	2	
2.	Main participant or user groups		Not scored	
3.	Need and response informed by actual or potential users 	There is evidence of proportionate efforts to demonstrate needs and to shape the work on input from potential users or participants and other sources as relevant	3	
4.	Fit with or complement work of others	There is evidence the group is aware of other services and can identify the gaps it fills or added value it brings (e.g. different people, locations, particular approaches, skills,  experience . . . )	2	
Application will proceed to Section E if it scores over 50%  

Section E: How you will deliver  	Evidence should be clear, concise, reasonable and proportionate to the group, work and grant	Weighting	
1.	Human resources to deliver 	The number of people and their roles, skills, past experience appears sufficient and proportionate to delivering the work described in Section D. (Read with E2)	3	
2.	Accessing support from other organisations of required 	There is evidence that the group has assessed and made a reasonable decision about the need to work with other groups. 
If support is needed there is evidence they have access to advice, people, expertise, locations and other support they need.	2	
3.	Participant enlisting: marketing	There is evidence the group is aware of appropriate means to communicate with intended users or participants and has a system in place to do this.  There is evidence of thought being given to reaching specific groups as relevant to the list of main beneficiaries.  (Read with D2)	2	
4.	Participant enlisting: barriers	There is evidence the group has thought about what may stop people taking part and has made reasonable plans to address them e.g. timing, cost, physical, sensory or intellectual access, transport, culture. (Read with D2)	2	
5.	Risk management	There is evidence that the group has considered and identified those risks most likely to occur and have the greatest impact and has taken reasonable and proportionate steps to manage them. 	3	
From D1c and D1d above
Project planning	The programme is clear and timed, with reasonable detail
The activities are community development 
Numbers served appear reasonable given nature of work and beneficiaries.	3	
Application will proceed to Section F if it scores over 50%  

Section F: Funds and value for money	Evidence should be clear, concise, reasonable and proportionate to the group, work and grant	Score out of 3	Weighting	
1.	Funding needed 	The funding requested falls within the rules and parameters of the scheme.   
The budget adds up, appears to cover key elements and is proportionate to the scale of work and the nature of the needs of users or participants. (Read with D1 & D2)	Yes/No	None	
2.	Other sources 
3.	Applications in hand

From F1 F2,F3
Value for money a)	There is evidence that the group has made efforts to raise funds from elsewhere and is meeting with some success.
There is evidence that LCCC funding will leverage funds from elsewhere over the     1 year period.		1	
From F1, D1c and D2,above 
Value for money b)	The funding requested offers value for money given the number of people engaged across 1 year and the nature of the needs being met.		2	
Application will proceed to Part Three if it scores over 50%  

PART THREE: THE DIFFERENCE YOU AIM TO MAKE

Section G: Making a difference  (Outcomes)	Evidence should be clear, concise, reasonable and proportionate to the group, work and grant		
A.	Name of outcome	The applicant has ticked and completed a statement for at least ONE outcome.	Yes /No	

Outcome Statements	Score	Average 		
Outcomes selected (min of two)	i	ii	iii	iv	Total / 4	Weight	
B.	What improves for who or what	There is a clear description of the benefit and the beneficiaries.						2	
C.	How the change derives from activities	It seems reasonable that the work described here and in Part Two will create this type of difference for the beneficiaries identified.						5	
D.	How will know and show if outcome is happening	There is evidence that the group has considered how and when best to gather evidence of outcomes given the nature of the work, the beneficiaries and the time and resources they have available.						4	
Application will proceed to Part Four if it scores over 50% at this point
Within this there must be a reasonable spread of scores across all items B, C and D

Section H: Funder targeting
Postcodes in TSN Areas Sheet
	Postcodes in TSN areas	% added	
Section H: 			

PART FOUR:  DETAILS and DECLARATION

Details and signatures 	Check that all elements are completed and seem accurate (correct number of digits etc.)	Yes  / No	
Account information	Details completed
Details for signatories given 		
Acknowledgment Agreement	Accepted with signatures, below		
Declaration	Signed by contact
Signed by a members		
Application will proceed to allocation process if Part Four completed in full.

Further Information and Guidance – For further information and guidance please contact Community Services on:

T:	028 9244 7713

E:	community.services@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk 

W:	lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/community

Please note the closing date for completed applications is 4.00pm on Thursday 23rd January 2020.