APPLY TO THE HPC COMMUNITY FUND ACTIVE SPACES PROGRAMME

BEFORE YOU START

To apply for a grant you need to answer some questions and upload some documents.

You can save your application at any time. To do this, click the box at the top of each page and enter your details. You will be emailed a link that you can use to resume your application at another time. You can also share this link with other people in your group.

Please refer to the guidance document for Active Spaces. If you want to work offline you can use the guidance document to draft your answers then you will still need to paste them into the online form.

Some of the questions have word limits for your answers. For instance, a description of what you would spend a grant on. These questions have long word limits as some people like to give a lot of detail. However, we don't expect you to write more than about 150 words for these answers.

You should get your group's documents ready before you begin. We ask you to upload:

a bank statement in your group's name from the last 3 months
your group's most recent accounts
your group's current safeguarding policy, which must meet our minimum standards (see the safeguarding section on our FAQ page)
your group's constitution or governing document
project budget including secured and unsecured match funding
project plan including any key milestones and a risk register
quotes for any work or purchase over £5,000
up to date management accounts

The application takes most people about 90 minutes to complete. We don't want you to waste your time applying when we cannot give you a grant. The next page has a quick eligibility quiz to try and stop this happening.

Please email us on info@somersetcf.org.uk or call us on

01749 344949 if you need help. We're here to help you with any technical difficulties you might have, including assistance if you cannot apply online. We can also help to clarify any queries you might have about eligibility, priorities, and our different funds. Contacting us first will save you time if you are unsure about anything.

YOUR GROUP

What's your group called? Tell us the full name of your group as shown on your governing document.

What type of group is it? Tell us if it is a charity, community group, social enterprise or something else.

Company number

We can fund CICs but we will need to understand your trading model. Please outline your trading model in the below box. For more information on our approach to funding social enterprises, please see our FAQs.

We can fund Company's limited by Guarantee, but we will need to understand your trading model and how you operate as a not-for-profit business. Please outline these in the box below. We will also check that all Directors have shared control and that you have a not for profit clause in your articles of association.

We can fund unincorporated groups, but if income is regularly over £5,000 we would need to understand your approach to becoming incorporated. This is because the Charity Commission's guidance is that groups should look becoming incorporated once their annual income goes above the £5000 threshold. More information on their guidance can be found here. Unincorporated groups cannot enter into contracts as the organisation; we will also take this into consideration when looking at your group. Please outline your approach to becoming incorporated here.

Charity number

Are you a part of a larger regional or national organisation?

YesNo

When did your group start? Tell us the month and year it was set up.

Why does your organisation exist, and who decides what it does?

You can write up to 500 words, but 50 to 200 words should be enough.

What was your group’s most recent annual income? Tell us what your income was in your last accounts. If you’re a new group, then enter 0.

Enter whole numbers only without £

How much money does your group currently have in free reserves? Free reserves are the funds your group has that aren’t already committed or restricted for a specific purpose, project, or future cost. In other words, it’s the money you could spend freely to keep your work going.

Enter whole numbers only without £

Is this your first grant (from any funder)?

YesNo

Has your group received grant funding from Somerset Community Foundation before?

YesNo

GROUP CONTACT DETAILS

What's your group's main address and postcode?

Street

Town

County

Postcode

What's your group's main telephone number?

What's your group's main email address?

What's your group's website address?

Email Domain

STAFF, VOLUNTEER AND TRUSTEE NUMBERS

Please enter the number of full time and part time staff, volunteers, management committee members, members and trustees you have in your organisation

Full time staff

Part time staff

Trustees

Management Committee

Volunteers (excluding Management Committee)

Members (excluding Management Committee)

YOUR CONTACT DETAILS

Please provide details for your group's main contact. This will be the first person we contact if we need to discuss your project, and the person we contact with the outcome of your application.

First name:

Last name:

Preferred Email

Personal Email

Work Email

Preferred Phone Number

Home Phone

Work Phone

Mobile Phone

Role within the group

Does the main contact have any additional communication needs?

Yes No

If so, please specify:

YOUR APPLICATION

Project name

Up to 25 words only

When do you want to start spending the grant, if you get it?

When do you think you would finish spending the grant?

What's the postcode where most of the beneficiaries live? This might be the same as your group's address, but it might be somewhere else.

Which area (estate, town, village, borough) do most of the people who benefit come from?

What happens in this space, and what would people lose if it closed?

You are able to write up to 1000 words.

What has the construction of Hinkley Point C meant for the people who use this space?

You are able to write up to 1000 words.

What has the community already put into this place?

You are able to write up to 500 words.

Who doesn't come through the door?

You are able to write up to 500 words.

How does this connect to what else is happening locally?

You are able to write up to 500 words.

What will this place look like in 10 years, and what will keep it going?

You are able to write up to 1000 words.

Are there any ways we can help you make the next 10 years a success, beyond this grant?

You are able to write up to 500 words.

How do you keep everyone safe? Tell us about the policies and procedures you have to keep staff, volunteers and the people you work with safe. This question is about safeguarding, not health and safety.

You are able to write up to 500 words.

PROJECT BUDGET

How much money do you need in total to make this happen?

Enter whole numbers only without £

How much money have you raised so far?

Enter whole numbers only without £

How much money are you asking us for?

Enter whole numbers only without £

How will you spend the grant?

You are able to write up to 500 words.

YOUR IMPACT

How many people will directly benefit from this grant? Be realistic and focus on those who are likely to see a significant change.

How many people will indirectly benefit from this grant?

How old will most of those people be?

Which group of people do you think will benefit the most? Select 'other' if none of the options matches your work.

What ethnicity will most of those people belong to?

Which gender will most of those people belong to?

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Before applying, your SCF Exec took you through a list of things you'd need to upload in support of your application. Please submit these here. If you cannot submit them at this stage, or have any other questions, please get in touch with your SCF Exec.

BANK DETAILS

Account name

Not the name of your bank

Sort code

6 digits without spaces or dashes

Account number

8 digits without spaces or dashes

Building society number

You only need to fill this in if your organisation’s account is with a building society or a credit union. If your account is a credit union account you should record your membership number in this field.

Upload a bank statement from within the last 3 months. The image must clearly show the bank's name or logo; the account name; the account number and sort code. If you have a new bank account opened within the last three months, we can accept a bank welcome letter instead of a statement. The letter must confirm the date the account was opened and all of the account details.

ACCOUNTS

Upload your group's most recent accounts. These should show your group's balance of funds, income and expenditure. If you do not have financial records covering a full year then you will need to provide the records you currently have.

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

Upload your group's governing document. You might call this your constitution, articles of association, or set or rules.

SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Upload your group's safeguarding policy. This must be up-to-date, within its review period and relevant to your group's work. See the safeguarding section on our FAQ page to find the minimum we expect to see in a safeguarding policy

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Upload supporting documents. These might include quotes for works, community consultation information or anything else that you think might support your application.

PROJECT SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS

Upload project specific documents. A detailed project budget, a project plan with risk register, quotes for work or purchases (where appropriate)

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

In order to submit your application, you need to respond to the following statements.

I have been authorised by my group's governing body to submit this application and accept the terms and conditions on their behalf.

Yes

I have provided accurate and complete information in this application, to the best of my knowledge, and I will notify Somerset Community Foundation if anything changes.

Yes

I understand that Somerset Community Foundation will process and store any personal information provided in accordance with our Data Protection Policy. For more information about how we gather and store data, please read our Privacy Statement.

Yes

If funded, my group is willing to appear in publicity produced by Somerset Community Foundation. We understand that this may not be appropriate for some groups, and it is therefore not a requirement of funding. It would be helpful to know if you can support us in this way.

If you want to save a copy of your application, you will be given the option to print - save to PDF on the next page, prior to submission.