APPLY TO THE MENDIP HILLS FUND

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.

You can see all the questions and draft your answers offline. If you want to work offline then download this Microsoft Word version of the application form. If you do use this 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 your begin. We ask you to upload:

a bank statement in your group's name from the last 3 months (can consider alternatives)
your group's most recent accounts (not new groups)
your group's current safeguarding policy, which must meet our standards
your group's constitution or governing document

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 eligbility quiz to try and stop this happening.

Please email or call us 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.

Charity number

Company number

When did your group start?

What was your group set up to do? Tell us why it was established and who it serves.

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

ADDRESS 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?

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 £

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?

YOUR APPLICATION

In one sentence, please tell us what this grant would enable your group to do.

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 Mendip Hills priority will your project address? Tell us whether your project will address conservation, education or social and economic wellbeing initiatives

How does your project, or the work you do, meet the Mendip Hills priority mentioned above?

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

What would you like to do with this grant? Tell us what it would pay for, like the number of sessions you will run, what you would buy, or how it would contribute to your general running costs.

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

How does your project involve your community? Tell us about how you know your community wants this to happen; who you have spoken to, what you have learned from them, and who you need to work with in your community.

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

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

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

Enter whole numbers only without £

How much money are you asking us for?

Enter whole numbers only without £

YOUR IMPACT

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

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

How old will most of those people be?

What ethnicity will most of those people belong to?

Which gender will most of those people belong to?

THE DIFFERENCE YOU WILL MAKE

Please select the main difference your project/activity will make.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

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 address where the statement was sent; 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.

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.

Unfortunately we cannot proceed with this application unless you select 'Yes' to the above question. Please go back and select yes to show you agree with our Terms and Conditions.

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.

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.

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.