Tenants Community Grant Fund

Council officers can apply for the benefit on behalf of our residents, as long as they meet the criteria stated later in this document. For example, this could be a Neighbourhood Housing Officer who has identified areas that would benefit from a specific safety feature, or a Community Engagement Officer who wants to provide an activity at one of our community hubs.

This is the first year of the CGF and although we will only be able to approve a limited number of projects this year, we hope that in time, this scheme will grow and prove invaluable.

We will recruit a panel of resident grant assessors that work with our Resident Engagement Officer to review applications and determine the outcome of an application.

The CGF will renew each financial year and our aim is for applicants to know the outcome of their application within eight weeks of applying. However, if your application is eligible, but not funded at the first attempt, it may be reconsidered at a future shortlisting.

We cannot make any changes to grant awards once the offer has been made, so please ensure that if you are requesting less than the maximum amount of £500, you calculate your budget properly and you ask for the funding you need. You cannot apply for the funding if you are a profit-making organisation outside of the Arun District or a Community Interest Company with shares/shareholders.

Arun District Council tenants can apply, provided their estate improvement or activity meets one of the following aims:

• improving the aesthetics and/or safety of Arun District estates
• improve the wellbeing of Arun residents
• enabling community cohesion and encourages people to get involved
• have a positive environmental impact on behalf of multiple residents
• training opportunities for groups of residents to boost digital inclusion or improve Arun’s economic potential

The aim of these notes is to help you complete your application form. We’ll explain the information you must give us about your project. We’ll also tell you why we’re asking for certain information and how we use the information you give us.

As this is the first year of the CGF, we do not know what the demand for funding will be, however, it is likely we won’t be able to support all applications because there may not be enough money available.

We make our decisions based on the information you provide in your application, the programme criteria, and outcomes.

We, and the resident grant assessors will use our best judgment to make the difficult choices between the projects seeking funding.

Please bear in mind that it is likely to take up to eight weeks before you hear if your application has been approved, so take this into account when you are looking at when your project will be delivered, if it is successful. This is due to scheduling time between officers and the availability of different resident grant assessors, who will be undertaking this as a voluntary appointment.

As this is an annual programme, you can reapply for funding each year the CGF is active. This is the case whether you have secured funding in previous rounds or did not get approved.

If you have received funding through our CGF previously, you must submit your completion statement for the previous funding before submitting a new application. Your new application will not be considered without the completion statement from the previous grant(s) and may be rejected or withdrawn.

When you’re working on your application online it’s useful to remember:

• you must complete your application in one go
• you will only be able to submit your application when all of the sections are complete.

Apply for a community grant fund

If you require a hard copy of the form please email our resident engagement team. 

Before starting your application form, you will need:

• your contact details
• your project proposal, including who would benefit from it
• your project location and postcode
• your project budget
• any supporting information, for example, this could be photos of the area, quotes from local businesses to provide a service, success stories from other areas.
• two forms of identification for the main project contact

In this section we’re looking for:

• a clear description of the project
• how your project meets the need you have identified
• how your project fits with the CGF’s outcomes

Tell us in detail what the project is and what you want to do. This is your opportunity to let us know what your project is and give us enough information to make a decision about funding. You do not need to provide information about any previous projects you have delivered – experience is not necessary. We just want to know what you will be spending the CGF on and what the benefits would be.

Tell us the overall aim and how it will improve your local community, what the demand is (if known), whether you’ve talked about your project with neighbours or council staff and why it is needed. Please let us know if your project needs to happen at a specific time, for example, if you are requesting that something be installed prior to the start of the school summer holidays.

Some examples of what can’t be funded through the programme are:

• work that has already taken place
• political donations
• fundraising activities or challenges (for example, costs for a sky dive)
• running costs and organisation overheads
• activities which collect funds for redistribution to other charities or individuals
• street parties
• overseas appeals
• expeditions or overseas travel
• promotion of a religious or political cause
• marketing promotions
• research projects
• anything that would interfere with our maintenance obligations, compliance requirements or our health and safety programme of works.

Successful applicants will have 12 months from the date of their grant offer to spend any funds awarded and submit a completion statement. The statement should include photographs, showing how the money has been spent and the impact it has had within the local community. We would also like a quote regarding the difference your project has made. These will be used in our Arun at Home newsletter and be shared on our website and social media.

If you are in any doubt over issues around permission then please contact us before applying and we may be able to help you find out. If you are planning an event, you may need to submit a separate application online and an Events Officer will contact you and let you know what you need to do, such as applying for licensing permission or a temporary events notice.

The maximum amount of funding you can request is £500.

Please provide a breakdown of how you intend to spend your grant. In this section you should enter any quotes you have received or research you have done.

If your plan involves work or improvements, we will try to source an internally approved competent contractor in the first instance. For other events and activities, we will pay invoices or can reimburse receipts. Money will only be paid in advance to an organisation bank account and cannot be paid in advance to individuals. In some circumstances, we may be able to make purchases on behalf of the project.

Each recipient will need to write a short report called a completion statement, explaining how the project went and the approximate number of residents that benefitted from the initiative. We will need copies of any financial spend if this hasn’t been received throughout the process. We will also need a few photos which may be used in correspondence with our residents.

• any amount awarded must be used solely for the purpose outlined in the application
• the amount awarded is final and will not be increased if the individual/group/ project overspends
• if you do not spend the whole amount, any unspent funds must be reported to Arun District Council. For audit purposes, you must provide receipts for any money spent, balance of money in your group / project’s bank account and, if asked, any planned spending
• Arun District Council is not responsible for any money spent by you/your group/project prior to you receiving confirmation that you have been awarded funding.
• once funding has been given, there is no ongoing commitment from Arun District Council to issue further funding to you/your group/project.
• you agree to acknowledge Arun District Council’s support in all subsequent positive publicity relating to your grant, training or the group / project. You will contact Arun District Council to check whether we wish to be included in such content before it is published - call 01903 737500 or email resident.engagement@arun.gov.uk
• Arun District Council reserve the right to inform media organisations of support it has given to you/your group/project
• you agree to allow Arun District Council representatives to visit your group/ project and talk to participants
• Arun District Council will withhold payment/part payment if:
  • it becomes apparent that the application form contained incorrect information
  • your project ceases to exist or the purpose of your project changes in any way that is not in line with the grant given
• any project must not interfere with compliance or health and safety work – we can advise you of this when we consult with you on your application.
• any relevant staff will be consulted prior to permission being granted – this could be the neighbourhood housing officer, estate services officers, community parks officers, management. We will either contact them on your behalf or provide you with the relevant contact information
• you may be required to undertake a risk assessment prior to your event or project - if necessary, we will provide you with a template to do this.
• the decision we issue on the application is final and is not subject to any right of appeal