Sheffield City Council
Northern Community Assembly
Guidance Leaflet
Positive Activities Small Grants
of up to £1,500 for activities for
8-13 year olds
Closing date: Wednesday 7 September 2011, 5pm
Our aim
Positive Activities Small Grants for activities for 8 to 13 year olds aim to support the city’s Youth
Strategy by making available small amounts of money up to £1,500 per group to small
voluntary, community and self-help groups that want to make a difference in their local
community by providing positive activities for young people aged between 8 and 13 years. The
activities do not have to be targeted exclusively at this age range but we expect at least 75% of
the young people taking part to be aged between 8 and 13 years.
We will prioritise activities that:
Are fun, enjoyable and FREE to young people and are additional to existing activities.
Are based on what young people say they want.
Involve one or more of the following: arts & crafts, culture & heritage, environmental
projects, play, sports or music & creative media.
Promote challenge, achievement and success.
Provide open access for local young people and cater for all abilities including young
people with disabilities.
Offer structured activities which have clear goals and are well led and organised.
Wherever possible encourage the involvement of adults as role models including parents
and families.
Applying for a grant
To apply for a grant you need to fill in our application form. Please write clearly and check the
phone numbers you give. Make sure that you answer all the questions fully. You can use
additional sheets of paper if necessary or add other information in support of your application.
If you receive and/or fill in the form electronically, you will need to print out the form, sign
it and return it, by the closing date, to the address given on the back of the form:
Accountable Body Services Team, Town Hall, Sheffield S1 2HH.
Please read this guidance carefully to ensure that your group is eligible to receive funding
before you fill in the form. If you are unsure about your project and want to discuss it further
please contact Accountable Body Services Team on 0114 273 4113 or email
accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
Who can apply
You do not need to be a registered charity or have a constitution to apply.
You may apply for a grant providing that:
Your group is set up for charitable purposes and is not for profit.
You have a bank account in your group’s name and at least two people (not related to
one another) must sign any cheque or withdrawal from the account.
Your group can run the activity and complete the form, even if they get some help with
this. The contact for the grant and the person signing the form must be a member of the
group or its management committee.
You can provide the financial information that we require. Please see below.
Your group or activity is open to both boys and girls. If your group is for only boys or
only girls you will need to tell us why in the application form so that we can be sure that
you are exempt from the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 as amended by
the Equality Act 2006 which does not allow the Council to do anything that constitutes
discrimination or harassment within the meaning of this legislation.
Your group is locally based with local people involved in the management committee.
Groups should be located in and operated within the Northern Community Assembly
area (i.e. in the Stannington, Stocksbridge & Upper Don, West Ecclesfield or East
Ecclesfield wards).
What to include with your application – essential information:
1. Financial Information
You must send us:
a copy of a recent bank statement (showing financial activity, the account holder name,
account number and sort code)
and
a copy of the group’s accounts or a financial statement showing your group’s income
and expenditure for the most recent 12 month period.
If you do not have a financial statement please use the financial summary form available on the
website or please ask us to send you a copy.
2. Safeguarding children & young people
If you are working with children and young people aged under 18, or including children and
young people in a community or family event, please read the leaflet Council Grants: What is
required when working with children and with your application you must send us:
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A copy of your group’s Child Protection Policy.
and
a completed Child Protection Form (available on the website). This is because before we
can consider your application we need evidence that you have carried out Criminal Record
Bureau checks for any paid staff or volunteers working with children and young people
where this is required by the law. If your group has not carried out CRB checks, you can
apply for a grant from us to do this – you will need to contact one of the umbrella bodies
under the ‘Useful contacts’ section and provide a quote with your application.
There are two versions of the Child Protection Form, depending on whether you are
applying for regular activities or a one-off event. If you have any questions about how to
fill in the Child Protection Form or which form to use, please contact us.
What to include with your application – other information:
Equipment and materials
For any single item of equipment costing over £100 you must send a quote. This can be
photocopies of pages from catalogues, written quote from suppliers or print-outs from the
internet.
Check whether you need to pay VAT or not and include it if you do.
Recreational trips
If you are applying for a recreational trip, you need to send us a quote for the coach or minibus
you are planning to use. Tell us how many people will be going on the trip, where they will be
going and on what date. You also need to tell us how this trip will benefit your group. You can
also apply for other costs relating to the trip, such as admission fees.
Activities taking place in a park, open space or woodland
We will need confirmation that you have permission from the landowner (whether it is Sheffield
City Council or another agency) to use the site for the purpose stated on your application.
Please provide evidence of the permission with your application.
Refreshments
We will pay for basic refreshments for the young people involved in the activities (for example, a
drink and a biscuit on arrival at a session).
Are there any conditions that apply?
If you decide to change how you will spend the money, then you must let us know.
You must keep receipts – we ask you to send in copies.
You must complete the activities we have funded by 31 March 2012.
You will be sent or given a monitoring form that you must complete and return to us by the
date stated on the form.
If you don’t return the monitoring form you may not get any funding in the future.
You can only submit one application per funding round and only one application per project
in a financial year
You must acknowledge the grant in any publicity and participate in initiatives organised by
the Community Assembly to publicise Small Grants
A full copy of the standard conditions for small grants are available on the website or on
request
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Who decides about our application?
Applications will be considered by a Grants Panel including local Councillors and Council
officers within 3 weeks of the grant application deadline.
When will we find out if we've been successful?
We will write to you within one month of the Grant Panel meeting to let you know if you have
been successful.
We do not consider applications from:
Groups which already receive funding via the main grant programme of Kids Can Do
Groups with a high annual income;
Groups with large unrestricted reserves or more than a year’s running costs in the bank;
Groups not based in Sheffield;
Other City Council departments;
Public bodies such as Parish or Town Councils, hospitals or health bodies;
Educational establishments including schools, universities and colleges;
Private businesses;
Consultants, tutors or instructors;
Individuals;
Animal charities.
We do not consider applications for:
Computers or digital cameras;
Costs of setting up and maintaining a website;
Costs that you would reasonably expect to fund yourself;
Costs for the benefit of individuals, such as training or course fees, clothing or items
which cannot be shared, etc.;
Costs which have already been incurred;
Loans, debts or endowments;
Flat rate volunteer expenses (as opposed to actual out-of-pocket expenses);
Activities primarily aimed at promoting religious or political beliefs;
Crime prevention and security measures, such as CCTV, fencing, locks etc;
New activities, which have high ongoing maintenance costs where you cannot show us
that you have a track record of fundraising at the level of income needed.
Any further questions?
If you have any questions, or you are unsure about your project and want to discuss it further
please contact the Accountable Body Services Team on 0114 273 4113 or email us at
accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
If you are not happy with us:
If you have a complaint about our service or a member of our staff please write to the Team
Manager at the address below. We will write to tell you what we have done in response to your
concerns and explain how to take it further if you are not happy with the outcome.
Accountable Body Services Team, Town Hall, Sheffield S1 2HH
Telephone: 0114 273 4113
Email: accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
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