Community Chest Grants

Who can apply?

Applicants must be either:

• a non-profit group or organisation (including Community Interest Companies, CIC) based in South Cambridgeshire or benefiting South Cambridgeshire residents, or be a public sector body with a demonstrable community focus (individuals and businesses are not eligible)
• a Parish/Town Council or Parish Meeting with fewer than 200 registered electors*, with the exemption of:
  
  • Parish/Town Councils of any size can apply for funding for costs involved in the undertaking, creation or refreshing of a Community-Led Plan (Parish Plan). This does not cover the costs of delivering projects emerging from a Community-led Plan (further details below)
  • Parish/Town Councils of any size can apply for biodiversity grants through this fund provided that they are not already in receipt of a grant from the Council’s Zero Carbon Communities grant fund
  • Parish/Town Councils of any size can apply for grants that provide a benefit to those affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

*The Committee reserves the right to supersede this clause should the Parish/Town Council or Parish Meeting show good cause, for example:

a) The Parish/Town Council or Parish Meeting have multiple settlements and the application pertains to any one of these which satisfies the 200-elector threshold or

b) Registered electors are within 10% of the threshold.

In addition to the above, applicants must also:

• Have a written constitution or mission statement
• Have an elected committee or representative steering group
• Be able to provide an up-to-date copy of their accounts and any relevant protection policies

If you have questions about these criteria, please contact us using the details below.  

If your organisation does not have a written constitution, mission statement and/or relevant protection policies please contact Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service for advice in meeting these requirements.  Please call 01223 464 696 or email enquiries@cambridgecvs.org.uk

The community activity or project must:

• Meet local need and leave a legacy for the community
• Ensure equality of access 

Help us deliver 1 or more of the following aims:

• Promote healthy and active communities
• Enable inclusive communities
• Develop skills
• Enhance the natural environment/a sustainable increase in local biodiversity
• Deliver community engagement through the creation or refreshing of a Community-led Plan
• Provide a benefit to those affected by the cost-of-living crisis

The activity or project should be one of the following:

• Improvements to community buildings and spaces (for example, village halls/pavilions/play areas, and so forth)
• Repairs to Historic Buildings/Monuments/Memorials
• Equipment/Capital Purchase
• Materials
• ‘Start-up’ costs (may include training of staff/volunteers, hall hire and other revenue costs)
• Costs involved with undertaking and creating or refreshing of a Community-Led Plan (resulting projects will only receive funding where they would have been eligible for the Community Chest anyway)

• Regarding cost-of-living projects, examples could include -

  • repair cafés where the local community can help in getting household items fixed for free
  • Timebanking projects (an exchange-based work trading system in which hours are the currency, instead of money)
  • lunch clubs for those in need (excludes the cost of food)
  • Community support initiatives that provide food/ activities/ support services/ educate individuals on reducing food waste and cooking low-cost meals
  • setting up/running a group or charity where people can obtain free furniture, clothing, food, toys. Free, impartial legal guidance can be found on the Business Companion website
  • establishing or building the capacity of food hubs, food banks, or community fridges
  • Capital costs needed to set up a warm hub (excluding warm hubs run by Cambridgeshire ACRE and any ongoing revenue costs, for example, heating costs)
• For biodiversity projects: 
  • The purchase and planting of native trees
  • Hedgerows, wildflower meadows or other vegetation in appropriate and suitable locations and their ongoing maintenance
  • The construction and erection of bird and bat boxes in suitable locations
  • The creation or improvement of wildlife habitats (terrestrial or aquatic)
  • The improvement of existing habitat

The following cannot be funded by this grant: 

• on-going revenue costs or overheads, for example, salaries, rent, advertising, promotional materials. The exceptions to this are:
  • the creation of Community-led Plans (revenue costs associated with the resulting projects will not be funded)
  • Cost-of-living projects (revenue costs cannot be used to cover the cost of food or the ongoing costs needed to run a warm hub, such as heating costs)
• activities, events or services which have already taken place, including staff development time
• Projects that replace funding by other public sector bodies, including Parish/Town councils (for example youth services, highways)
• projects that have not received the support of all local District Councillor(s) for the ward/s concerned. Please ensure when contacting your local District Councillor(s) that they are all provided with full details of your project or a copy of your application form
• costs associated with Neighbourhood Watch schemes
• costs associated with Community Speedwatch schemes or other traffic initiatives
• items that would only benefit ‘individuals’ and not the group (for example, sports kits)
• non-native flower tubs
• infrastructure projects on Parish/Town Council owned buildings/land where the applicant is not the Parish/Town Council. There are some infrastructure exceptions, in which case, a 50% financial contribution from the Parish/Town council is expected. These exceptions are:  
  • Any biodiversity project
  • Any cost of living project
  • Any project where the applicant has a long-term lease (with at least 10 years remaining) in place with the Parish/Town council
  • Any project that does not have a major impact on the fabric of a building or structure of the land. For example, the installation of new blinds, planters or seating areas.

Within the Community Chest, infrastructure projects are defined as those which alter the structure/fabric of a building or land. This includes elements such as walls, flooring, roofs or paths. In certain circumstances where the life of the infrastructure change is not expected to be 10 years, applications could still be considered by the Grants Advisory Committee.

The maximum award is £2,000 in any single financial year (April to March) and can be for 100% of project costs.

If a group is awarded funding of less than £2,000 in any single financial year, an application can be made again within the same year for extra funding, as long as the total allocation for that year does not exceed £2,000.

If a group is awarded funding of up to and including £2,000, for any of the Community Chest themes in any single financial year, they can apply again within the same year for up to and including £2,000, for funding of other Community Chest themes.

If a group is awarded funding of up to and including £2,000, for any of the Community Chest themes in any single financial year, they can also apply for any other Council funded grants within the same financial year, and vice versa.

Where appropriate, applicants are encouraged to seek part-funding from other sources including their Parish/Town council. There is no requirement for this, but if there is high demand for funding, it may mean that the District Council is only able to make a contribution to your project.

The Council reserves the right to prioritise based on funding available, size of electorate, Parish/Town precept, indices of deprivation, number and type of applications received at any given time, priorities for the financial year and value for money.  Eligibility does not guarantee grant funding. 

Subject to availability of funds, successful applicants will be funded after each Grant's Advisory Committee (GAC) meeting. Applications will need to be received by the seventh day of any given month to be considered at the Grant's Advisory Committee meeting within the same month. This also applies at the end of each financial year - applications received after 7 March will be held over and considered within the new financial year (at April GAC), along with any held over from the March meeting itself. 

Upcoming meeting dates can be found on the Council’s Grant's Advisory Committee webpage.

We will always ask applicants to seek a green option when purchasing items for their projects and this must be evidenced within the application.

For example, a group may be looking to purchase a new minibus for their community. We would expect the group to evidence and include market research with their application demonstrating that a similar electrically powered vehicle has been considered. However, if the electric alternative is not within price range, or would not be fit for purpose this must be explained before we would consider contributing towards an alternative.

For biodiversity projects: planting of trees, hedgerows, wildflower meadows or other vegetation must be native. The construction and erection of bird and bat boxes must be in suitable locations. 

Natural Cambridgeshire have produced a useful Local Nature Recovery Toolkit which provides guidance, advice and support for Communities wanting to create nature recovery plans.

To support your application, you will need:

• a copy of your organisation’s constitution or mission statement
• a copy of your latest accounts (audited if available)
• a quote for the community activity or project
• a copy of your safeguarding policy
• a copy of any correspondence from your local District Councillor(s) showing they are supportive of your project
• a bank statement for the account you wish the funds to be paid into. Statement but be dated within the last month
• applications for funding towards the creation of Community-led Plans that are not made by the Parish/Town Council itself should demonstrate that the Parish / Town Council is supportive of the application

For biodiversity projects please include:

• a plan of the proposed work, including a project map and project outcomes
• a timeline of the proposed work indicating mileposts and delivery date
• a brief management plan which describes how the project will be sustainable

For Community-led Plan applications, details should be supplied of any funding being allocated by the Parish / Town Council to the creation of the Plan.

In addition, the following will be required if relevant to the project:

• appropriate protection policies: children, young people, vulnerable adults
• public Rights of Way consent from landowner
• any other relevant material that would support your application

If successful, the applicant will receive the grant payment once we have received acknowledgement of the grant offer and acceptance of the terms and conditions.

Groups that are awarded a grant will be expected to comply with the following conditions as a minimum:

• funding must only be used for the agreed purpose and spent within 12-months of the award being made (unless otherwise agreed in writing)
• any publicity must acknowledge the award provided
• unused grant must be returned to South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC)
• an end of project evaluation must be submitted to us within 3-months of project completion
• defibrillators - only the cost of defibrillators will be funded through the Community Chest Grant scheme and the associated accessories and ongoing maintenance/training (the provision of which the Committee will want assurance) will be funded by the applicant

Defibrillators must be located where they can be accessed by the public at all times and Defib Finder provides up to date information on defibrillator locations across the UK, using data from The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.

• projects on Parish/Town Council owned buildings/land - applicants will be expected to demonstrate that the same organisation will be purchasing, owning and maintaining the equipment/items (for example where a Parish/Town council owns a building, a community group using that building cannot apply for funding if they would not be owning and maintaining the purchased equipment/items)

For biodiversity projects:

• the project must deliver a sustainable increase in local biodiversity, known as Biodiversity Net Gain. An increase means that you should be able to demonstrate positive change in biodiversity from pre-project conditions (for example: number of trees, number of square metres of land - either created or improved)
• sustainability means that it should persist over time and not be a temporary change

Any award will not be means tested, but applicants will be expected to have sought other means of local funding, especially from the parish council who may have funds available through planning developments (S106) or through its precept (S137).