From Monday, local voluntary and community groups can apply for a Community Grant. There is £70,700 in the fund (one of four Voluntary and Community Sector funding schemes within the Council’s overall £0.5m support of this sector). To find out more regarding our Voluntary and Community Sector funding and the application form please visit the SADC website.   Applications for grants of between £500 and £5,000 are welcomed up to 5pm on Friday 27 May 2016.

We are looking to fund projects and activities that benefit the local community, building an inclusive community where everybody is able to take part and contribute to community life.

Applications from local groups must meet at least two of the following criteria –

1. Reduce inequalities.
2. Enable local people to become involved in community life.
3. Encourage people from different groups* to get on well together.
4. Increase local people’s engagement/interest in local democracy.
5. Provide support to vulnerable communities in the District.

* i.e. different faith and cultural backgrounds or those with or without a disability.

Groups applying to the fund will need to provide evidence that their activity/project is needed by the community and that it will make a real difference. Please support your local community by promoting the funding to groups and helping them to identify evidence to support their projects.

The application process is short and straight forward. Additional support is available through Advice Surgeries, run by St Albans CVS: dates on CVS St Albans website. There will be 4 around the District in the first 2 weeks to discuss ideas and 4 in the closing weeks, where groups may attend if they have a completed draft application. It is recommended that groups attend one of these if they have not successfully applied for funding before.

Some examples of projects that have been successful include Special Olympics St Albans, OVO (the Maltings Arts Theatre’s resident theatre company), and St Peter’s Church, St Albans. The Special Olympics’ grant enabled 25 young athletes with a learning disability to attend a residential activity week in Devon. OVO used its grant for a performing arts project for groups that are under-represented in the local community. St Peter’s Church installed a storyteller’s seat and benches in St Peter’s Churchyard using wood from a fallen tree.

To support the Community Grants Fund there is a Launch event on Thursday 7 April 2016. Groups will hear from Council officers about priorities, from the CVS about how to complete the form and from groups which were successful in getting a grant in previous years.