The Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway

Parish Plan and East Kent Rural Community Grant
‘Helping communities to help themselves’
The following guidelines should supply all the information you need to complete your application. We will review your application and contact you directly if any additional information or clarification is required and acknowledge receipt of your application in writing.

Guidance Notes

Purpose of the Grant
The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust believes that local people should be at the heart of the regeneration of their area and that access to services and opportunities are essential to a sustainable rural way of life.  This grants programme is targeted at:

• Rural communities undertaking a parish plan for the first time
• Small projects that propose innovative ways of tackling rural community problems, or create a wider range of opportunities in these areas.

Who Can Apply?

• Grants are only available for charities and other properly constituted organisations based and working within the districts of Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Shepway, Swale and Thanet. 

What types of project are eligible?

• Your proposal should make a difference to the quality of life for rural residents in the area e.g.

• Improved physical access – disabled access, clearing footpaths, better lighting
• Improved access to services – bringing clinics or advice services into your village hall
• Inter-generational projects
• Shared equipment – Speedwatch equipment costs are best shared across several parishes. Mobile youth facilities have also been very successfully shared.

What will this scheme not fund?

• Animal welfare charities
• Commercial ventures or publications
• Direct replacement of statutory funding or activities that are primarily the responsibility of central or local government
• Feasibility Studies
• General on-going running costs
• Hospitals or schools – PTA's can apply. If they are properly constituted and have their own bank account.
• Individuals directly
• Large capital, endowment or widely distributed appeals
• National charities - unless they have a dedicated office and project located and operating within East Kent
• Overseas travel or holidays
• Political activities
• Projects with a total cost of over £10,000
• Research
• Retrospective grants or loans
• Salaries

Scale of Grants

• Parish Plan grants - the maximum size of grant is £1400 or 50% of the total cost of your project, whichever is the lower. For a list of parishes in your area that have already completed a plan click here.
• Small Project grants - the maximum size of grant is £5,000 or 50% of the total cost of your project whichever is the lower. Projects with a total cost in excess of £10,000 should consider making an application to the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust’s larger grant scheme – www.cfct.org.uk or contact us directly for other funding suggestions.

Matched funding

• You will need to fund 50% of your total project cost from other sources. Please contact us directly if you need help in identifying possible sources.
• If you have not secured the matched funding at the time of your application any offer made by the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust will be conditional on that funding being secured within 6 months of the date of your offer letter.
• Volunteer time will not be counted as eligible for match funding.

Applications

• Applications can be submitted at any time via the online application form.
• If you partially complete the form and wish to revisit it later to complete it DO NOT try and save a file, just close the web page. To complete the form just revisit the web site link and you will find your data has been retained. This information is only held on your personal computer and is not accessible to anyone else.
• Items with a * against them must be completed.
• Applications will be processed on a rolling basis, usually within six months, but they may take longer on occasion.  Provisional dates for application deadlines and panel meetings are:

• Supporting documents should be mailed to our office as soon as possible and should reach us before the appropriate deadline date.
• Applications and will be acknowledged with a letter advising the date of the panel meeting that will review their submission

How is each project assessed?

• The review panel will look for:

• Value for money;
• Number of people gaining benefit;
• How well your project meets the priorities stated above;
• Evidence of matched funding, in place or applied for;
• An appropriate and realistic budget;
• All required supporting documents:

• A copy of your Constitution/Set of Rules/Memorandums and Arts
• A copy of your most recent Bank Account
• Last Set of Accounts (if applicable)
• Evidence of support/Need for the project
• Quotes for individual items/services costing more than £1,000

Decisions

• All applicants will be notified of the panel's decision in writing with appropriate feedback for unsuccessful applications.

Payment of Grant

• All awards are made subject to the general terms and conditions that form part of the application form.
• For most applications a single payment will be made in advance. Any variation on this will be made clear in the offer letter sent to successful applicants.

If there is a question that you have that is not answered within this guide, please feel free to email  Trevor Skelton on trevor.skelton@ruralkent.org.uk.