The Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway

Parish Plan and East Kent Rural Community Grant
‘Helping communities to help themselves’

The following guide walks through completion of the application form and should provide all the information you require.

Basic  Information

NB 

• All questions marked with an * must be completed.
• If you wish to complete the form in stages DO NOT attempt to save your work – simply exit the web page. Your input will be retained on your computer and will appear when you revisit the web link to the application form.
• Applications will be processed on a rolling basis. Provisional list of application deadlines and panel meeting dates are:

• All applicants will receive written notification of the result of their application.

• Type of Grant: – please select one of the two buttons:

Parish Plan – this is for parishes undertaking their first parish plan or revisiting a previous plan that is over 5 years old
Small Project – maximum project cost £10,000. For projects larger than this you might consider the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust large grant fund – visit www.cfct.org.uk or contact us for other potential funders.

• Is your organisation VAT registered? - select one of the two buttons.

• Organisation details - 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

• How did you hear about this fund? - select all that apply.

• Project Information - Your proposal should make a significant difference to the quality of life for rural residents in the districts listed above by, for example
• Improving physical access – disabled access, clearing footpaths, better lighting;
• Improving access to services – bringing clinics/advice services into your village hall;
• Inter-generational projects;
• Shared equipment – expensive items such as Speedwatch equipment or mobile youth facilities have been very successfully shared in many communities;
• Developing projects to support the isolated – young people, carers or the elderly.

• Is this project New or Ongoing? – select one of the two buttons and enter your start date in the box below.

• What will you use the money for and how will this improve your local community?  Please explain here what goods and/or services you intend to provide and what you expect their impact to be.

• Is your project supported by local people? - select one of the two buttons. If you have existing evidence this can be included with the other supporting documents you will need to mail to us. Otherwise please explain here how you will obtain some evidence. This will need to be provided before a grant is approved.

• How can you demonstrate that this project does not duplicate or conflict with existing projects? Please explain in the box below.

• How will you measure the success of your project?  You may need to establish a baseline against which you can measure your progress or there may be obvious indicators of success. Please explain here.

• How do you intend to publicise your success and share your expertise with other groups in your area? Broadcasting your success can help you on the way to your next project and will maximise the benefit gained from your award.

• Are you available to provide information and/or advice to other potential applicant groups? - select one of the two buttons

Financial  Information

NB

• all applications require 50% matched funding.
• If you have not secured this 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.
• Individual items/services

• What is the amount of grant you are requesting? The maximum grant for new parish plans is £1400 or 50% of the total project cost, whichever is the lower. For small project grants the limit is £5000 or 50% of the total project cost, whichever is the lower, with a maximum project budget of £10,000. Please provide a breakdown of your budget and select buttons to indicate if funds are confirmed or otherwise in the table below. Please be aware that at the time of writing, Volunteer time CANNOT be counted as matched funding.

• Your group must have its own bank account? A clear copy of your most recent statement can be included with the other supporting documents you post to us. This is so that we can verify that you have an account, not to check how much money is in it.

• Don’t forget to send in the following:
• 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

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