Accent on Giving

Community Investment Fund Criteria

1. Introduction

Community Investment funding is for contributions to initiatives and projects that will ensure the sustainability of the schemes, neighbourhood and communities in which we work. For the financial year 2014/15 we have received an allocation of £35,000.

2. Objectives

Our third business objective is to “support our residents to sustain their homes and communities”; whilst all applications for funding will be judged on their own merit they should be relevant and relate to this objective.

The following list establishes the criteria for funding. Applications for funding must demonstrate how they can promote Accent’s vision by contributing to at least one of the following:

 Engagement – to increase effective resident involvement in how Accent is run;  Sustainability – to help residents settle and stay in their homes by providing, for example, digital and financial inclusion support as well as benefits advice;  Investment – to invest in communities to help sustain and improve the physical environment; and  Training and Employment – to provide our residents and those from other social housing providers with new skills and work opportunities or help them to become ready for work.

The community Investment fund will be used to:  Provide grants to community projects;  Support community projects in fundraising activities;  Provide grants and workplace experience placements to schools in areas where we operate;  Support diversionary activities for young people during school holidays which build confidence and skills;  Support local charities; and  Support credit unions which our residents engage with.

3. Criteria for Funding

The Community Investment Fund for 2014/15 is £35,000 which equates to £8,750.00 per quarter. Bids are invited for sums between £100.00 and £2,000.00.

Criteria – Nov 2014 1 NM In line with our delivery plan, the Community Investment Panel will assess bids against the funding criteria and approve funding where this is met.

Principles

1. Funding will be aimed at initiatives on Accent schemes or in areas where Accent owns properties.

2. Applications should be for genuinely local projects not local delivery of national projects

3. For projects that are not exclusively for the benefit of Accent residents, preference will be given to projects or initiatives where there has already been some fundraising, or where match funding has been secured from other agencies.

4. Applications should state how funding will lead to improvements for Accent residents and/or the neighbourhoods and communities they represent and demonstrate planned outcomes that have engagement, sustainability, and investment or training dimensions.

5. The benefits are intended for communities where there is evidence of a need for the proposed initiative.

6. The application must demonstrate value for money

7. The application must not relate to any profit generating activity

8. Applications should be made by completing an application form and can be from Accent staff, formally constituted groups or associations and informal groups. All applications should be supported by a member of Accent staff. Informal groups should apply via their local Accent officer who can help and advice groups with their applications.

9. Officers of Accent may also propose and lead initiatives, but it is expected that these would be supported by Accent residents.

10. All applications will be considered by the Community Investment Panel and the outcome will be reported to the Customer Services Committee and the Scrutiny Panel.

11. The Community Investment Panel has the right to defer applications that are incomplete until all information is provided.

12. Any member of the Community Investment Panel who may have an interest in an application for funding (eg an Accent resident) must declare their interest and will not be part of the final assessment/ approval process.

2 13. Money not allocated midyear will be allocated by the community investment panel either within region or in another region.

14. Where appropriate, Accent may wish to publicise its contributions to projects from the Community Investment Fund.

Exclusions

1. Projects that fall under the duty of statutory agencies or statutory funding will not normally be eligible for grants from the Community Investment Fund. 2. Funding benefitting individuals/a small group of people 3. Monuments or memorials 4. Items that will become personally owned 5. Retrospective funding 6. Management and professional fees

Terms and Conditions of Funding

Successful bids will be acknowledged in writing by the Resident Engagement Officer with terms and conditions which are that expenditure should be committed within three months of approval and that the applicant agrees to provide an evaluation of the project within three months, including any proof of expenditure provided

Monitoring

IMPORTANT - If you are awarded a grant you must ensure you keep all receipts and evidence of expenditure as we will need to see these. Where necessary please provide quotes to support your funding application You must also keep a register of all people who attend your activities. This data will only be used in connection with the monitoring and evaluation of the project. More detail will be provided if you are successful with your application. Dead line for the applications is 28 February 2015. Further Information For more information or if you need help completing the application, please contact Naheed Malik on 03456780550 or email – [email protected]. Please note that there is a limited amount of money available under this scheme and while Accent Group will aim to fund as many projects as possible, it is not possible to guarantee that all eligible applications will be funded.

Criteria – Nov 2014 3 NM