Last Updated : 04.12.2008

You are here: Home > Community > Grant Funding

Funding for your organisation

• National Lottery Funding Sources
• Funding and advice within the Wealden District
• Wealden Community Support
• Funding and advice from East Sussex County Council
• Funding from the European Union
• Fundraising activities, Techniques and advice
• Other funding sources
• Rate Relief

In this section you will find helpful advice about funding opportunities available to you in Wealden. If you would like any further advice on sourcing funding for a project please contact the Community Grants Officer on 01323 443302  or email communitygrants@wealden.gov.uk

National Lottery Funding Sources

The Big Lottery Fund was launched on 1st June 2004. They hand out half of the good causes money from the National Lottery. They are committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need. There are many different funding programmes including  Children’s Play, Community Buildings and People’s Millions. Log onto Big Lottery Fund for more information.

Awards For All is a lottery grant scheme that funds small projects involving the community by bringing them together to enjoy sport, arts and other community activities. Grants range from £300 to £10,000. Open to non profit making groups, charities, schools, parish and town councils and health bodies. For more information visit the Awards For All website  

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. They fund the entire spread of heritage including buildings, museums, natural heritage and the heritage of cultural traditions and language.To find out more about their various programmes log onto The Heritage Lottery Fund

Sport England aims to provide more money, facilities and opportunities for sport. Log onto Sport England to find out more.

Funding and advice within the Wealden District

Wealden District Council has a full time Community Grants Officer who can help and advise you on funding sources. There is also a Community Grants programme which runs once a year open to non profit making organisations based in Wealden that help meet the priorities identified in the Wealden Community Strategy.

The next deadline for applications for funding is the 20th November 2007. Wealden District Council also process a Community Grants Newsletter four times a year, click here for the latest copy with up to date information on the Community Grants Programme and other external funding news.

Wealden District Council has Grantfinder which is computer database designed to identify funding opportunities, please email the Community Grants Officer communitygrants@wealden.gov.uk who can undertake a search on your behalf

Grantnet is a user friendly service accessible to organisations in East Sussex, organisations  can use this service for free  to identify possible funding sources. To undertake a search please go to Grantnet.

Wealden Community Support

Wealden Community Support provides a  comprehensive range of support to new and existing voluntary and community groups in Wealden. They can help identify funding and complete applications as well as advise on all aspects of organisational development to make your group more effective. One-to-one support sessions are available to all groups which provide an ideal opportunity to discuss individual needs in more detail. They can always visit at a time convenient to you, whether in the daytime or evening. Alternatively, groups are welcome to call into the office in Uckfield.

Contact: Karl Parks, Wealden Community Support, on 01825 765136 or Email: wealdencommunity@btconnect.com

Funding and advice from East Sussex County Council

East Sussex County Council produce a monthly bidding bulletin which has information about grants and funds, you can access this by logging onto East Sussex County Council and then by clicking on A-Z of services then F for funding. The County Council also has access to some European Social Fund objective 3 (ESF) money through the Global Grants programme. The money is for grassroots projects that help people move towards gaining employment of training. For further information and support in developing your project please contact Sherlyn Barrow on tel: 01273 481271 or email sherlyn.barrow@eastsussex.gov.uk

Funding from the European Union

There is scope for funding from the European Union subject to meeting rigid requirements and the need in most cases to have a minimum of two EU partners. Europena funding programmes are a minefield for the small voluntary organisation seeking small amounts of grant in order to develop a local initiative or to contribute to specific revenue/capital costs. However, funding is available locally under the INTERREG programme. Interreg IIIA offers grants to projects developed jointly by a partner organisation in the South East of England and a partner in northern France. £70 million is available for this cross-border area until 2008, offering grants of up to 40% of project costs. Projects can be in a range of fields including: tourism, environment, culture, education, economic development and transport. For more information and support in developing a project please contact The Interreg Officer, Tel: 01273 482643

Fundraising Activities, Techniques and Ideas

There is a huge range of fundraising activities that voluntary organisations can undertake:

Coffee mornings and other socials

Sponsored walks, cycle rides, swims, fun runs etc

Cultural evenings or walks for tourists

Craft fairs and sales of work

Concerts and other cultural events

Dinner dances, discos, barbeques, picnics, family outings

Sports events and tournaments

Getting businesses to advertise in diaries and calenders, brochures and annual reports

Sales of Christmas and other greeting cards.

Other funding sources:

Membership bodies - Groups to consider approaching for support: institutions such as Rotary Clubs, the Round Table, Lions, Women's Institutes etc

Trusts and foundations -Grant making trusts give away millions of pounds each year for charitable purposes. Each trust is different and you need to look at those who are worth approaching, what sort of projects they support and to what extent they will fund projects. Grant making trusts, sometimes called foundations, are independent grant making bodies obtaining their income from investments or through some form of contained fundraising. Trusts can be extremely valuable source of income as they are set up specifically to give their money away for charitable purposes and for community benefit. Many trusts have a policy of only funding organisations which are registered with the Charity Commission or have an Inland Revenue charity reference number. In such circumstances, it may be possible to arrange that another charity receives the grant on behalf of the applicant.

Company giving and Sponsorship - Companies are an important target for local fundraising as they often wish to be seen as a caring company in their local community and to create goodwill/ Sometimes companies will get involved because their chairman or chief executive is interested in the cause, or because their is a local link. Companies can often help organisations in a range of different ways other than just giving you money, such as making facilities available, support in kind, providing expertise or "goodwill advertising" in a charity brochure. Companies are unlikely to support local appeals outside areas where they have a business presence or controversial causes. Identify local businesses, especially any with which you already have links - and be up front about asking them for your help.

Rate Relief

Mandatory Rate Relief - There is mandatory rate relief (i.e. automatic rate relief) of 80% for any registered charity occupying premises for its charitable purposes. This relief is subsidised by the Government.

Discretionary Rate Relief - Wealden District Council may in addition be able to grant to registered charities discretionary rate relief of up to 20% on top of the mandatory rate relief. Non-registered charities and other voluntary organisations, who pay rates on a building they use for charitable purposes, can also apply for up to 20% discretionary rate relief.

Rate relief for sports clubs - Rate relief of 80% is available to sports clubs that have registered with the Inland Revenue as a Community Amateur Sports Club. The club must provide a copy of the certificate to the Council. Please contact Business Rates at Wealden District Council. Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, BN27 2AX or telephone 01323 443387.

Some help with accounts

When you apply to our Community Grant programme you will need to send in a copy of your most recent accounts. Your annual accounts may also be called a statement of income and expenditure or a receipt and payments report.

• Example of Basic Statement of Income & Expenditure

FINANCIAL INFORMATION - Kids About Town Youth Group - Income and expenditure - year ended March 2003

Your accounts should show all the money paid to the group in the last financial year, including:

• Gross takings on all trading activities
• Fundraising, donations and grants
• Voluntary income, whether raised by the charity or by another party
• Subscriptions
• Bank interest and dividends
• Rent, or other income from property
• Legacies
• Gross income from any other investments

You should not include:

• Balances brought forward from the previous year
• Loans that will have to paid back
• Repayment of loans your group, although any interest earned does count as income#
• Sales of assets or investments
• Capital endowments
• Gifts in kind unless they are sold
• Donated goods unless they are then sold.

Savings - This is the group's accumulated surplus, which has yet to be committed or spent. If could be held as cash, deposits or investments. It may be that the group's only 'savings' are its bank at the end of the financial year

• Savings should not be shown as income

• 
• 
• 
•