Tees Valley Community Foundation (Groups)

You can receive a maximum of £5,000 in any 12 month period from one or a combination of these funds; Tees Valley Foundation Fund, Teesside Power Fund, Northumbrian Water Fund, Goshen Grassroots Fund, Comic Relief, Making a Difference Fund, European Social Fund Community Grants and Stockton Borough Community Fund.

About Tees Valley Community Foundation

Tees Valley Community Foundation is an independent non-profit grant-making organisation, dedicated to improving the quality of life of people in the Tees Valley.

We are a local charity in touch with the community, responding to local needs and channel all charitable donations and community investment directly into grass roots community and voluntary groups and projects, particularly to alleviate all forms of disadvantage and improve the quality of life in our area.

How to apply for a grant

Please read this guidance in full before making an application, and pay particular attention to the section on our exclusions: organisations and activities we will not fund. You should then read the descriptions of the programmes carefully, which are listed on the enclosed sheet entitled 'Summary of Grant Programmes List'. Once you have read our guidance in full, you can ring our office if you have any questions.

If you are eligible, you can apply by completing an application form, using the notes beside each question on the form and posting or e-mailing it to us. Forms are available from our office. Note: they will also soon be available as downloadable documents from our website (in Word format).

There are usually no closing dates for applications.

Are you eligible to apply?

You must be a local community or voluntary organisation operating in and benefiting the communities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland or Stockton-on-Tees.

You do not have to be a registered charity, but your organisation must be for the benefit of the community.

General exclusions

We do NOT fund the following:

Projects / activities which are not for the benefit of the community Projects / activities that are not for the benefit of people in our area of benefit Projects / activities that take place before an application can be processed Existing operating costs e.g. rent, salaries, overheads, etc. Groups which appear to us to have excessive unrestricted or free reserves (up to 12 months' unrestricted expenditure is normally acceptable), or are in serious deficit Replacement of statutory funding Activities primarily the responsibility of local government or health authorities Educational organisations to meet their statutory requirements Groups whose grant request is for the advancement of religion or politics (including requests to support the core activities of religious or political groups) Fabric appeals for places of worship General fundraising appeals, sponsorship or marketing appeals Animal welfare

Grant programmes

The Foundation holds a number of funds on behalf of businesses, individuals and trusts. We also manage grant programmes on behalf of government agencies. Please refer to our grant programmes, which are listed on the enclosed flyer headed 'Summary of Grant Programmes List'.

Each of our grant programmes has a different upper limit (please see the Summary). Please note that due to demand, top level grants are not frequently awarded.

You can hold more than one grant from the Tees Valley Community Foundation at any one time for the same or different projects. Please refer to the enclosed 'Summary regarding the frequency of applications to each fund.

Making an application

First check this list:

1.Are you sure that neither the organisation nor the purpose for which you want a grant falls under our list of exclusions? Yes/No

2.Are the people who will benefit from your activity from our area of benefit? Yes/No

3.Does your proposal clearly fit within one of our grant programmes? Yes/No

If you can answer yes to all three questions you are eligible to apply to us.

Then complete the application form using the notes beside each question on the form.

Where can I get advice?

If you need help completing the application form or advice / guidance on your constitution, accounts, Child Protection Policy and / or Vulnerable Adults Policy, please contact us. This can be done either by e-mail (info@teesvalleyfoundation.org) or telephone (01642 260860).

What we are looking for in a successful application

When we assess your application we are looking for:

A well-managed organisation, capable of delivering the proposed project
Projects / activities that address the issues of disadvantage
Evidence of need for the project / activity Active community involvement
A realistic budget
Value for money
Information concerning what will happen to the project when the grant ends

What you must send to us

This section tells you what to send with your application. You must send all the documents we ask for. If you do not, we will not be able to process your application.

The fully completed application form signed by two people and an independent referee.
A copy of your signed governing document (constitution, rules, memorandum and articles of association etc.). This must include as a minimum: aims / objectives; a powers clause (demonstrating what you can do e.g. apply for funding, employ staff etc.); a dissolution clause (which explains how any money / assets would be distributed to another organisation set up for the benefit of the community should your organisation close). A copy of an up-to-date record of your group's finances.
If you have been running for over a year we would expect you to provide a full set of accounts signed by a member of your management committee (Chair or Treasurer). If you are a new group (less than 12 months old), you can supply 2 bank statements plus an annual budget showing estimated income and expenditure for your group signed by the Chair or Treasurer. If another group has agreed to accept the cheque on your behalf we need to see a copy of that group's latest accounts.
Note: If your group has unrestricted or free reserves of more than 12 months unrestricted expenditure it is unlikely that you will receive a grant from us unless you can satisfactorily explain to us in writing why your project cannot be supported from these funds.
If you are applying for a project that works with children and young people and/or vulnerable adults, you will need to enclose a copy of your group's Child Protection Policy and/or Vulnerable Adults Policy. As a minimum these policies should include a requirement that all staff / volunteers are police checked, definitions of abuse, the name / contact details of the person responsible for implementing the policy / who people report concerns to and the procedure the responsible person follows when a concern is reported
A stamped self-addressed A5 envelope or an e-mail address.

What happens after you apply?

Stage 1
Once your application is received, we will check that you have included all of the relevant information and send an acknowledgement (by e-mail or post).

Incomplete applications will be returned together with a letter explaining what is missing.

Stage 2
Once we have received all of the information required to progress your application an initial assessment will be made by one of our assessors. This may include contacting you to discuss your project further, so please ensure that the person named on the application form knows about the project and can talk knowledgeably about it. We may also contact your referee.

Stage 3
A detailed report on your project will be produced and circulated to members of an independent Advisory Panel (made up of a cross section of the local community from the business, voluntary and public sector) who will then meet to consider your request and reach a decision.

Stage 4
You will then receive a letter outlining the decision, your cheque and any relevant documentation relating to a successful application. If your application is unsuccessful we will explain why we could not give our support and we will, where possible, refer you to more appropriate sources of funding.

Stage 5
To help the Community Foundation to monitor and evaluate the impact of our grant making on local people and communities, we will also send you a grant monitoring report with your decision letter / grant cheque, which you will need to complete and return together with copies of all project invoices and receipts within a specified time frame after receipt of the grant. We may also visit your group to monitor progress.

How long will the assessment take?

We aim to assess all applications within three months (some considerably sooner). Once a decision has been made, we will send a letter to the address you supply on the application form.

Remember: we cannot process incomplete applications.

Appeals process

If you do not agree with a decision we have made (i.e. you perceive the assessment to be inaccurate or believe it failed to take account of relevant information), you can appeal in writing to the Chief Executive who will reconsider the application, taking any further information or remarks from you into consideration. You must include evidence to support your appeal and cannot appeal because the decision is not favourable. Unfortunately, we receive many deserving applications and are unable to fund each one.

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