Culture and Recreation Investment Fund application guidance notes

Detailed guidance for completing the application form

To apply electronically, you must have a valid email address.

It is strongly advised to create your answers in a Word document which will allow you to copy and paste the information into the online application form. The online application will time out after approximately 2 hours so please make sure you select the ‘save the application for later’ option. If the application times out and you have not saved it you will lose all the information entered. Once you have selected this save option you will be logged out of your application and sent an e-mail with a link. This link will take you back to your saved application. Your application will be removed from the database after 30 days of the last save for later date (if you do not save your application within a 30 day period it will be removed).

Your organisation (Questions 1 to 6)

Question 1 Department/Grant Programme

Department: You should enter Culture, Communities and Business Services (CCBS)

Grant Programme: Select Culture and Recreation Investment Fund.

Question 2 Contact details of your organisation

This is the main organisation that would be responsible for the grant. Enter the name and address of the organisation, not the individual completing the form. This can be supplied in Question 4.

Your Service/Project/Activity (Questions 7 to 10)

Question 7 Title of project or service

Your organisation name.

Question 8a Summary of your project

Provide a brief overview of your organisations core services/programmes which the application relates to.

Question 8b Details of your project

This provides you with an opportunity to describe in more detail the services, programmes and strands of work your organisation delivers. Think of this in terms of the scheme’s grant and eligibility criteria (listed on the criteria page). This may include (but is not exclusive to):

• What services, programmes and projects are provided, for whom these are targeted (which community/audiences/participants) and how. Also include the total number of people benefitting
• Flagship cultural and/or recreational experiences of national and/or regional standing
• Programmes of work that support:
  • the development of Hampshire’s home grown talent
  • innovation and inspiration
  • improved levels of health and wellbeing, particularly in young people, hard to reach and older people
• Any new organisational or service developments planned for the funding period
• Areas of work that enable and/or support other organisations to provide cultural and/or recreational services

Describe briefly the management and governance arrangements/structures you have in place within your organisation/consortium.

Also state what the funding will pay for, for example core running costs, salaries, venue hire, volunteer expenses, transport costs.

Question 8c Project outcomes

This is an opportunity to describe what difference and impact your services, programmes and projects (those you described in question 8b) will make to those accessing them or benefitting from them and how they will be achieved. This could be from the perspective of audiences, participants, volunteers and the wider community.

Consider this in terms of the grant criteria and Serving Hampshire - Strategic Plan for 2017 - 2021. This may include (but is not exclusive to) how your services/programmes of work;

• Provide flagship cultural and recreational experiences of national and/or regional standing

• Are of high quality, innovative and appropriately aspirational

• Actively increase cultural and/or recreational experience and participation levels and increase access for local people, including young people, hard to reach and older people, to inspiring experiences

• Enable and/or support other organisations to provide cultural and recreational services and the impact and difference they make

Also give details of how your organisation will target or promote the service, project or activity to the residents of Hampshire.

Question 8d How you involved service users in the development of your project

This is an opportunity to describe how you engage and consult with your community/participants/audiences/volunteers on the services and/or programmes design and delivery and how you use this information. How do you identify needs? Which local plans or strategies do your services and/or programmes tie in with? Please explain how you will evaluate or seek feedback from audiences/participants of your service, project or activity. Here you can tell us about any local feedback you have received.

Provide information on the success criteria that will be used to measure the differences, impacts and achievements of your services/programmes of work (described in 8a and 8b). If you have identified a quality mark you are working towards in a previous application please summarise any progress you have made.

Question 9 Project dates and frequency

As your services/projects/activities are likely to be ongoing, please select this option.

State the start date of your organisation (you will not need to complete the ‘date to’ option as your services/programmes are ongoing).

State the venue, including any outreach venues, from where your services/programmes/projects are delivered.

Tell us the general timings of your services/projects/activities are delivered/accessed by your community and how often (for example 12.00 – 22.00 Monday to Sunday, 52 weeks per year).

Tell us the total number of people that benefit directly from your organisation’s service/programme delivery

Finance (Questions 11 to 15)

Question 11 Financial reserves

The reserves referred to in this section are free reserves (unrestricted and undesignated funds within your organisations) i.e. funds your organisation holds that are not required for the running of your organisation during this financial year i.e. savings.  The information provided in this section should tie in with your audited/independently examined accounts. You may be asked to clarify this figure if it is not clear how this links to the annual accounts.   

Organisations will not normally be eligible for grants where they hold unallocated reserves in excess of one year’s running costs. In cases where reserves held exceed this level a reduced level of funding may be agreed. All charitable organisations are expected to have an agreed reserves policy that addresses their financial risk

Question 12 Cost detail

Please provide a full detailed breakdown of your organisation's annual expenditure including core costs and those incurred for delivery of services and/or programmes. We would recommend you use your most recent annual accounts as a baseline for this information in addition to any realistic annual rises. Provide details where appropriate, of staff costs, hire costs, materials, equipment, performers or professionals, marketing, overheads, building repairs and maintenance. Also list any specific one-off projects which are separate from the core programme of activity. List any other miscellaneous costs that do not apply to the previous categories. Any in-kind expenditure should be listed also in the following Income section.

Question 13 Income

Culture and Recreation Investment Fund grants are awarded as a contribution towards core organisational costs and/or core service/programme costs. Give information on all sources of income and funding you receive for your organisation and its services/projects/activities. We expect your organisation to find additional funding from other sources. This may be by securing grants from other organisations, through member contributions, using your organisation’s own funds, or contribution in kind, for example through volunteer time. We recognise volunteers offer a range of skills and experience, but in order to keep it simple, to calculate their time, please use the national minimum wage. If a volunteer offers professional services (i.e. an architect or legal advisor) the cost of their time should be calculated using market charges.

Any in-kind contributions should be listed also in the previous expenditure section so they can be matched up.

Use the ‘Other income’ lines for any other miscellaneous income that do not apply to the listed categories.

If you have insufficient lines in this table to detail all your organisation's income streams, please consolidate your figures where appropriate. You must then email us separately a breakdown of these figures.

Please specify the name of any other funder (including District/Borough/Town/Parish Council, etc.)

Do not include this application as income in this section.

Question 14a Project finance summary

State how much funding you are requesting from the Culture & Recreation Investment Fund.

Please note grants awarded are a contribution to the overall cost of the organisation’s core costs and/or services/programmes. The amount you are applying for should therefore be less than the total expenditure of the service, project or activity.

Question 14b How the project will be sustainable

Tell us how your organisation works towards optimising your economic, social and environmental sustainability. Describe how  your organisation manages its financial risks to ensure longer term service/programme sustainability. Briefly describe the funding strategies you have in place.

If you have, as an organisation, a high level of reserves (more than one year's running costs) please indicate why a grant from the Culture and Recreation Investment Fund is needed.

If you are currently operating at a deficit please state how your organisation is planning to address this, and in what timeframe.

Question 14c partially awarded or unsuccessful application

Tell us how your organisation would deliver its services/programmes of work if it was unsuccessful or awarded a smaller amount of funding than requested.

General information (Questions 16 to 20)

Question 16 Quality Mark

List any quality marks your organisation has attained or is currently working towards for example, Museum Accreditation. The organisation does not need to have a quality mark to receive a grant. We are aware that you can work towards high quality standards without such a mark and that a quality mark may not be appropriate for your service. However, the County Council wishes to invest in organisations that can clearly and measurable demonstrate that they provide quality services/programmes.

Question 18 Documentation

Ensure you tick all appropriate boxes. As a minimum standard we would expect your organisation to meet the minimum legal requirements along with policies and procedures to cover your organisation’s services/programmes. Generally we would expect organisations to have £10m cover for public liability and employers liability insurance.

Question 20 Equalities

Please answer all three parts as best you can. We are not looking for comprehensive policies – just some bullet points, for example: thorough training; information sessions, staff guidebook etc. In addition to information about your policies and procedures please outline how the aims of your project will contribute towards a, b, and c.

Examples of things which may be relevant to include are:

• We have an equality and diversity policy. We ensure our staff receive equalities and diversity training. We actively encourage and support all sectors of the community including those having protected characteristics to take part in this project

• We have an open and transparent recruitment and promotion policy

• The organisation’s culture fully embraces diversity

• Our constitution/ this project focuses on fostering good community relations across all sectors of society by...

• This project will advance equality of opportunity for everyone by…

Documents to be submitted

You only need to send the same supporting documents once over a 12 month period.  If you have sent us your documents in the last 12 months please tell us the grant reference number to which they were attached. We would need updated documents, particularly accounts, to your last application to this fund, even if that was within the last 12 months.

We would appreciate electronic document attachments. If you only have a paper copy please write this in the documentation section and send a paper copy into the Grants Officer.

All Grants

• Annual accounts
• Financial sustainability strategy (may be part of business plan)

Plus, for Grants £5000 and over

• Adults safeguarding policy
• Child protection policy

Plus, for Grants £10,000 and over

• Three year business plan*
• Public liability insurance (usually £10m)
• Employers' liability insurance (usually £10m)

Plus, for Grants £25,000 and over

• Equality and diversity policy
• Health and safety Policy

* 3 year business plans should include a risk management plan and marketing plan. This information sheet on business plans may be useful as a guide.

Monitoring Information

This information will help us to plan and fund areas of work where there are significant gaps and needs. If you need to collect this information from your staff or service users then it is important that you give them a choice as to whether they choose to give this personal information.

Contact us

CCBS Grants
Hampshire County Council
Office 2
Second Floor
Castle Hill
Winchester 
SO23 8UL

Telephone 01962 845390

Email [email protected]