Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report gives details of grants which have been received and are to be considered from the Policy and Resources grants budget.

2) Recommendations:

That grants to those voluntary and community organisations and young people shown in Appendix 2 of this report be approved.

1.2.

MAIN REPORT

1. Purpose of the Report

This reports shows details of grant requests which have been received from voluntary and community organisations and young people and are being considered from the Policy and Resources grants budget in 2008/09.

2. Budget Position

The balance available for allocation at today's meeting is £46,176, after grants approved at the last decision day, commitments made in previous years and sums earmarked for specific purposes. This takes into account a one-off sum of £70,000 being carried forward into the 2009/10 budget to help organisations during the current financial climate.

3. Details of requests

The schedule of items gives details of 6 applications for financial assistance, which if agreed in the amounts recommended would total £11,800 in 2008/09 and £6,000 in 2009/10 (attached as Appendix 2 to this report). A copy of the criteria used for allocating grants is attached as Appendix 1.

4. Recommendations

Please see Executive Summary.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

FUNDING CRITERIA FOR THE POLICY AND RESOURCES GRANTS

The following criteria should be taken into consideration when preparing a submission for funding. They are intended as guidelines and not prescriptive rules

1. Assistance will be considered only in response to direct applications from properly constituted organisations seeking assistance. You must show in your application that your organisation is properly and legally organised and has its own bank account.

2. Where appropriate, applications will be referred to the relevant service department (e.g. Adult Services, Recreation and Heritage, etc) for consideration.

3. Preference will be given to applications for specific projects activities rather than general running costs of organisations. These grants are not intended to replace shortfalls in service delivery budgets or replace funding for other support you may be able to obtain, or that you have obtained from us in the past.

4. Grants will not usually be made in respect of applications from the following:-

· District or Parish Councils

· Government Institutions

· Schools

· Overseas and out of County organisations which have no direct Hampshire involvement

· Branches or organisations assisted centrally with a sum from the County Council

· Bodies requesting funds for onward distribution to other charities e.g. mayoral appeals, carnivals, fetes, or for their own fundraising events.

5. Applications will not be accepted from political parties or groups affiliated with a political party or from lobbying/campaigning organisations.

6. Applications will only be considered from faith groups who can demonstrate their facilities are open and used by the local community other than for church related activities.

7. Requests may be considered from County wide groups (e.g. Guides, Scouts, Hampshire County Youth Orchestra) for specific trips, e.g. for an international jamboree or cultural tour. Individual requests will not be considered.

8. Where possible self-help within organisations should be encouraged and to this end, grants are normally a percentage of the sum required to complete the project.

9. As a general rule, grants in excess of £5,000 will not be awarded.

10. In general only award grants to projects which are taking place in the same year as application for funds.

DETAILS OF GRANT APPLICATIONS

1. AVON TYRRELL ACTIVITY CENTRE, BRANSGORE HOG ORG NO:1535

PURPOSES FOR WHICH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS SOUGHT

The Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre in Bransgore provides recreational activities and accommodation for around 20,000 young people aged between 8 and 25 years at its 60-acre site. The Centre is seeking funding towards replacing the roof, costing approximately £3,550.

Funding of £1,065 has already been obtained from the New Forest National Park Authority and with the organisation contributing £485, this leaves a shortfall of £2,000.

AMOUNT OF REQUEST

Not specified

PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION GIVEN BY OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND GRANTS PREVIOUSLY AWARDED

23.03.81 - £1,000

13.11.86 - £2,500 - sewage disposal plant

12.07.91 - £2,000 - repairs to Avon Tyrrell House

08.09.95 - £10,000 - log cabin appeal

22.10.99 - £2,000 - log cabin appeal

Recreation & Heritage Dept: In 2008/09, this organisation received £6,300 to support environmental studies work for schools in Hampshire.

COMMENTS OF LOCAL MEMBER

Councillor Kendal is fully supportive of this request.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Director of Recreation and Heritage: The Centre is used by a small number of schools and youth groups in the County for residential stays. However, the vast majority of users are external to Hampshire. A contribution of £1,500, matching their own fundraising, would seem appropriate.

RECOMMENDATION

£1,500

2. BLUE APPLE THEATRE COMPANY - WINCHESTER AND DISTRICT

MENCAP HOG ORG NO:1218

PURPOSES FOR WHICH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS SOUGHT

The Blue Apple Theatre Company, run by Winchester and District Mencap Society, is a fully integrated and inclusive theatre group for adults of all abilities who are over 16 and like to perform. Its members who meet every Monday during term time have the opportunity to act, mime, dance or make music and develop their talents on stage.

The cost of providing these workshops throughout the Winchester area is £34,600. Funding already obtained/ being sought totals £27,750*, leaving a shortfall of £6,850.

*Includes grant requests to the following (decisions known in April):

£4,000 - HCC Arts grant

£4,800 - Winchester City Council

AMOUNT OF REQUEST

£6,000

PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION GIVEN BY OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND GRANTS PREVIOUSLY AWARDED

Policy and Resources:

28.1.08 - £6,000 - towards work of theatre group in 08/09

Recreation and Heritage:

06/07 - £4,000 - music development

15.11.07 - £4,000 - revenue costs in 2008/09

09/10 - £4,000 for Autumn 09 programme

COMMENTS OF LOCAL MEMBER

Councillor Peskett is very supportive of their work and considers that they are well deserving of financial help. Councillor Dickens has also been contacted.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Director of Recreation and Heritage: This group provide and encourage access to the arts for both learning disabled and non-learning disabled adults. The work provides social confidence, creativity and a sense of belonging for its participants. They are also developing performance skills with some members of the group to support their development into careers as actors/performers. A grant of £6,000 is recommended for their work during the coming year.

RECOMMENDATION

£6,000 in 2009/10

3. THE GREENING CAMPAIGN HOG ORG NO:

PURPOSES FOR WHICH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS SOUGHT

The Greening Campaign is a scheme to engage and encourage communities to tackle climate change. The scheme aims to motivate local communities and individuals to take action to reduce personal energy consumption and their carbon footprint, engage with climate change mitigation and lead to engagement on ways to adapt in the longer term. It aims to deliver very local responses at individual levels.

A grant of £10,000 is being sought from the County Council to help deliver this programme to local communities in Hampshire.

AMOUNT OF REQUEST

£10,000

PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION GIVEN BY OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND GRANTS PREVIOUSLY AWARDED

The Greening Campaign were invited to give a presentation to Cabinet at a recent meeting.

COMMENTS OF LOCAL MEMBER

N/A

GENERAL COMMENTS

Director of Environment: The County Council has set climate change as a priority area in the LAA. 2 National Indicators cover the need to: reduce the per capita carbon footprint and, build capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change. In both cases there is a need to engage with local communities. The application by The Greening Campaign gives an opportunity to trial innovative ways of working with hard to reach groups, linking in with District Council supported activities. Such work would also be in cross-cutting support of other LAA priorities and our corporate aims. I recommend a one-off grant of £10,000 to help the Campaign to address these strategic interests across Hampshire in 2009/10. This is an opportunity for the Campaign to seek wider support for its work and this will be encouraged.

Should this first phase be successful, any further funding for the work would more appropriately be addressed by the Executive Member for Environment.

RECOMMENDATION

One-off grant of £10,000 to be closely monitored by the Director of Environment and that this matter be referred to the Executive Member for Environment for consideration in future years

4. WINCHESTER ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (WINACC) STEERING GROUP HOG ORG NO:2237

PURPOSES FOR WHICH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS SOUGHT

The principal aim of the Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) Steering Group, set up in October 2007, is to encourage, persuade and advise all households and public, private and voluntary organisations in Winchester to reduce their carbon footprint. The Group consists of representatives from the main organisations in Winchester, including the County and City Councils and the University of Winchester.

The Group is seeking a core grant of £12,500 towards their work in 2009/10. Funds are also being sought from Winchester City Council and the University of Winchester (£25,000 and £5,000 respectively).

AMOUNT OF REQUEST

£12,500

PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION GIVEN BY OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND GRANTS PREVIOUSLY AWARDED

28.1.08 - £3,000 - towards the education outreach programme.

COMMENTS OF LOCAL MEMBER

The County Council is represented on this steering group by Councillor Allgood.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Director of Environment: The County Council is considering supporting and working with the Greening Campaign on these issues (please see previous item).

Chief Executive: Grants awarded from this budget are usually one-off in nature and it should be noted this group received funding for their education outreach work last year.

RECOMMENDATION

Nil

INDIVIDUAL REQUESTS

The following grant requests have been received from young people taking part in personal development projects:

6. William Hancock, Fareham

William, who is currently 19 and studying at Portsmouth Grammar School, is taking part in a teaching project in Malawi during the summer holidays with Africa and Asia Ventures (organisation providing GAP projects). This will involve teaching children of all ages the core subjects and providing extra curricular actives such as sport and other recreational activities. The project will cost £4,475 and so far William has raised £2,800, leaving a shortfall of £1,675.

Recommendation: £150

7. Scarlett Phillips-Rogers, Andover

Scarlett, who is currently attending Peter Symonds College, has chosen to take part in a building project in April being organised by The Fulcrum Challenge (a registered charity which encourages and enables 16-17 year olds to reach their full potential both mentally and physically).

The project will involve trekking through the Himalayas to a small area called Binsar in Northern India where the group will be helping, with the local community, to build an additional classroom on the school site, using their traditional building style and techniques.

Scarlett has been asked to raise £1,500 towards her costs and so far she has managed to raise £750. She plans to raise the remaining sum through various fundraising activities including a sponsored tandem sky dive.

Recommendation: £150.