Guidance notes for Groups
The Community Foundation for Surrey awards grants to community and voluntary groups that make a genuine difference to the lives of people in Surrey.
Who we support:
- Registered charities working for the benefit of people in Surrey (Surrey is defined as the eleven boroughs and districts which fall under Surrey County Council)
- Voluntary and community groups which are charitable in purpose and are working for the benefit of people in Surrey
- Not for profit organisations such as CIC with a clear social purpose working for the benefit of people in Surrey – such organisations can generate surpluses but where they do they are reinvested to support the charitable work of the organisation
- National charities with a clear local presence, for projects helping people in Surrey
- Faith groups – where the project clearly benefits the wider community
- Statutory organisations (Councils, Parish councils and schools) can apply for funding local community initiatives which are over and above their normal statutory responsibilities and where they are working in partnership with local communities
To be eligible you should have:
- A management committee (the people who are responsible and make decisions) of a minimum of three unrelated people
- A signed constitution (or set of rules)
- A bank account in the name of your group which requires two signatories
- A financial policy (a document which lays out how you manage money and payments)
- If you work with children, young people or vulnerable adults you must have or be working towards a Safeguarding policy for Child Protection/Vulnerable Adults
Small and new groups which are not yet constituted may apply under the umbrella of another group which will act as a fund holder for the grant.
Where there are possible external requirements such as planning permission, please ensure that you have done the following prior to submitting the application:
- Checked whether planning permission is needed
- If planning permission is needed, that you have commenced the process of obtaining permission
Guidance notes for Individuals
Our Surrey Young People’s Fund awards grants to individuals. We recommend you read through the fund guidance notes before submitting an Expression of Interest. Use the link below to download the guidance notes for our fund supporting individuals.
Surrey Young People’s Fund – supporting disadvantaged young people in Surrey to gain access to training and employment
Conditions of Grant
Any grant award is made with the following conditions:
- If the project/activity changes in any way from the original application, the Community Foundation for Surrey will be notified immediately. Significant variations may result in the grant being altered or withdrawn
- An End of Grant Form will be completed and returned to the Community Foundation for Surrey, along with evidence of expenditure to account for the full grant awarded
- A copy of your organisation’s annual accounts for the period will be provided to the Community Foundation and these will clearly show the grant award from the Community Foundation for Surrey
- Any publicity directly relating to the project our grant has funded acknowledges the Community Foundation’s support
Our Priorities
- Funding locally based community/voluntary groups who have a clear understanding of the needs of their community and are making a real difference
- Funding to support changes that improve the quality of people’s lives
- Building community capacity and empowering local communities
- Preference is given for projects which are working to become self-sustaining; and wherever possible, are user led
What kind of projects can we fund?
We can make grants to support most types of community activity depending on the range of funds available.
This includes:
- Core costs
- Revenue costs
- Capital costs
- New projects
- Existing projects
- One-off initiatives
We cannot support:
- For profit businesses
- National programmes without a specific benefit to Surrey
- Faith groups where the project is exclusively for the benefit of members or for proselytising
- Projects that are based outside of Surrey
- Projects which have already occurred or items purchased prior to or during a grant application
- Unspecified expenditure and general appeals
- Core Costs for CICs
- Fund raising events/activities
- Funding to enable your group to make grants to others
- Requests to build reserves
- Funding for Statutory obligations
- Political activities
- Organisations which hold a high level of free reserves are unlikely to be funded
Expression of Interest Form
We recommend you read our Application Guidance notes before submitting an Expression of Interest.
If you have more than project you need to fund or don’t know how to proceed please call the grants team on 01483 478092 for an informal chat.
Please note that we do not award retrospective grants – be sure to allow plenty of time to go through the grants process. For groups applying we would recommend you allow a minimum of 3 months. The process for individuals can be turned around quicker but please do still allow plenty of time, the process can take up to 2 months.
