GRANT FUNDING POLICY
Keighley Town Council has powers to award grants to local organisations to support their activities in the Parish of Keighley. In doing so, the Town Council is aware of its responsibility for public funds and for the distribution of these funds to be properly managed.
Grant Funding Policy
Each year Keighley Town Council allocates a specific amount of funds to be made available as grants to organisations, clubs, societies and groups who help to build a sustainable community and economy for the residents of Keighley.
Applications will be welcomed from organisations, clubs, societies or groups that can demonstrate that their application:
- Meets an identified need
- Is a viable project
- Is of direct benefit to residents of the Parish of Keighley
The grant scheme is unable to support:
- Routine running costs
- Salary or routine administration costs
- Individuals
- Charities operating overseas or to a fund established to help persons outside the UK
- Projects with party political links
- Projects which discriminate on the grounds of race, religion or disability.
- Applications to cover costs that have already been incurred/committed
- Services which should be provided by statutory funding
Awards will not normally be made to:
- ‘Branches’ that could be funded by their main organisation
- For buildings that are uninsured
Applicants should be aware that:
Organisations applying to Keighley Town Council should be local but applications from just outside the Town may be considered if the grant will result in the direct benefit to Keighley or its residents.
The organisation must have a bank account in its own name.
All grant aid is subject to Council Officers being satisfied with the accounts and/or financial status of the applicant (the provision of supporting financial documents is a requirement of the application process).
The Council may attach special conditions to a grant which must be fulfilled before any payment can be made. Grants may be paid in stages over a period of time as a project progresses and evaluation and monitoring procedures take place.
Applications from organisations with substantial unallocated resources will not be considered a priority for funding.
Grants must be spent within 6 months of the award date and restricted to the purpose(s) for which they were given.
The Council would expect reimbursement of the grant if the organisation to which it has been awarded is dissolved, acquires subsequent funding or does not spend the full award amount for its intended purpose(s).
Organisations are generally restricted to one application for grant aid during the financial year 1st April to 31st However, the Council may consider additional applications during the same financial year if surplus grant funding is available.
The awarding of a grant in one year does not set a precedent for another year.
Applications from schools, religious groups, health, education or social services will be considered where a clear benefit to the wider community can be demonstrated and the project is in addition to statutory services.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications for grant aid will be considered by the Finance & Audit Committee which meets monthly (dates can be found here). For the application to be considered at the next available meeting all relevant paperwork will need to be submitted to the Town Council before the following deadlines:
- Monday 5 September 2022
- Monday 3 October 2022
- Monday 5 November 2022
- Monday 5 December 2022
- Monday 9 January 2023
- Monday 6 March 2023
Applications must be submitted on the prescribed form which can be downloaded from Keighley Town Council’s website or obtained by contacting the Town Clerk, townclerk@keighley.gov.uk.
Along with supporting information, you will be required to submit a copy of the latest set of approved accounts/financial statement (if your group has a constitution or similar document, please provide a copy).
The Council reserves the right to request a copy of quotations, pro-forma invoices and other documentation as evidence of expenditure to be incurred. It would therefore be beneficial if quotations could be included as part of your supporting documentation.
Organisations will be notified, in writing, of the outcome of their application as soon as possible after the meeting.
If your application is not fully completed or is submitted without all relevant supporting documentation it will be returned for completion. Please bear in mind that applications will be reviewed shortly after the deadline date so any delay caused by incomplete forms may mean that the application will not be considered until the following meeting.
FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION
Organisations will be required to acknowledge receipt of the grant
As a condition of receiving a grant, organisations will be required to acknowledge Keighley Town Council’s support in their publicity material.
For our own publicity material, the Council may require photos with agreement from participants and may use the name of the organisation and project.
All organisations are required to complete a Monitoring and Evaluation Form to demonstrate how the grant was spent. This form will need to be submitted to the Council within 6 months of the award date.
All organisations will also be required to attend a Community Showcase organised by Keighley Town Council throughout the year.
If further information regarding any aspect of the Council’s Grants Policy is required, please contact the Town Clerk at:
Civic Centre
North Street
Keighley
BD21 3RZ
01535 872126
A full copy of the Council’s Grant Policy can be found here
Grant Application can be downloaded below