Boston Borough Council Councillor Grants Scheme

The Councillors small Grant Scheme is designed to be supportive, responsive and uncomplicated for organisations delivering community projects and activities to bid into.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate that they support at least one of the following priorities:

• Growth and prosperity
• Safe and resilient communities
• Healthy lives
• The environment

The scheme is intended to support smaller projects that are easily deliverable. The key points of the Scheme are detailed below:

• Your local Borough Councillor will decide whether to support or decline your request for funding.
• Grants range from £200 to £1,000 per project.
• You must contact your local Borough Councillor to discuss your project and to receive an application form.
• Multiple Councillors can contribute to your project, joint applications must be submitted on the same application form.
• There is no limit on the number of grants an organisation can receive for different projects.
• Match funding is not required.
• Both Revenue & Capital costs can be supported.
• The Grants are paid in advance and usually within four weeks of being approved.

They can fund a wide range of items and below are some examples of these.

Small capital costs involving:

• Building improvements
• Playground equipment
• IT equipment
• Sports equipment
• Energy efficiency measures
• Repairs to heritage assets
• General equipment
• Small Revenue costs such as
• Rent
• Training fees
• Event costs
• General repairs and supplies
• Public liability insurance

Your projects must be based inside Boston Borough.

To apply for a grant your organisation must be some type of formally governed ‘Not for Profit’ organisation with a written governing document (e.g. Constitution, Trust Deed, Articles of Association etc.).

The governing document must include a dissolution clause that guarantees any assets are kept for the benefit of the community even if the group comes to an end or is ‘dissolved’.

The governing document must also have an open membership policy (one that does not discriminate against potential members and actively encourages community participation and access with non-prohibitive fees where applicable).

The organisation must possess a UK based bank account registered in the name of the organisation, and it must require a minimum of two unrelated persons not living at the same address to authorise withdrawals.

Examples of eligible organisations are:

• Registered charities
• Constituted community and voluntary groups
• Community Interest Companies or Social enterprises (with at least 2 unrelated directors)
• Parochial church councils (where it benefits the wider community)
• Town and parish councils
• Not for profit companies
• Schools – whilst schools can apply into the scheme the project must be able to provide a wider community benefit and not solely benefit the pupils or the school.