Grange Community Fund – criteria
1.About the Grange Windfarm Community Fund
The Grange Windfarm Community Fund is a fund that has been established to support community groups and charitable organisations that benefit residents living in the civil parish areas of Flixborough and Burton upon Stather. The Fund is provided by Grange Wind Farm Limited, the company which owns and operates the Grange wind farm development (the “Project”). The Fund will be available as long the operational life of the wind farm development which is currently expected to be up to 25 years.
2.How much annually will the Fund have to distribute?
An annual payment of circa £24,000, less fund administrative fees, will be made by the Project to the Fund. If the annual funding is not fully allocated within the calendar year, the surplus will be rolled-over to the next year. Applications are accepted at anytime to the fund.
3.What is the purpose of the Fund?
The Fund will provide grants to community groups and charitable organisations to support their activities in the catchment area of the development. Ideally, the Fund will support projects and infrastructure which promote the economic, social and/or environmental sustainability of the catchment area. Most of all, the owners wish to ensure that successful applications are translated into real projects that make a material difference and deliver a lasting legacy to the host communities. To that end one of the roles of the Fund Manager will be to evaluate the impact of its work so that it can make sure the funds deliver best value against the objectives and also improve or modify the funding process/criteria when necessary.
4.Who can apply?
Groups and organisations working to benefit people or the environment in the Grange Wind Development catchment area can apply for a grant. The group must have a constitution (governing document, memorandum and articles or set of rules or similar which must be supplied with an application). The organisation does not need to be a registered charity to apply. The applicant will have to show evidence of a bank statement in the organisations name and a set of accounts for the last financial year at the time of applying to the fund.
The Fund may share this information to individuals and organisations we consult when assessing applications, when monitoring grants and evaluating our programmes. Such organisations and individuals may include the parish or local council, other grant providers, statutory bodies or governmental departments. For our statement on data protection please go to www.ferncommunityfunds.com/terms-conditions
Each successful group or applicant will agree to a monitoring and evaluation process for their project. The Fund reserves the right to promote any successful awards through its media channels.
5.How much funding can be applied for?
The minimum award is £250. The maximum award figure is £5000, however, in exceptional circumstances, this may be increased for larger projects applications. Match funding is not necessarily required, however, we encourage external funding contributions or monies from the applicant’s own resources to strengthen their project application. The Fund Manager will be available to give advice regarding other external funding availability if the applicant is using monies gained from the fund towards the costs of a larger project. Grants from the Fund will pay for both revenue costs (time bound) and capital items. Only one funded application can be made per organisation/group/individual per calendar year. If unsuccessful within a calendar year then a new application can be made. Groups that receive funding will normally have up to 12 months to spend their grant.
6.How do you apply?
All applicants will need to complete an application form which can be found online at www.ferncommunityfunds.com and provide the required supporting documentation.
The Fund Manager will assess your application and a report with recommendations will be provided to the owners of the wind farm for a decision. Elected representatives from each of the parish council areas of Flixborough and Burton upon Stather may be used to complete a due diligence checking process of each application.
There is no right to appeal a decision. Groups that receive a grant will normally have up to 12 months to spend their grant. Funding will be released when evidence of spend is forthcoming (bills, paid invoice, wage slips, etc). Each successful group or applicant will agree to a monitoring and evaluation process for their project.
7.What the Fund doesn’t support
| The Grange Windfarm Community Benefit Fund will not support: |
| Projects which do not primarily benefit people living within the specified development catchment area |
Individuals or groups without a constitution and a bank account in the name of the organisation |
| The advancement of religious or political objectives |
| Long term core revenue costs of any applicant (i.e. more than three years) |
| Overseas trips or the repayment of loans or payment of debts |
| Retrospective funding (i.e. paying for costs incurred before a decision on an application can be made, including loans or debts) |
| Activities contrary to the commercial or reputational interests of the wind farm or other contributors to the Fund |
| Projects that are detrimental to the environment |
| Anti-renewable energy/anti-wind development activities |
| The development of assets not wholly owned by the applicant |
| Applications that include core revenue costs (wages, utilities, rents etc) will only be considered for a maximum of two years of funding |
8.When does the Fund open for applications?
The Fund is open for applications at any time.