Small Grants Guidelines and Application

Funding for Individuals and Organisations (up to £300)

Before you begin please read all the guidelines. The form must be completed in one go and cannot be saved so please make sure you have all the relevant information. 

The purpose of the Small Grants Programme is to help an individual or group kick start an idea that benefits the community.

  • Read the Council's grants policy before you start completing the application.
  • You can apply for grants between £100 and £300 towards activities/projects that benefit your community.
  • Individuals or groups that do not have a constitution are welcome to apply alongside legally constituted organisations and charities.
  • All requests for a grant must be made on the official grants application form. The form should be completed by the person or group requesting the grant.
  • All applications must be accompanied by either a written statement by an East Herts District Councillor who has agreed to support your ideas, or if you are applying as an individual or group without legal status (unconstituted) a Mentor Statement. This is a separate document that only Councillors can access. A mentor may help you:
  1. Complete the application
  2. Ensure safe and appropriate delivery and
  3. Monitor the benefits of the scheme/project to the wider community
  • You can identify who your local East Herts Councillor is by clicking on the following link Find Your Councillor
  • You need to apply in good time if you have specific dates to meet. Applications are accepted throughout the year whilst funding remains available.
  • We will pay out a grant for hire costs, publicity, volunteer training, purchase of equipment and other costs associated with running an activity or project.
  • Grant will be paid up front. Note that we do not pay out grants to individuals or informal groups.  If you are in this situation, please identify a not-for-profit organisation that will serve as your “banker” and accept a grant on your behalf. 
  • A full breakdown of the costs will be required.
  • Individuals and groups without constitution will be paid via a third party voluntary or not for profit organisation who you have appointed to serve as your "banker"
  • All grants - with the exception of those allocated to individuals and groups with no formal legal status will be paid upfront. We may - at the Council's discretion - decide to pay the grant directly to a supplier.

  • Personal endeavours or equipment for personal or family use
  • Retrospective grants, for example we cannot fund anything that has already been paid for, or taken place.
  • Please see grants policy for other ineligible activities or costs

  • Discuss your idea with Claire Pullen, the Council's Grants Officer, before submitting an application. Contact details are: Claire.Pullen@eastherts.gov.uk or 01992 531459
  • Speak to the East Herts Councillor who represents the area where most of your beneficiaries will come from and ask them to endorse your application.  This will be in the form of a written email if you are a constituted group or a Mentor Statement if you are applying as an individual or informal group.  This must be submitted with your application.
  • Complete the Small Grants online application form.

Hints and Tips

Tell us as much as you can about you/your group, and your idea. A well evidenced application will allow us to make an informed decision and provide us with an understanding of what you'd like to achieve.

Your application should include:

  • Why you want to undertake the activity/project.  We want to know that your project is a solution to an identified community, health or environmental issue and how it links to our priorities
  • Who will be involved.  We want to know whether you are supporting vulnerable individuals or individuals living in poorer areas of East Herts   
  • what will be delivered
  • what lasting legacy will it leave?
  • What difference will it make /lasting legacy
  • What community assets you will be making use of – this could be outdoor spaces, community halls or individuals with specialist knowledge
  • How you plan to raise the balance of the funds required if you need more than the £300 grant available
  • Your experience in organising activities or projects in the community
  • If you are an individual or informal group we would like to know if you have any interest in becoming a constituted group

Applications will be assessed on the following:

  • Provision of a solution to an identified community, health or environmental issues
  • Delivery of activities in outdoor spaces or in other community buildings or assets
  • Demonstrated link to council priorities and annual theme
  • Whether there is an intent to become a more formalised group with a vision statement

What happens next?

  • Once received, we will acknowledge your application by e-mail.
  • Your application will be assessed by a panel, who may contact you and your mentor.
  • The panel’s recommendations will be considered by the Community Wellbeing and Partnerships Manager and the Council’s
    Executive Member for Communities and a final decision is made.
  • Once the final decisions have been made, both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be advised via email three to four weeks
    after your application was acknowledged by the Council.
  • Unfortunately we cannot fund every application that we receive therefore decisions have to be made to establish who we can fund and the amount we can provide.
  • The Council’s decision is final. Unsuccessful applicants can seek feedback from the Council’s Grants Officer if they wish to reapply.

Successful applicants:

  • May have additional Terms and Conditions relating to the use of the grant in addition to those listed on this form – they will be indicated where appropriate in the offer email.
  • Must acknowledge acceptance of the grant and Terms and Conditions via email.
  • Must acknowledge that under no circumstances may a grant be used for any other purpose than that identified in the offer email. Should you need to request a change of use to any award made, you MUST contact the Council before committing any expenditure, failure to do so may result in the award being withdrawn and all monies returned.
  • As part of the Terms and Conditions you must submit a Monitoring Form within six months of receiving the grant or sooner if your project/activity is finished. Please submit to Grants.Admin@eastherts.gov.uk

Red asterisk denotes a required answer.

About You or your group

A little more detail

No more than 150 words. This text will be used in the Grants Awards list posted on the Council's website should you be allocated a grant.
Please describe your target beneficiaries for us. The average age and whether they are the general population or are people with protected characteristics such as people from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning or people with long term health conditions/disabilities. For more information about this please see our Grants Equality Impact Assessment on the Council's website.
This is about the benefits the project will deliver to those who participate. Be sure to refer to the outcomes on which your application will be assessed. No more than 200 words.

Where will this activity/project take place?

Please provide a brief background on your experience or your group's experience in this area of work
£
£
Minimum request is £100. Maximum amount is £300
Be sure it adds up correctly
A letter from this organisation must be attached below
One file only.
15 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, png, bmp, eps, tif, pict, psd, txt, rtf, html, odf, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, xml, avi, mov, mp3, ogg, wav, bz2, dmg, gz, jar, rar, sit, svg, tar, zip.
30 MB limit per form.
Please note: If your 'Mentor Statement' has not been submitted your application will be considered incomplete and will not be considered for a grant until a Statement is received.
One file only.
15 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, png, bmp, eps, tif, pict, psd, txt, rtf, html, odf, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, xml, avi, mov, mp3, ogg, wav, bz2, dmg, gz, jar, rar, sit, svg, tar, zip.
30 MB limit per form.

Confirmation and Declaration

If you have not received your mentor statement the time to process your application will take longer and your application will be considered incomplete and will not be scored.
It is essential that you understand and agree to the following Terms and Conditions should your application be successful and you are awarded a grant.

Terms and Conditions

We agree to comply with the conditions listed:
  • We confirm that the information contained in this application is correct
  • We give permission for East Herts Council to record the information in this form electronically and to contact us by phone, mail or email with regards to this application.
  • We give permission for the Council to name the recipient of the award on the Council's website, etc.
  • We understand retrospective payments cannot be made with this award.
  • Funding is for one year unless stated otherwise.
  • To advise the Council immediately if the activity supported is cancelled or postponed.
  • Approval will be obtained from the Council to use the grant for any other purpose than that stated. The Council reserves the right to withhold approval if the proposed expenditure falls outside the criteria of the Community Grants Programme or outside the grant-making policy of the Council, in which case, unspent money will be returned.
  • We acknowledge we cannot sell or dispose of any equipment or other assets funded or part funded by the Council without first receiving written permission.
  • To submit a Monitoring Form to the Council within six months of receiving the grant or sooner if the project/activity has been completed detailing the difference the grant has made to your life.
  • In the event of a breach of these terms and conditions the Council reserves the right to take action to recover the total grant awarded and any costs or interest associated with the grant award.
For the purposes of current data protection laws, the information you supply the Council as part of your application will be used to assess and reach a decision on your application for a community grant. It will be retained as per our published corporate data protection policy which can be found on the East Herts District Council Data Protection page (this link opens in a new window).

From time to time, this information may be shared with other Council departments and/or outside partners to process your request as effectively as possible. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is your consent by ticking this box to confirm you agree. You are able to remove this at any time by contacting Claire Pullen.