CLOVERLEAF ADVOCACY - BARNSLEY CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT GRANTS

There is an amount of money still to be allocated and applications would be welcome, particularly from those wanting smaller amounts, to support local voluntary and community groups to undertake events and activities that will promote engagement, involvement and support equality, diversity and inclusion.

Cloverleaf Advocacy will be administering grant funding on behalf of Barnsley Council in the form of Customer Engagement Grants (CEG) for the financial year 2023-24.

The grants are to support local voluntary and community groups to undertake events and activities that will promote engagement, involvement and support equality, diversity and inclusion. The purpose of the grants are to:

• Inspire and enthuse those people living with physical and/or learning disabilities, particularly those not previously involved in any engagement or involvement work where possible.
• Engage public audiences with innovative and creative opportunities to share views and concerns about local issues and services
• Reach specific disabilities groups/communities and individuals (including carers) that may be under-represented from an engagement perspective
• Gather some local insights and information about the issues that matter and the impact of the activity undertaken.

Eligibility

• Grants will only be awarded to not-for-profit organisations based in Barnsley or for activities taking place entirely within Barnsley.
• The activity for which the grant has been applied must be open to residents borough-wide and not restricted to one ward or area of Barnsley.
• To focus on events / activities that give opportunities for people from all disabled communities to meet and get to know each other, including, e.g., low-income or homeless groups.
• If applications similar in merit are received, priority will be given to new applicants as we want to encourage as many different groups to benefit from the CEG scheme.
• The maximum grant for any one project or organisation in any one financial year is up to £3000.
• In the event of receiving a high volume of applications, then those that align most closely to the engagement agenda, local priorities and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) will be considered more favourably.
• Organisations must have a bank account - grants cannot be paid into personal bank accounts.
• Grants must be applied for in advance of the event and cannot be paid retrospectively.
• Grant applications are open from 1^st of April 2023 until 31^st March 2024. A panel will then consider the applications and inform groups as soon as possible if their bid has been successful.

Accountability

All organisations in receipt of a grant must keep copies of all receipts for expenditure incurred and proof of income or other revenue associated with the application as these may be requested for our internal audit purposes.

A short feedback form must be completed by grant recipient organisations outlining how the grant was spent and whether the intended outcomes were achieved. This report will be publicly available.

Criteria

All applications for grants will be assessed for the extent to which they:

• Support the focus around engagement and involvement with local people, and how this might be done in innovative and creative ways.
• Contribute towards community cohesion and/or bring real improvements to the disabled people living in communities and the lives of those most in need.
• Draw on reasonable contributions of time, effort and financial resources by volunteers, other funding agencies or event participants.
• Demonstrate value for money.

Other factors to be considered

• Be specific about what your application relates to. We may ask you to provide further information about your submission.
• The maximum grant you can apply for is up to £3000 in this financial year.
• Events or activities that have been funded by CEG in previous years will be expected to demonstrate they are now more self-sustaining - for example by a greater share of resources coming from external funders, or greater involvement of volunteers or participants.
• Applications for more than one event or activity that, in large part, target the same section of the community will be declined. In this circumstance you should submit an application for a joint event or a joint funding application.
• The event has been identified as a priority for disabled people, in consultation with local community groups, champions and forums.
• There is a limited amount of money and funds will be allocated on a “first come, first served” basis to appropriate bids.

How to apply

To apply, please contact Cloverleaf for an application form mbt@cloverleaf-advocacy.co.uk  This will no to be returned no later than 5PM, 31^st January 2024

If you need to submit a paper copy of your application, or would like to discuss your project prior to applying, please contact us.