Grants to voluntary and community groups

Woking Borough Council Community Grants

The grants scheme aims to support those projects and services which further the aims of Woking´s Community Strategy, which seeks to tackle the needs of the Borough by working in partnership with local organisations.  Criteria for the Community Grants Scheme has been drawn up. For the purpose of the scheme, the Council has adopted a definition of a community organisation.

Organisations seeking to apply for funding first need to register on the Window on Woking (WoW) website (a free community website for community groups and organisations serving the Woking area) where they will be able to access the electronic grant application form and track the progress of their application. 

Details of the grant scheme is posted on the WoW site between September and October each year.  Notification will be sent to Organisations registered on WoW and there will be a two month period in which Organisations will be able to submit applications.

Application

When an applicant is making an application for an activity which will directly involve children, young people and/or vulnerable adults, or where the outcome of such grant activity may result in greater access by children, young people and/or vulnerable adults, then a Safeguarding Policy needs to be in place and submitted with the application.

Assessment

All applications for grants for the next financial year will be examined for evidence that the organisations applying are seeking to help themselves and working towards independence.  The Council will also be looking at how the work of the groups applying furthers the aims and objectives of the Community Strategy.

The applications will be assessed by Officers and observations will be sought from other service areas of the Council.  The Council's Portfolio Holder for grants to voluntary and community organisations and the Woking Association of Voluntary Service (WAVS) are consulted on all applications.

New applicants 

All new applicants will be invited for interview to discuss their project and their organisation in general.

Decision making process

A report on each application will be prepared by Officers for submission to the Executive in March each year.  The reports will be published on the Council's website a week prior to the Executive meeting. The meeting is open to members of public and copies of the reports will be available a week before the meeting. Following the decision of the Executive, applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application.

Further Information

For further information on community support by the Council, please contact Frank Jeffrey, Principal Member Services Officer, on 01483 743012 or email frank.jeffrey@woking.gov.uk.