Supporting Voluntary and Community Action
Page contents
The VCS Grants Prospectus was launched on 1 September 2016.The Prospectus document can be viewed here and a smaller version (easier to print).
For more information (including application forms) and to apply, visit the council’s website.
Other useful documents:
Please note this statement about including work with children and young people in Prospectus applications (1/9/16), which is an excerpt from Bristol City Council’s Application Guidance Notes.
“Note about children’s services/activities
The Bristol Impact Fund will be used to fund services for adults and for young people (aged 16+). There is no grants money coming into the prospectus for children’s services, which are all strategically commissioned. The grant monies we are aligning to form the new pooled Bristol Impact Fund are all from adult-focused grant streams and we do not have a sufficiently large grants budget to open it up to fund children’s services. Therefore Bristol Impact Fund will not fund activities or services that are targeted at children.
However we realise that many organisations work with families and their activities will impact on both adults and children. Organisations in this situation may want to tell us about the positive benefits (outcomes) for children in their response to the added value question in Part 2 of the application. This way they can still tell us about their ‘whole’ work in a way that represents their activities and services.
The primary investment for young people in the city is through the Bristol Youth Links and the council plans to start the commissioning process for this in the autumn. We do not therefore expect to use the Bristol Impact Fund to fund Youth Links type activities.”
The Prospectus proposal was approved by Bristol City Council’s Cabinet (11/8/16) and was launched 1 September with deadlines for applications in November (depending on the size of the grant). The Prospectus intends that the impacts of all funded activities will be: “reduced disadvantage and inequality, improved health and wellbeing, and increased resilience (people being more able to manage)” VCS organisations will be invited to apply for funds to address one or several challenges:
The council wants VCS organisations to make a difference locally and create the impact needed by:
VCS organisations will be invited to apply for grants of different sizes, as follows.
* Community Transport organisations and Hate Crime service providers can apply for over £150,000 per year if they apply collaboratively.
“We have a guide cap (or maximum) of £150,000 for large grants because we want to use the money available to support a wide range of organisations and we do not want the council’s Bristol Impact Fund to be dominated by large grant awards. It is possible for an organisation to be part of more than one application or proposal. If this is the case we will calculate the total awards to that organisation when making our allocation recommendations so that we do not unknowingly exceed our guide cap.”
Thursday 8 September – What is required at application stage? (St Werburghs Community Centre) book here
Wednesday 13 September – Resources to assist your collaboration (Greenway Centre, Southmead) book here
Thursday 22 September – Resources to assist your collaboration (repeat session) (Easton Community Centre) book here
Tuesday 27 September – Monitoring and Evaluation and the Prospectus (Gatehouse Centre, Hartcliffe) book here
Tuesday 27 September - Finace Forum, Budgeting in a consortium (Tony Benn House) book here
Wednesday 28 September – Small grants applications: preparing for your discussion with the council (St Paul’s Learning Centre) book here
Monday 10 October – Developing your Impact model (The Station) book here
These lunchtime sessions are designed to provide support for Bristol VCS organisations in applying for VCS Grants Prospectus funds. To get the most out of each session, participants will be familiar with the Prospectus (click here to read the Prospectus) intend to apply and need to consider specific aspects to help them prepare their proposals. The format of each session will be a short presentation about the subject, followed by open discussion so that organisations are able to have their questions answered.
Funding Application Review Service – this Voscur service offers independent, informed advice to support your organisation’s fundraising. It provides constructive, timely feedback on a funding application to increase: the quality of your bid; your chances of success; your confidence in explaining your proposal; your own skills and learning for future bids. For more information about the services and charges, click here.
12 Sept, 2.30-4pm Bristol Impact Fund information session (council event, including registration on ProContract system). The Park, Knowle West. Click here to book with the council
13 Sept, 7.30-9pm Bristol Impact Fund information session (council event, including registration on ProContract system). The Vassal Centre, Fishponds. Click here to book with the council
20 Sept, 3-5.30pm Bristol Impact Fund information session (council event, including registration on ProContract system). City Hall, The Writing Room. Click here to book with the council
27 Sept (morning): Budgeting in a Consortium – a discussion for finance managers/treasurers about managing finances when in collaboration with other organisations. Click here to find out more.
20/09/16 (morning): Responding to Changes (withdrawal of grant) – for organisations whose current grants are due to end in 2017, to help them prepare and plan. Click here to find out more.
Frequently asked questions and answers are published by Bristol City Council - click here.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Application-requirements-FINAL-9sept16.pdf | 371.87 KB |
