Creating Healthy Communities grants guidance 2022 to 2023

1. Overview

The Creating Healthy Communities grants will distribute £90,000 of funding to Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations serving residents in East Surrey with the aim of improving health and wellbeing. The grants provide an excellent mechanism for sharing system wide change and developing innovation.

We are looking to fund projects which support health creation and build wellbeing.  Projects should be focused on prevention and aligned to the East Surrey Place Priorities

• urgent and emergency care – Projects that prevent or reduce the burden on urgent and emergency care
• ageing well – Projects that enable elderly people to remain independent and engaged in activities
• prevention and Communities – Projects that work with and in local communities to address issues that are impacting on health and wellbeing
• long term conditions – Activities that help prevent or reduce the impact of long term health conditions
• mental health – Projects and activities that support good mental health

We particularly welcome applications from organisations which can demonstrate that lived experience of their potential beneficiaries is reflected in the management and or governance of the organisation or in the development of the planned service delivery.

We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups in our community.

You will be able to apply for between £2,000 and £10,000 per organisation.

You can only apply once per organisation; we will consider full cost recovery projects and we will only fund each project and or activity once.

Successful applicants or the fund holder will be asked to sign a funding agreement before the grant is paid, this will set out the reporting requirements.

2. Eligibility Criteria 

We will fund VCS organisations working for the benefit of residents living in the East Surrey Place geography (see Figure 1) who deliver services and activities that could directly contribute towards the East Surrey Place priorities. 

Figure 1

This includes:

• registered charities
• voluntary and community groups that are charitable in purpose
• not for profit organisations (such as Community Interest Companies) with social purpose
• local faith groups where the projects clearly benefit the wider community
• small and newly formed groups which are not constitute or cannot meet the eligibility criteria may apply under the umbrella of another group which will act as a fund holder for the grant. Grant holders could be VCS or other infrastructure groups, charities or churches

We will not fund:

• Local authorities
• building maintenance or repairs
• projects which have already taken place or items purchased prior to or during a grant application
• events – unless the lasting difference the event will make to participants can be demonstrated

If an application is unsuccessful, we will endeavour to signpost applicants to alternate funding sources where available and or appropriate.

Conflicts of Interest

We expect applicants to highlight to us if there is a conflict of interest, for example they also work for East Surrey Place, serve as Members of a local Council or are members of the Participation Group or Prevention and Communities board.

3. Process

If you are interested in applying for a grant, meet the outlined eligibility criteria and have an activity you’d like to apply for funding for, there is a simple process to follow. This is summarised below and shown in Figure 2.

1. Applicant submits Expression of Interest (EOI) – this is a simple online form confirming the name of your organisation, how much you’re applying for and a brief summary of the activity you’d like to fund. Please ensure you include information about how your project addresses the East Surrey Place priorities, where it will take place and approximately how many people it will benefit (if appropriate). The grant team will assess the EOI to confirm whether the organisation and activity are suitable and eligible to progress to the next stage.
2. EOI goes to participation group – we are consulting a participation group of residents from East Surrey as part of this process. Anonymised summaries of the EOIs will be sent to this participation group who will provide their feedback on what projects they would prioritise funding.
3. Applicant is invited to a consultation call – this will be a video call with the grants team. As opposed to using an application form, we will discuss any further information and detail required to complete your application for funding on the call. The questions may vary depending on the type of activity you are looking to fund and amount you are applying for; you can find more information in the 4. Required Documentation section of this guidance.
4. Final award decision made at Prevention and Communities Board – After the consultation call the final summary of the application will be put to the Prevention and Communities Board for the final award decision.

Figure 2

4. Required documentation

Depending on the activity you are applying for funding for, and how much funding you are requesting, we may request certain documentation from you. This could include:

• evidence of a management committee (the people who are responsible and make decisions – Trustees or Directors) of a minimum of three unrelated people
• a signed constitution (or set of rules)
• a bank account in the name of your group which requires two signatories and or dual authorisation.
• safeguarding Policy – if you’re working with vulnerable people
• Equality and Diversity Policy – if you’re a constituted organisation
• your most recent Annual Accounts – if you’re applying for >£5,000

If your project requires any permissions e.g. planning permission, you will be asked about this during the application process.

5. Impact reporting

If successful in receiving a grant, as part of the grant terms you will be expected to provide impact reporting. What this specifically looks like will depend on your activity however is likely to include things like:

• number of people supported
• evidence the activity has addressed the East Surrey Place Priorities
• any pictures, case studies or feedback from the activity and or residents supported

6. Tips for Expression of Interest

Applications that demonstrate a clear and lasting benefit to the health and wellbeing of our communities are more likely to be successful.

Here are some other factors that may make your application stand out:

• sustainability of the project or benefits beyond the grant
• added value through the involvement of the community in delivery, building the skills of volunteers
• accessibility and diversity
• planned impact measurement
• use of original and creative approaches to respond to changing local needs
• long-term solutions for people’s health and wellbeing