Each District Councillor is allocated a small budget and has the discretion to award grants to community activities that will benefit the community within their respective electoral ward areas.
How to Apply
Any application for a Community Grant must be discussed with the relevant Ward Member(s) in the first instance. If in agreement, the Ward Member will provide you with a blank application form which you will need to complete. This needs to be signed off by the Ward Member(s) before submitting it to the Member Support Team.
Guidelines for the Councillor Community Grants Application
Eligibility criteria:
- All projects, initiatives and activities seeking support must be located in Bassetlaw or be of significant benefit to people living in Bassetlaw.
- Applications should be for a minimum total value of £100 to minimise administration costs. There is no maximum threshold, but a Member shall not overspend on the budget allocated to them by Council and underspent budget cannot be carried forward.
- For electoral wards with multiple councillors, applications can be submitted to all ward members.
- A councillor can fund up to 100% of the total cost of a project (budget permitting).
- All projects, initiatives and activities applying for funds must be willing to work with the Council’s press team if desired to make residents aware of a successful grant application.
- The project must complete within 12 months of the award decision.
- All projects, initiatives and activities applying for funds must be willing to report back to the Council on how the grant was spent and how it has benefited the receiving community.
- Unsuccessful applicants are unable to re-apply for a Councillor Community Grant in the same financial year (April to April).
Funding applications for the following are unlikely to be considered:
- Applications which cover an area that is the primary responsibility of another funding agency.
- Applications from bodies which already receive funding from Bassetlaw District Council via other means.
- Applications which do not support residents of the Bassetlaw area.
- Applications which promote religious belief and/or political activities.
- Applications to cover expenses that have already been incurred or retrospective funding.
- Applications that relate to an organisation’s general revenue costs or annually recurring costs including staff costs, rents etc.
Who we cannot fund:
- Other local authorities or public sector bodies (for example, Nottinghamshire County Council, NHS Trusts, Schools).
- Groups who raise funds on behalf of, or whose project will mainly benefit, ineligible organisations (such as PTAs who directly support their school).
- Funding individuals to participate in specific charity or fundraising activities.
- Costs associated with the management of an organisation (e.g. training courses).
- Profit-making organisations.
- Private businesses.
- Political, lobbying and campaigning groups.
- Town and Parish Councils (unless it is a part of a wider community-based project, initiative and activity in the ward).
- Nationwide organisations, unless there is a branch in the ward or District and the activity is solely for the benefit of that area and not further afield.
- The purchase of items to then be resold to generate income for a project (e.g. buying raffle prizes).
What we cannot fund: - Recoverable VAT (if your organisation is VAT registered and able to reclaim VAT, we cannot fund the VAT element of your project costs).
- Depreciation (as this is not a real cash cost).
- Bank, finance or audit charges.
- Repayment of loans or interest costs.
- Retrospective costs (we cannot fund any expenditure that has already been incurred or you are committed to incurring before the grant is approved).
- Endowments (to provide a source of income).
- Statutory obligations.
- Ordinary activities of a statutory body.
- Contingency costs.
- The purchase of alcohol, medication or drugs.
- Projects, initiatives and activities that directly promote a religious belief (this does not exclude applications from faith-based groups who want to deliver community-based projects that can clearly demonstrate a benefit to the wider community and include participation from the community).
The approval process:
- All applications must be completed by the recipient and approved by the Ward Councillor.
- The Ward Councillor will then confirm the amount of the grant they are willing to support and whether it should be returned to them as Ward Councillor or sent directly to the applicant.
- The completed application form should be sent to the Member Support Unit for processing.
- Successful applications will be only be paid by BACS.
- If a single grant is £500 or the total of the Councillor Grant received is £500 or more you will need to retain proof of receipts/spend for 2 years and the Council reserves the right to ask you for evidence of project completion e.g. photos.
- The Council reserves the right to request proof of quotation prior to issuing grants
- The final decision on whether a grant is awarded will be made of Officer level based on the recommendation of the Member.
Last Updated on Tuesday, September 30, 2025