The Newark Trust Community Places Fund

Stage One – Applicants meet with Charity Manager

·       Discussion and overview of application and the fund to try to ensure that applications are relevant.

·       Applications will not be accepted without initial meeting

Stage Two – Applicants complete an application form / submission

·       Charity Manager assesses:

o   Eligibility

o   Relevance and alignment with the aims and priorities of the fund

o   Benefit and impact

·       Applications will be ranked on the above and feedback given to applicant organisations as to whether their application will proceed

Stage Three – Trustees consider application

·       Confirm eligibility, alignment with priorities and agree benefits and impact

·       Further information requested, if required, to make decision

·       Trustees will agree level of reward (or rationale for not awarding)

·       Agree reporting requirements

Stage Four

·       Charity Manager will communicate the outcomes to successful organisations and set out terms of any offers made

·       Charity Manager will monitor progress and use of awards

·       Meet with organisation

·       Reporting as agreed at offer stage

We are looking to support projects designed to provide material physical improvement to a building or environment which hosts community activities, classes or services.

For example, amendments to an existing building, new features or improvements which will mean that activities or services either can be better run, increased or improved. The location will be of benefit to the local people who use it.

Examples of the applications that have previously been successful include:

·       Funding for joinery work and redecoration as part of the creation of a new Wellness Room.

·       Widening of a doorway to allow easier access / egress.

·       Replacement flooring using hard-wearing engineered timber flooring to provide a safe and hygienic finish for group play activities.

·       Implementation of a battery system to help reduce running costs, carbon footprint and enable future adaptions towards near net zero.

·       Roof and window repairs to make the area watertight and draught free and to improve returns on recent upgrades to central heating system.

·       Renovations to allow the expansion of accommodation capacity to support addiction recovery.

·       Funding to support heating system upgrades

·       Funding for any removeable items, eg desks, laptops, sofas, books etc

·       Work that takes place outside Inverclyde

·       Revenue costs – costs of running services / activities

(You may be able to chat to us about potential funding under our other grant-making focus areas for this)

·       Applications for rent / lease costs

·       Funding for individuals

·       We are open to applications from faith-based organisations for funding towards projects in buildings/environments/locations where services and activities take place and are open to the wider community, but we cannot contribute towards projects which include the promotion of religious (or political) beliefs or where attending the environment requires participants to be of a particular faith or none.

·       Standalone events or festivals

·       Retrospective costs already incurred

·       Costs not incurred by the applicant organisation

Funding may be awarded to support an existing property or location (in the control of the organisation or with a long-term lease and permission of land-owner). 

The Applicant Organisation must:

·       Be Inverclyde-based

·       Be a charity, constituted group, CIC or Social Enterprise in operation for at least 12 months

·       Have a constitution, articles of association, or governing document

·       Have a bank account in the name of the organisation

·       Be able to share accounts for the last 12 months

·       Be able to share their safe-guarding policy if working directly with young or vulnerable people

·       Be able to demonstrate funding to operate for at least 12 months or advise Charity Manager of operational business plan

The organisation should be able to show:

·       Researched and realistic costing and timeline for project and advise whether additional /match funding will be required and if this has been secured.

(A grace period of 4 months will be provided to find match funding before the award is withdrawn.)

·       Contingency for increasing costs or delays

·       Evidence of the benefit to the wider local community

·       The financial sustainability of the project in the longer term and how they would look to improve sustainability

·       That the location hosts a range of services and/or activities to meet the needs of the local community. (By community, we mean the people of Inverclyde.)

·       The specific item/work should have an expected lifespan of 5 or more years

·       Any permissions that would be required are in place or note what stage they are at with seeking these

·       How the size of the grant requested relates to the overall turnover of the organisation and the financial health of the organisation

·       If there are generous reserves or funds available to the organisation, why these are not being used for the project.

·       Charities

·       Constituted Groups

·       CICs (Community Interest Companies)

·       Social Enterprises

Who Cannot Apply?

·       Un-constituted Groups

·       Housing Associations and Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs - these are organisations which are formally separate from the local authority but still subject to its control or influence)

1. Read the Application Overview and Guidance.

2. Reach out to Charity Manager for initial conversation and to receive application form.

Applications will not be accepted without an initial conversation.

Application forms will be sent after the initial conversation.

Applications open from 1st September 2026 and will be accepted following an initial discussion around eligibility with the Charity Manager

Applications close on 31st October 2026

A final decision will be made by 31st December, and if successful, payment will within 2 weeks, subject to all requirements being met.

 ·        Relevancy and alignment with the purpose of the fund

·       Meeting the eligibility criteria

·       Incorporation of the theme of community support

·       How this project will complement the services and activities already provided or create an environment for new services and activities

·       Collaboration with and support from the local community, users of the location and beyond

·       Financial Sustainability

·       Immediate need

·       Duration and scale of work

·       Budget detailing costs of the work including any other funding secured or projected

·       Positive and lasting outcome, vs current, for the communities that it serves

The Newark Trust would appreciate it if there was an opportunity to acknowledge their support by way of a plaque or something similar.

Applications which relate to the two priority areas, (1) Fighting Child Poverty and (2) Supporting Children and Young People with Additional Support Needs will be given a higher priority in the decision-making process. This will not prevent applications from other areas of the community.

In addition, priority will be given to applications which do one or more of the following:

·       Improve equity of access

·       Improve efficiency / reduce running costs

·       Benefit the wider community

·       Increase the services or activities that can be offered in the building/place/environment

The Trustees will also be considering:

·       Compliance

·       Does the project align with the vision and priorities of The Newark Trust, particularly this area of funding?

·       Are all the eligibility criteria met?

·       What are the benefits and risks of investment?

·       Is there reasonable assurance that beneficiary can deliver the expected outcome?

·       Are the decisions being made objectively and consistently?

·       Is the project financially sustainable?

·       Will the wider community benefit from this improvement or is it limited to a small group of people?

·       Will this project help to encourage more people to use the building/environment/location for a wide range of services or activities?

·       How the size of the grant requested relates to the overall turnover of the organisation and the financial health of the organisation

·       Is the beneficiary seeking full, part or match funding?

·       Will permissions be required? Have these been applied for / requested?

§  Planning permission and/or building warrant is not a requirement, but applications would be strengthened where consent was agreed, applied for, or where a letter of comfort from the local planning was available.

We recognise that many organisations now use AI tools as part of their day-to-day work, and we understand the potential value they can bring when preparing an application. You can use AI to support your submission, but please not that it’s important that your final submission reflects your organisation’s own ideas, plans, and evidence — not content generated solely by AI.

If you choose to use AI tools, please ensure that:

• The information is accurate, appropriate, and genuinely represents your project.

• You review, edit, and take full ownership of the final application.

The fund is for projects costing, in part or in full, between £2,000 and £20,000.

Please note that whilst we can provide funding of up to £20k, we won’t be able to award this to all applications. We scale awards based on a number of factors including scale of organisation’s work, size, strength of alignment between its work and the aims of our fund.

You don’t need to have any match funding in place when you apply but if we are not able to fund the total costs of your work, you will need to consider additional sources of funding and show how these will be secured prior to any award being made. (A grace period of 4 months will be provided to find match funding before the award is withdrawn.)

Only one grant at a time.

Project to be started within 6 months of award unless prior agreement reached with the Board of Trustees

A reporting structure will be agreed at the time of the offer of any grant.

We will look to keep in touch regarding the progression of the project, and whether you require any additional support from us and will ask for details on the starting point and end point.

Progress photos would be greatly appreciated.

If there are any changes to the plans, we need to be updated.

We would like to visit and see the completed project and to hear about the difference that it has made to your organisation.

The Newark Trust would appreciate it if there was an opportunity to acknowledge their support by way of a plaque or something similar.

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After completion of your project, we would like your feedback on the application process, the follow up and the outcomes. We are keen to know what worked well for you, what didn’t and how we can do things better.  

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Feedback can be sent at any time to:

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claire@thenewarktrust.org

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If you require any help with your application, please contact:

claire@thenewarktrust.org