We want Your Fund Surrey (YFS) to be as easy as possible for communities to access, but we must stay true to our number one aim of delivering meaningful improvements to local areas.
YFS is there to bring community led projects to life that make a real difference to local areas with a focus on providing wide community benefits that leave a real legacy.
By 'community-led projects' we mean projects that are identified and driven by the community coming together. Examples to show how your project is community led could be surveys or consultation events with the wider community, including non-members or groups not currently using your facility. The National Lottery have produced a short video we think fits well with YFS and helps to explain the ethos behind incorporating the whole community in a project. You can watch the video below:
People in The Lead
The YFS - Large Community Projects fund is comprised of public money, and it is essential that it is put to good use.
Please see the criteria for the fund below:
Eligibility:
You are eligible to apply for the YFS - Large Community Fund if you are/ or part of a:
- Voluntary or community organisation
- Registered charity
- Constituted group or club
- Community interest company (CIC)
- Social enterprise
- School or statutory body (including town, parish or community council but excluding borough and district councils)
- Local business
We do not fund:
- Individuals
- Sole traders
- Political organisations or organisations which support political individuals
- Organisations that are aimed at generating profits primarily for private distribution
- Public sector bodies or private companies to carry out their statutory duties
- Organisations based outside the UK
- Applications made by one organisation on behalf of another
- Ongoing revenue costs, such as salaries or running costs
- Replacing any withdrawn funding from Surrey County Council or existing projects
- Projects that contravene any of Surrey County Council's agreed policies or priorities
- Projects that could be funded by other Council departments
- Paying for a consultant to make an application to the fund on the applicants' behalf
- Retrospective funding
- The purchase of land and/or property
- Surrey Highways projects
Funding requirements:
- Applications for funding must show that they are community-led and be able to evidence that the community has been consulted to demonstrate the need for the funding
- Applications for funding must show that they will provide new or additional benefits to the wider community rather than to support existing services
- Applicants are encouraged to implement measures to ensure the service it delivers are accessible and inclusive to all
We strongly encourage applications from groups that:
- Support vulnerable people or groups
- Support Equality Diversity and Inclusion including minority and marginalised groups
- Work in areas of higher deprivation within Surrey
- Have an environmentally friendly focus in addition to new or additional community benefits
Building renovations and/or community halls:
Your Fund Surrey is looking for projects that can demonstrate that their idea is community-led, will leave a long-lasting positive impact and deliver wider community benefit.
Clubhouse/building renovations are within scope of the fund; however, we want to see how the project would benefit local residents beyond existing users and club membership. For example, a project may include a hall or meeting room space that will be offered to local community groups at an affordable rate to deliver different types of activities, meetings and initiatives.
Other applications might also be looking to improve their facilities so they can offer their service to a wider range of the population for instance providing access to facilities to a range of ages, gender, ethnicity and physical abilities.
Full submission criteria
How will the project be delivered?
Projects should have a clear project plan in place to show how the project will be delivered and demonstrate it necessary support needed to do so.
The application will be assessed by looking at the following information alongside all other documentation:
- Project plan – who will deliver and when
- Costs – fully costed with evidence (tender/quotes) - please refer to our procurement guidance
- Management and maintenance plan
- Planning and permissions in place
- All other funding in place
Is there any additional help needed to run the project?
Proposals should highlight if there are additional people or volunteers that can be called upon, or money from other sources that can be used to make the project work.
The application will be assessed by looking at the following information alongside all other documentation:
- Finances – accounts, other funding evidence
- Quotes
- Constitution
- Partnerships and wider community support
What are the long-term benefits?
Please outline how using the funding will have lasting benefits, for at least five years going forward, explaining who will benefit and how they will benefit.
The application will be assessed by looking at the following information alongside all other documentation:
- Needs assessment
- Evaluation plan
- Community engagement
- Cash flow
- Management and maintenance plan
Please look at the Community Vision for Surrey 2030 for further information.
Does it make a positive difference to people's lives?
Show us how the project will make a positive difference to peoples' lives and the wider community. This could include improving people's health and wellbeing, the environment around them or helping people to come together.
The application will be assessed by looking at the following information alongside all other documentation:
- Support for project such as letters/emails
- Needs assessment
- Community surveys and other forms of engagement
- Have Your Say report
Has the environmental impact of the project been considered?
Show that the project will encourage sustainable practices and activity and that long term it won't have a negative impact on the environment.
Please find further support for this area of your application on the Your Fund Surrey application support webpages.
Is there wider community support?
Using the Commonplace platform, you will need to demonstrate that others in your community support the project idea and that it will benefit the wider community.
The governance behind Your Fund Surrey is currently being updated. For more information or if you have any questions about the criteria for the Your Fund Surrey Large Community Projects, please email yourfund@surreycc.gov.uk
YFS standard terms and conditions for properties
- If any part of the capital grant is to build, refurbish, extend, or alter buildings or land then the following terms and conditions will apply.
- You confirm that you do not have any undisclosed loans secured on the capital assets.
You will not take out any loans secured on any capital assets funded or part-funded by the capital grant unless you receive our agreement in writing first. Our agreement may be subject to conditions.
- If you are leasing land or a building for your project, then you will send us a copy of the lease and the lease will be for the following minimum term of years below. You will also provide a copy of any head lease if you are sub-leasing and permission from the freeholder that the land or building may be used for the purpose of the grant funding:
- For a capital grant of up to £100,000: a lease of at least 5 years, without a break clause.
- For a capital grant of more than £100,000 but less than £500,000: a registered and assignable lease of at least 15 years, without a break clause. For a capital grant of greater than £500,000: a registered and assignable lease of at least 25 years, without a break clause.
- If you are the freeholder of the land or building to which your project relates, you will provide a copy of the title document.
- If all or part of your capital grant is to be used for building work you understand and accept that we may require security over any capital assets funded by the grant. If we have asked for security, you understand that we will not pay more than a maximum of 5% of the capital grant until we have received the relevant security documents completed to our satisfaction.
- evidence that you have received any planning permission, listed building consent and building regulations consent (or other applicable consents or regulations) required for the building work; and
- evidence that a competitive tender process has been undertaken with a minimum of three estimates received from three independent builders. If you are commissioning the building works under pre-tendered arrangements, you must provide evidence of the tender process undertaken to identify existing contractors;
- a copy of the tender review report. If you are commissioning the building work under pre-tendered arrangements, you will provide us with evidence that demonstrates that costs have been market tested to confirm value for money;
- a copy of the tender specification;
- an updated capital project cost summary, cash flow and programme of work; and
- evidence that you have secured all the required partnership funding for the capital project.
- we will make payments in stages when we receive builders' invoices or against interim certificates completed on the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) form or other appropriate invoices/evidence;
- we will retain the final 5% of the grant for the building works until we receive; the certificate of practical completion, the making good defects certificate, confirmation that you have obtained the building regulations completion certificate, the buildings insurance certificate, and completed our income and expenditure assessment duly signed by an authorised person.
- if you want to make significant changes to the scope of the building works, you must get our permission in writing before going ahead, approval of changes does not infer additional funding.
- You will not sell, lease, let, sub-let, or otherwise dispose of or change the use of any capital asset without first obtaining our written consent, which may be subject to conditions. If you sell or dispose of any capital asset, you may have to repay us all or part of the money you have received from us. The amount you repay will be in direct proportion to the share of the project cost that came from us. If, with our consent, you sell any capital asset wholly or partly bought with the grant, the sale must be at full market value. We may require funding conditions such as community use agreements (for Surrey County Council owned assets); management agreements; restrictions on the title deeds to mitigate risks to Your Fund Surrey funding not achieving the desired community benefits.
- We will continue to monitor projects that we have funded after the works are completed and you will supply information about and allow us to inspect the project in accordance with our standard procedures for the following applicable periods:
- for a capital grant of up to £100,000: 5 years
- for a capital grant of more than £100,000 but less than £500,000: 10 years
- or for a capital grant greater than £500,000: 20 years
- The monitoring period will commence from the date of completion of the building work or from the date of purchase of the asset.
