Thriving Communities Grant

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) provides a wide range of services that support residents throughout their lives, including adult social care, children's services, public health, highways, libraries, trading standards and emergency planning.

The council is committed to helping people live healthy, independent and fulfilling lives and recognises the vital role that local communities, volunteers and voluntary organisations play in achieving this. By investing in local organisations and activities, GCC helps build stronger, more resilient communities where people can access support, stay connected and remain independent for longer.

The Thriving Communities Grant scheme is part of the council's approach to prevention and wellbeing. It supports local organisations to deliver activities and services that help reduce loneliness and isolation, improve wellbeing, strengthen community connections and provide support before people reach crisis point.

The council works closely with Gloucestershire's voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, local residents and partner organisations to understand local needs and support community-led solutions that make a lasting difference.

Through this scheme, GCC is investing in the people, groups and organisations that help make Gloucestershire a place where everyone can thrive.

The funding helps community and voluntary organisations to connect people to their communities, reducing isolation, and improving physical and mental wellbeing.

What is the grant for?

Projects that help adults to stay well and support them to live independently for as long as possible

• Developing community connections, social networks and building resilience
• Promoting inclusive independence and wellbeing in adults
• Providing place-based activities (activities in residential communities), for example community-led activities)
  

What can the grant money be used for?

Costs to set up a new project or maintain an existing project

• Staffing costs
• Volunteer expenses
• Project/programme delivery costs
• Equipment costs
• Core funding (for example, insurance, rent, utilities)
• Transport costs (for example, taxis)
• Continued delivery of projects or increased activity to meet demand

What can't the grant money be used for?

• Capital (building and planning works)
• Consultancy costs
• Vehicles

Thriving Communities so far

Since the scheme launched in 2018, GCC has invested nearly £3.2 million in more than 480 community projects across Gloucestershire. These projects help people build confidence, learn new skills, access support, volunteer, develop social connections and take an active role in their communities.

Decision-making process

• When an application is submitted, Fund Gloucestershire will first review it to ensure that it meets the criteria and requirements of the scheme set by GCC. If it does, then the application is sent on to a local panel for review. 
• Panel members read and score the applications using a standardised scoring matrix. They then meet to discuss applications, give their feedback and scores, and decide whether applications are successful or unsuccessful.
• This information is presented to the Head of Voluntary and Community Partnerships for final decision making.
  

How are review panels formed?

Panels are organised per district and receive review applications from their areas. Previously there have been panels for Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury and Countywide, but this is dependent on the number of applications received.

Members of the review panel are adult social care, voluntary/community sector and district council professionals:

• Thriving Communities Grant team, Gloucestershire County Council
• Know Your Patch representative
• District council (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Cheltenham, Stroud and Tewkesbury)
• Social workers, Gloucestershire County Council (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury and Learning Disability Team)

Who can apply?

• Community or voluntary groups
• Registered charities
• Community interest companies (CIC)
• Town and parish councils
• Art, music, performance, nature-based and sports groups.
• Faith-based groups (where the application demonstrates that the project will bring wider community benefit and the primary purpose of the activity is not religious)
• Unincorporated associations
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO)
• Co-operative societies

Who can't apply?

• Organisations where activities focus on children and young people
• Sole traders
• Statutory organisations except for Town and Parish Councils
• Schools and academies
• Organisations located outside of Gloucestershire
• For-profit organisations

Grant conditions

• We will support applications from a minimum of £500 up to £7,500
• You must have a bank or building society account in the name of your organisation or group
• There must be two or more signatories for the bank or building society
• You must be a not-for-profit organisation. We cannot fund sole traders or any organisation with less than two unrelated directors or signatories
• Organisations that are funded will be required to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of their project

Sign up to your local ‘know your patch’ network and register your group/organisation on Your Circle; https://knowyourpatch.co.uk o https://www.yourcircle.org.uk

This fund will close for applications at 23:59 on Friday 16th October.

Applying through the Fund Gloucestershire platform is simple. The same process will apply whichever grant you are applying for on this platform.

Once you have reviewed the criteria and eligibility for this fund to determine if it is right for your organisation, you will need to set up an organisational profile with Fund Gloucestershire to access the application form and apply.

Please see detailed guidance about how to create an account here.

Once you are registered with Fund Gloucestershire, you will be able to upload your key organisational information and due diligence documents. We will store them securely so they're ready when you are to apply for funds. We'll even remind you when they need updating.

Once you have created an account with Fund Gloucestershire, you can access the application form and complete it online, saving as you go.

For this Thriving Communities grant, the questions you will be asked in the application form are below.

If you prefer, you can prepare your application offline and then cut and paste your responses into the application form.

Please apply for the fund set up for the area in Gloucestershire where your project will be supporting. There are separate application forms for each town and district, and one for the whole county if your work crosses multiple towns and districts.

Application questions:

1. Please indicate where in Gloucestershire your project will be supporting, including town and district where applicable e.g. Nailsworth, within the Stroud District. (This can be more than one area or the whole county)
2. How does your project fit the criteria of the Thriving Communities Grant Scheme?
3. About your project

• Tell us about the project you have planned, and the activities involved
• What is the aim of the project?
• When and where will it happen?
• Timescales
• Up to 3000 characters max

3.Explain why this project/investment is needed and the expected outcomes for beneficiaries/individuals/the community

• Explain why this project is needed, where possible provide evidence and data
• Who will the project/activities be benefitting/aimed at?
• How will this impact beneficiaries?
• What are the expected outcomes of the project?
• How can you measure success? (e.g. feedback, attendance)
• Up to 3000 characters max

Finance and Budget questions;

1.How much money are you applying for?

2. Please provide any further information that you think is appropriate to support your application

3. Please indicate when you will spend the money and key activities

• Please complete the budget table in the Required Documents section of your application, with detail for each section indicating where the funding will be spent. An example of how to complete the budget table is included in the template.
• Are you applying for other grants to deliver this project?

Gloucestershire County Council is keen to hear about how your grant-funded project is going, for example the positive impact it has had on the community and any challenges you may have faced. 

They will ask you to complete an evaluation and monitoring survey through the Fund Gloucestershire platform towards the end of the grant-funded year for completion by the end of January.   

The survey will ask for some basic monitoring information about where your project took place, who it supported, how many people were involved, and whether it helped to secure any additional funding.

It will also ask you to answer three key questions in relation to impact and learning:

1. What did you deliver with the funding?
2. What difference did the funding make?
3. What did you learn, and what happens next?

GCC will also conduct a small number of in-person visits each summer to see funded projects and activities in action, enabling us to understand the impact of the grant and form closer links with these organisations. 

Additionally, GCC also share details of funded organisations with our Adult Social Care operational teams, so they can explore community provision during conversations that support adults in Gloucestershire communities.

For all enquiries related to eligibility for the fund, please email the Council's Thriving Communities Grant Team at thrivingcommunities@gloucestershire.gov.uk.

For all enquiries related to the application process on Fund Gloucestershire's platform, please contact us at hello@fundglos.org.uk