Warm Spaces Grants

Over the recent months we have seen pressures on the cost of living. For those already struggling to balance their living costs, this further compounds the very real and tough decisions that some may have to make this winter.

Croxley Green Parish Council wants to do more to help our community to address cost of living impacts. We are looking to support a network of Warm Spaces, places where local residents can come together to stay warm, perhaps participate in activities and have a cuppa too.

We are asking groups and organisations to support us in delivering spaces across Croxley Green that are open, welcoming for all, accessible, safe and free to our communities to come inside and warm up. We want to ensure that anyone who is cold knows where they can go to get warm, stay warm and enjoy a bit of company.

The Council recognises that for some groups and organisations there will be financial challenges in being able to provide a warm space in their communities. Therefore in order to support this, the Council is launching a dedicated grant programme with £5000 in funding to help. The Warm Spaces Grant aims to give groups and organisations some financial support to open their venues up as warm spaces, in addition to their normal activity.

A grant of up to £500 per warm space is available. This can be used to offset a range of costs for example, energy costs, activity costs, materials needed, or running costs including staff or volunteer costs.

Basic funding criteria

Grants will be awarded to not-for-profit organisations, working for the benefit of the Croxley Green community. To apply, your group does not have to be a registered charity but you do need;

• A constitution or set of governing rules
• Accounts or records of expenditure
• A bank account; or a partner organisation willing to hold the money for you
• To have suitable and relevant policies (such as safeguarding or insurance) to run your project as appropriate
• To own or have a lease on the building in which the warm space will be operating in
• To be ready! You’ll need to start spending the money within a month of receiving the grant
• To be prepared to sign up to the Warm Spaces Charter (see grant application form)

The Parish Council cannot give funding to government funded organisation (schools, libraries, etc.)

WHAT DOES THE GRANT FUND COVER?

The Warm Spaces Grants are designed to enable and facilitate groups/ organisations, through providing funding to offer additional warm spaces to the community. The aim is to mitigate the inequality, reduce social isolation and provide support to address community concerns around the cost of living, whilst staying and being well.

We want to receive bids for fundings that provide additional activity and/or open a warm space that would not be open otherwise. The fund will cover the following expenses:

• Purchase or hire of resources – eg kettles, craft materials
• Staff/ volunteer time/ expenses
• Energy Costs
• Anything else that enables the space to be open, welcoming and sustained

The grants will not be available to groups that:

• Deliver projects that don’t benefit the residents or communities of Croxley Green
• Discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, disability, age, or sexual orientation
• Want to make retrospective payments for activities that have already taken place
• Carry out political activities
• Want funds to carry out capital improvements or maintenance to the building the warm space will be held in.
  

  HOW DO I APPLY?

  Please complete the application form, which can be found below:

  To give you some more information about how a warm space works we have attached a guide from the Martin Lewis charity fund. The Warm Welcome Guide can also be found below

  What happens once I’ve applied?

  We will email you to acknowledge receipt of your application. Once received we will check that your application meets our criteria, is eligible and that we have all the relevant documents.

  As this is a rolling programme, we will be accessing applications as they are submitted. Successful applicants will be contacted as soon as a decision is made to get their warm spaces offered underway.

  Once all of the allocated funds have been awarded, we will close the grants programme. It may reopen should more funding be made available.

  ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?

  Please email:

  • Parish Clerk, Ryan Bennett, at clerk@croxleygreen-pc.gov.uk