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The Trust’s Grants System

The Trust’s mail and registered address changed in 2018. Please contact us by post at Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust, Stratherrick Public Hall, Gorthleck, INVERNESS, IV2 6YP.

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we can send out paper forms if you prefer – call or text 07525 120966

NEW APPLICATIONS ARE WELCOME TO THE NEXT GRANT ROUND

Completed Grant applications should be made on the forms below to arrive with the Administrator by 21 February 2018. Applications received by this deadline will be assessed during March 2019 and a decision made at the Directors meeting in early April 2019.  If you need any help call the Project Coordinator on 07525 120966. 

Only the most recent grants approved appear on this webpage.  All Grant Award Notices appear on the ‘Grants Awarded’ Page on this website  http://www.stratherrickcommunity.org.uk/grants-awarded

Please remember our postal address is as follows

Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust Ltd. Stratherrick Public Hall, Gorthleck, INVERNESS, IV2 6YP

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There is a two-month cycle.  Application deadlines for 2019 are as follows

Next Deadline – 21 February 2019   Completed applications received by this date will be assessed during March 2019 and considered by the Trust Board in April 2019.

21 April 2019  Completed applications received by this date will be assessed during May 2019 and considered by the Trust Board in June 2019.

21 June 2019  Completed applications received by this date will be assessed during July 2019 and considered by the Trust Board in August 2019.

21 August 2019  Completed applications received by this date will be assessed during September 2019 and considered by the Trust Board in October 2019.

21 September 2019  Completed applications received by this date will be assessed during October 2019 and considered by the Trust Board in November 2019.

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The following ten grants were approved by the Board Meeting held on 3 October 2018.  Offers are being made as follows-

Stratherrick Public Hall £12,446.51 (Constituted Group) Repairs and Maintenance / upgrading the Hall  – Corriegarth Windfarm

Stratherrick and Foyers Wellbeing Group – Mindfulness Courses etc.  £1,970 (Constituted Group) – Dunmaglass Windfarm

Childrens Christmas Party £961.11 (Non Constituted Group / Kim Burton) – Dunmaglass Windfarm

Margaret Cormack, Windows £500 Energy Saving Grant  Glendoe Hydro Scheme

Student Grants of £500 will be offered to the following. All awarded from the Glendoe Hydro Fund

Ewen Fraser, Ruari Tweedlie, Ciaran Jake MacMillan, Isabel Slater, Meg Somerville, and Verity Cameron.

The following grant was approved by the Board Meeting held on 5th September 2018. An offer is being made as follows 

Inverfarigaig Residents’ Association £7,345.20 (Constituted Group) for work on community fields

The following seven grants were awarded at the Board Meeting held on 1 August 2018.  Offers are being made as follows –

Four local young people will each benefit from a £500 grant to help with the costs of their studies in the academic year ahead.

Abigail Kirkland, Samuel Mortimore, Hannah Kelly Tay and Christopher Tay will all be receiving offers from ehe Trust Administrator.

In addition £2,000 was allocated to the purchase of fireworks for the annual display.  £2,465 was allocated to the upgrading of the path between the roadside south of the Whitebridge Hotel and the Fechlin Bridge.  Local contractor Hitrac, who have just completed the pathwork at Loch Tarff for Visit Inverness Loch Ness, will be attending to the defects shortly.

The Trust Board also agreed to extend and improve the current Broadband Scheme serving the Whitebridge and Wester Drummond area.  Plans to include homes around Errogie, Allt na Goire and Torness were discussed.

The following seven grants were awarded at the Board Meeting held in June 2018.  Offers are being made as follows –

Elemental Singing Group £606 – Non Constituted Group (Christiane Morley)

Energy Efficiency Grant  – Kenny Hay  £500

Student Grants  Jessica Main, Robin Morley, Matthew Simpson and Amy Craven. (each £500)

Sporting  Grant – Alex Sutherland £225

The following four grants were awarded at the Board Meeting held in April 2018 

Foyers Primary School £489  towards the costs of the annual joint activity break for pupils ‘moving up’ to secondary school. Funded by SSE’s Glendoe Hydro Community Benefit Fund.

Stratherrick Guides and Brownies £562.63 towards the costs of their train trip to Edinburgh.  Funded by SSE’s Glendoe Hydro Community Benefit Fund.

Stratherrick and Foyers Wellbeing Group £4150 towards the costs of a wide programme of activities at the Stratherrick Public Hall. Funded by SSE’s Corriegarth Windfarm Community Benefit Fund.

Messrs M. MacDonald and L Morrison £500 Energy Saving Grant – towards the costs of installation of solar panels. Funded from the Green Highland Knockie Hydro Fund

The following three grants were awarded at the Board Meeting held in February 2018 

Stratherrick Primary School Parent Council (Constituted Group)  – £1,400 to meet the cost of the bus hires to swimming lessons for this session.  The funds have come from the SSE Glendoe Community Benefit Fund.

Stratherrick and Foyers Community Council (Constituted Group) to meet the costs of their Minute Secretary for the year ahead.  £1,215 was approved, which comes from the SSE Dunmaglass Windfarm Community Benefit Fund.

Student

Grant for Iona Macpherson – £500.   The money to fund this grant came from the Easter Aberchalder Partnership’s Community Benefit Fund.

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Grants approved prior to this list appear on the Grants Award Notices posted on the ‘Grants Awarded’ page of this website.

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We offer grants for all sorts of activities and you can see a list of examples in the ‘Grants Awarded’ page.  All grant awards must fit our Company Objects which mirror both our Funders’ preferences and those of the community itself.  All grant awards must fit one or more of these criteria.  Here is a summary of their main focus:

  • To prevent or relieve poverty
  • To advance education, training and/or retraining
  • To advance heritage
  • To advance environmental protection and improvement
  • To advance citizenship and/or community development
  • To advance the provision of recreational facilities

We DO NOT currently fund the following:

  • Groups whose annual income in the current or previous financial year is over £250,000.
  • Groups/Individuals whose grant request is for the advancement of religion or politics (including requests to support the core activities of religious or political groups)
  • The repayment of loans or payment of debts.
  • Costs already incurred or activities which will take place before we have made a decision on an application (retrospective funding).
  • Payments towards areas generally understood to be the responsibility of statutory authorities.
  • Projects which do not benefit people in the Stratherrick & Foyers area.
  • Activities contrary to the interests of / or activities likely to bring into disrepute the Energy companies who fund our Community Benefit payments or any projects which are anti-renewable energy/windfarm.
  • Applications from groups/Individuals who have successfully applied before but not returned their Completion Report.
  • Groups requiring funds of over £1,000 unless they have a constitution (and therefore a minimum number of 3 people on their management committee) and are “not for profit” groups
  • Payment to members of the community to assist with energy bills

How to apply for a Grant 

Please find our Grant Application forms below and if you need help in completing the form then please do give our Project Coordinator, our Administrator or any of our Directors a call or email and we will do our best to help.

We will work with you while your application passes through a pre-assessment stage which is designed to help you ensure that you have all the right paperwork in place. It is then presented to the Board, at the next available bi-monthly grant meeting for a final decision.

Please make sure you get your application in well in advance of your need,  so that we have time to assess and decide on it before you need the money.  Thank you.

Grant Rounds – Closing Dates 2017/2018

Grant applications are considered by the Trust Board every two months (i.e. in February, April, June, August, October and December).

Grant applications (with all the required supporting documents, i.e. accounts, quotations, group constitution, etc) should reach the Administrator by 12 noon on or before the deadline dates shown above.

If the required supporting documentation is not included with the grant application it will be returned to the applicant (and will not be considered in that round of grants).

Larger grant applications from Community Groups of over £20,000 have a separate system involving SSE, so can take longer to be decided.  You will be asked to complete a basic Proposal Form (Stage 1), then, if passed your group will proceed to a Full Application Form (Stage 2).

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What happens next?

The Trust has a seven to eight week assessment process for all grants apart from grant applications from community groups for over £20,000.

First, the Chair allocates which Director(s) will undertake the grant’s assessment bearing in mind any conflicts of interest directors may have.  No Director is permitted to undertake an assessment of a grant if they (or a family member) also have an interest in the applicant group, would benefit in some way from the grant or are related to the applicant.

Individual grants (i.e. sporting, student and energy saving grants) are assessed by one Director.  Group and Non-Constituted Group grants are assessed jointly by two Directors.

The Assessing Director(s) then receive a copy of all the grant application documents and an “Assessment Report Form”.  The Assessing Director(s) review all the application documentation and then, in the case of a joint assessment, will discuss the application.  If they have any questions or queries about the application, one of them will contact the applicant to discuss further.

Most applications also require a “referee” to be named.  This is a named person who can support the applicant/application if the Assessing Director(s) wish to speak to an independent third party.

The Assessing Director(s) then write an Assessment Report and make a recommendation to the Board whether to accept or reject the application.  This Report is then circulated to all other Directors one week before the relevant Board meeting date.  The decision by the Trust Board will then be made at the next Board meeting and the applicant advised as soon as possible thereafter.

If the Trust decides to award a grant a Letter of Offer is issued to the applicant.  If conditions have been attached to the award these will be set out in the Letter of Offer.  The applicant can then choose to accept the grant awarded by returning an acceptance letter.  Once an acceptance has been received the grant will then be paid.

For example:

  • Application completed in full and reaches the Administrator on 21st April 2018
  • Application assessed by the Trust Directors during the month of May 2018
  • Application considered by the Trust Board at their grants meeting scheduled for 6th June 2018
  • Applicant advised of Board decision by phone or email, and paper letter about the Grant offer sent out by Trust listing any conditions for successful applicants.
  • Applicant can then accept the offer, return the letter and payment follows.

Details of various grants and Application Forms

Community Groups seeking funds should chose the correct form from those listed here. 

Community Groups seeking up to £20,000 in grant – this is one stage process using a single application form

Community Groups seeking over £10,000 but under £20,000 please contact the Project Coordinator for help in completing the single application form.

Community Groups seeking over £20,000 in grant.  A two stage process involving a Stage 1 Proposal and a Stage 2 Application is detailed below.  In addition to Trust approval, SSE must also agree to these grants at both proposal and application stage.

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Community Groups seeking a grant of more than £20,000 should read these guidelines, and use the Large Grant to Community Groups Stage 1 Proposal Form link below

Large-Grants-to-Community-Groups-Application-Guidelines-05112017iii

Large Grants to Community Groups Stage 1 Proposal Form 03112017ii

Community Groups seeking more than £10,000 and up to £20,000 should contact the Project Coordinator in the first instance. Grants of this type and size are for ‘Legacy’ Projects.

Community Groups seeking grants of up to £10,000 should click the link below (Form and guidelines together). These make up the bulk of our grant awards and are available for constituted, not-for-profit groups and organisations run to benefit people living in the Stratherrick & Foyers area. (This form is also used for applications from Community Groups for over £10k but under £20k, but if your proposal is within these higher limits, please contact the Project Coordinator for help.)  Click this link to download – SFCT-Group-app-form-up-to-£20k-Last-Updated-Sept 2018

Non Constituted Group for Community Benefit Form – up to £1,000 For use by individuals organising an event or project to benefit members of the community. Click this link to download – SFCT-Non-constituted-Group-for-Com-Benefit-Grant-App-Form-Updated-Sept 2018

Student Grant Form – up to £500 per year. For any resident undertaking a further or higher education course or training.  Student Grant Application Form and Guidelines are

together. Click here to download SFCT-Student-Grant-App-Form-Last-Updated-March-2017 (11)

Sporting Grant Application Form – up to £250, two applications permitted each year.  For anyone competing at National or Championship level or participating in a recognised training camp as trainees. Click this link to download SFCT-Sporting-Grant-App-Form-Last-Updated-September 2018

Energy Saving Grant Form – up to £500.  Available to any homeowners in the area for making energy saving improvements to their own residential property only.  Improvements might include insulation, renewable energy systems etc.  Click this link to download SFCT-Energy-Saving-Grant-App-Form-Last-Updated-September 2018

Hardship Grant Form – up to £500
Available to anyone in the area who is suffering severe hardship.  These would normally be referred to us from a third party and are dealt with sensitively and with confidentiality.  The application form would only be seen by a panel of no more than three Directors and the remaining Directors of the Board would have no knowledge of the name of the applicant.

Because this is an entirely confidential application, we do not provide a form here but simply ask you to please give either the Administrator or the Chairperson a call and they will help you out with what to do next.  You can find the contact details on our ‘Contact Us’ page.  Please rest assured that your approach and any application will be treated as confidential and will be shared by only three Directors and the Administrator.

Medical Adaptation Grant and Loan Award Scheme – for households in medical distress – Please contact the Project Coordinator on 07525120966  or the Trust Administrator  admin@sfctrust.org.uk

Legacy Projects – If any member of the community has a ‘Legacy’ project in mind for which funds of over £10,000 may be required then please contact us directly and we will help with any relevant forms as applicable.

These higher value grants are provided for any local group who have more ambitious projects and require much larger funding.  SFCT would expect that our contribution would act as a catalyst for these groups to win much larger funds (i.e. ‘match’ funding) from other funding organisations such as Lottery, Leader, etc.

Our ‘Apprenticeship Scheme’ is a good example of a ‘Legacy’ project.  Other examples might be a community woodland, sports centre, social housing etc.

Completion Reports

Following the awarding of a grant, applicants are  requested to complete a short “Completion Report”.  The completion reports for the different grants awarded are as follows:-

Completion Report – Grants to Constituted Groups – click here Grant-Completion-Report-Constituted Group-Last-Updated-Sept 2018

Completion Report – Grants to Non Constituted Groups Grant-Completion-Report-Non Constituted Group-Last-Updated-Sept 2018

Completion Report – Grants to Students  – click here Grant-Completion-Report-Student-Last-Updated-November 2018

Completion Report – Grants for Energy Saving  – click here Grant-Completion-Report-Energy Saving-Last-Updated-September 2018

Completion Report – Sporting Grants – click here Grant-Completion-Report-Sporting-Last-Updated-Sept 2018

The Trust’s mail and registered address has changed recently. Please contact us by post at Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust, Stratherrick Public Hall, Gorthleck, INVERNESS, IV2 6YP.