Cabinet considered approval of recommendations from the Grants Panel for grants to

voluntary organisations. Although the discussion took place in Part II, it was agreed

that the decision should be minuted in Part I and that the report be made Part I.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities asked Cabinet to approve the recommendation within the report and was pleased to say that out of a budget of £3000,000 it was recommended that £163,909 be awarded by the council with the remainder being allocated throughout the year.  For each pound we provided its value was ten times to our residents.

The Lead Member for Finance informed that he was the Chairman of the Grants Panel and that they had followed three principles when looking at the grants; was it clear what the applicant was going to do with the money and would it add value to our residents, was it feasible that the objectives for the grant award would be met and were the benefits available to all members of our community.    The current but was £300,000 with about half being allocated.  There was a rolling programme of applications with another batch due to be considered soon. 

The Chairman highlighted the graph on agenda pack page 160 that showed an increasing of growth in RBWM community grants being made available.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLEY: That Cabinet endorsed the recommendations of the Grants Panel listed below:

          RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:  That the applications listed below for the allocation of RBWM / ‘3’ Grassroots Funding be noted and the decisions be minuted in Part I following Cabinet’s confirmation of the Panel’s recommended awards.

The Panel considered, for recommendation to Cabinet, the award of Council grants to local organisations for the forthcoming year. Members considered how applications aligned with the Council’s objectives.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That: 

i)  The grants as detailed below be approved, subject to:-

a)       The approval of the budget.

b)      The organisations receiving Community Grants for capital projects obtaining any requisite planning or building regulations consents and producing copies of audited accounts and evidence of the availability of finance for the remainder of the schemes. Organisations receiving Community Grants for Revenue costs or Service Level Agreements being required to complete an Annual Return Form which should demonstrate written evidence that the money had been spent according to their application and to identify the specific outcomes achieved as a result of the grant awarded.

c)       The organisations receiving Kidwells Trust Grants:-

i)     Providing suitable acknowledgement for the grant assistance in all publicity material.

ii)    Ensuring that there is adequate insurance cover for items purchased with grant assistance.  Continuing to look for other forms of sponsorship for special events.

d)      Organisations should, wherever possible, seek funding from other sources to ensure that they were not solely reliant on funding through the Royal Borough and it be noted that those organisations would not necessarily be automatically awarded funding year on year.

ii) That the following decisions be minuted in Part I following Cabinet’s agreement of the budget:

COMMUNITY GRANTS

* Grant to be paid out only when the programme is ready to run; this should be incorporated into the SLA

** Delegated authority be given to the Chairman, in consultation with the Head of Communities, Enforcement and Partnerships to award additional funding to BCF to support mental health projects. The Chairman stated he would consult with all Panel Member and substitutes prior to making a decision.

*** Maidenhead Music Society to receive £500 funding from the remaining £920 of the budget from 2017/18 as the event was due to take place in March 2018.

**** St Michael and All Angels, Sunningdale received funding on the basis that the church and church hall is used frequently by the wider community and community groups.

- The following organisations received no funding from the Grants Panel as they would be funded from the service area directly:

Ø  Maidenhead Mencap

Ø  Thames Valley Positive Support

Ø  United Voices

Ø  Windsor Mencap

That with regret, the following applications were refused:

Maidenhead and Bray Cricket Club – The Grants Panel received the application with keen interest but decided not to award any funding at this time. The Panel requested that the relevant Grants Officer contact the organisation to encourage them to resubmit their application when they are nearer to meeting their fundraising target.

Rotary Club of Windsor St. George – The Grants Panel requested that the relevant Grants Officer signpost the applicant to more appropriate funding streams as the application was to support one individual only and did not meet the criteria of the Grants Panel.

N.B: Out of a total budget of £300,000, £163,909 was allocated which left £136,091 unallocated.  The Panel agreed that this funding should be made available for allocation at future Grants Panels during 2018/19.

KIDWELLS PARK TRUST GRANTS

* The organisers to supply further information on what they intended to do with the increase in funding and re-submit their application showing the uplift in funding.

N.B: Out of a total budget of £15,000, £11,375 was allocated which left £3,625 unallocated.  The Panel agreed that this funding should be made available for allocation at future Grants Panels during 2018/19,

Social enterprise funding

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Social Enterprise grant be awarded subject to the agreement of Councillors Coppinger, S. Rayner and Mills.