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Manchester Community Central

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Spirit of Manchester 2016 mini-grants guidance

The aim of this mini-grants programme is to create opportunities for two or more voluntary and community sector organisations in north Manchester to learn and work together in improving their local area. We want to see some great things happen and so this process is designed to be as simple as possible while still following good practice in making sure the money is well spent.

About the Process

By 4pm on Friday 6 May 2016 please email your completed application form to [email protected] or post to: Spirit of Manchester 2016 mini-grant application (confidential), c/o Macc, 3rd Floor Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW.

Bids received after 4pm on that date will not be considered.

You will receive an acknowledgement of your application. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, this means we have not received your application and so please contact us immediately.

Macc does not decide who gets the grants: we run the process but the decisions are made by a panel of independent judges. Once this has been done, successful applicants will be notified of their mini-grant award. There will then be some basic due diligence checks. When these checks have been completed we will pay the grant to you and your project can get started!

Grant winners will then have until 16 September 2016 to deliver their projects and they will need to submit a completed short project evaluation form and their good news story by 30 September.

Good news stories generated by the mini-grants will be used at the Spirit of Manchester Awards in October and more widely to promote the sector’s work. We want to encourage you to develop project ideas with the aim of creating good news stories in mind and planning to provide e.g. a video blog, case study, photograph(s), or participant feedback illustrating the impact this funding has had on your beneficiaries.

Due diligence checks
Obviously we will need to check that organisations receiving a mini-grant are a bona fide charity / voluntary group so we may need to request some information from you to confirm this. We do this in order to verify your organisation exists, that you’re active in your local community and that you are financially solvent. The sorts of information that we will need to receive from you if you are successful includes: 

  • a copy of your organisation’s constitution/governing document
  • your latest annual report or a brief written summary of your group’s aims and objectives
  • details of your organisation’s trustees or committee members
  • your most recent accounts or other evidence of financial accountability.

We will not pay out the grant until the information we’ve requested has been received by us.

If you are a member of Macc we may already have this information so we won’t ask you to supply it again unless it’s out of date. To become a member of Macc please visit the following link.


Conditions of receiving a mini-grant
It is your responsibility to make sure that your governing members are aware of the terms and conditions of the grant whilst the agreement remains in force.

1. Working together in North Manchester:

  • To be eligible to apply for this funding you will need to be a local VCSE organisation that has its beneficiaries in the north Manchester area (i.e. somewhere within the local authority wards of Ancoats & Clayton, Bradford, Charlestown, Cheetham, the city centre, Crumpsall, Harpurhey, Higher Blackley, Miles Platting & Newton Heath or Moston).
  • We want two or more VCSE organisations to work together on your mini-project, so if your application is successful then all partners who will be involved must provide a signed letter confirming that you are working together.
  • Between you, you must at least double the value of the mini-grant either through volunteering or other funding. For present purposes, volunteer hours used as a contribution can be calculated at the rate of £8.25 per hour. This is the current hourly rate as advised by The Living Wage Foundation.

All of these conditions are clearly set out in the application form so you should be able to demonstrate that you can achieve them all.

2. Delivering the project

  • This funding must only be used for activity in these areas and not anywhere else or for any other purpose.
  • The funding will be awarded to the applicant as stated on the application form and it is not acceptable for monies to be given or moved to another or different organisation.
  • You will get written agreement before making any changes to the aims, structure, delivery, duration or ownership of the activity.
  • You will tell us promptly about any changes to information you have provided to us and will make sure that the information we hold is true and up to date.
  • If you spend less than the whole grant on the activity, you will return any unspent amount promptly.
  • If we become aware that this activity has provided significantly misleading or inaccurate information during the period of the grant agreement we reserve the right to end this funding agreement and repayment of the funding will be required.
  • We reserve the right to share information about applicants with other grant providers and statutory agencies where we have reasonable grounds to act on concerns raised around dishonesty.

3. Working safely and effectively

  • You will ensure that while this agreement is in force you are correctly constituted and regulated to deliver the activity as stated in your organisational governing documents.
  • You agree to meet all laws regulating the way in which you operate, the work you are to carry out and the staff you employ or the goods you buy.
  • Your organisation will act in a fair and open manner without distinction to race, religion, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation and in compliance with all relevant legislation.
  • If your activity involves work with children, young people or vulnerable adults you will take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety and comply with all relevant laws and good practice throughout. We may ask for proof of safeguarding policies.
  • You will maintain adequate insurance at all times.
  • You will not sell, give away or borrow against any of the activity assets that we fund without first receiving our written consent.
  • You agree that Macc accepts no liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may come about from your running of the activity, the use of the grant or from a withdrawal of our grant.

4. Showing Impact

  • Instead of the usual monitoring forms, you will need to provide Macc with a video blog, case study, photograph(s) or participant feedback illustrating the impact this funding has had. The grant conditions will be finally met only after you have supplied this.
  • You will be required to use social media within the communication /publicity of your activity.
  • You will acknowledge the grant from Macc publicly where appropriate and as practical in any published documents that refer to the activity.