Application Guidelines
Part one – Who we are
Part two – Eligibility & Financial requirements
Part three – Application guidance notes
Please read the guidelines provided before completing the application form. This document is designed to help guide you through the application process and eligibility criteria.
Part one – Who we are
The Summerhill Foundation was founded in 2018 and our mission is to support charities, voluntary organisations and groups through the provision of financial grants.
We aim to help facilitate projects that bring about positive change within peoples lives and are specifically focused towards Early Years Education. We know that small positive changes can have a huge impact on people who feel adrift from society.
Part two – Grant Eligibility & Financial Requirements
Eligible Groups:
- Charities and not for profit groups
- Voluntary groups
- Community development groups
- CASC groups
- School groups
- Youth groups
Grants may be awarded towards the cost of the following:
- Seminars and training workshops and related costs
- Fees for trainers, speakers or facilitators
- Community events & residential activities
- Venue hire and catering costs
- Small capital items
- Basic transport and travelling costs
- Resource materials
Exclusions:
- Commercial businesses
- Hire of own premises
- Religious services
- Purchase/lease of musical instruments and uniforms
- Party political activities
- Retrospective events
- Expenditure over and above the limits in the Letter of Offer without prior written approval
Financial Requirements
Before completing the application, please ensure that you can adhere to the basic financial requirements detailed below:
What your group/organisation needs to have in place:
Group bank account – it is a requirement that all payments are shown through the applicant group bank account. Payments will not be issued to personal bank accounts.
Facility to make cheque or BACS payments to suppliers/providers/expenses. Cash payments for expenses are not an approved method of payment.
Failure to comply with financial requirements and conditions of the grant award will affect future applications.
What we need from you:
Application form (prior to the closing date if applicable)
NI Act 1998, section 75 questionnaire form or International questionnaire
If you are successful with your application we will then need:
Project Spend form
Evaluation form
Original invoices – If requested invoices must be presented correctly containing details of the invoicing company business name and address details, a unique invoice reference number, date for the invoice, details for the goods or services provided, line by line, and the cost of each of each item plus a total amount for the invoice.
Proof of payment (if requested) including receipts from supplier and/or extract of relevant bank statement showing payment.
Our trustees reserve the right to award grants within the annual funding limits agreed by the foundation. Trustees will apply their own discretion to ensure that all applications selected for award, align with the current charitable aims and ojectives.
Return all forms via our online application form
Part three – Application Guidance notes
These guidance notes have been provided to help you complete your application, detailing information required section by section.
YOUR ORGANISATION
NAME OF GROUP & CONTACT DETAILS:
Outline the name of your group in full with any abbreviations placed in brackets along with your full address, email and telephone number. The Group/Organisation name will subsequently be used in the letter of offer and agreement form issued should you be successful in securing funding.
ORGANISATION TYPE:
Tick which organisation best describes you.
YOUR ORGANISATION’S MAIN PURPOSE:
This should be a brief sentence summarising what your organisation’s specific purpose is within the community.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF YOUR ORGANISATION AND PROJECT:
This should be a brief description of your organisation and what you do along with a summery of your project listing who you will be supporting and how you are going to achieve this with your project. These details may be used in future publicity statements regarding your project.
PROPOSED PROJECT TITLE
Project name. Choosing a good name for your project is important and self explanatory, simple names are normally best.
IN BULLET POINTS EXPLAIN WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO?
You should provide as much information as possible regarding your project. This will help determine who the project is for, what is involved, where it will take place and what issues will be addressed.
IN BULLET POINTS EXPLAIN HOW YOU PLAN TO DO IT?
Describe in as much detail as possible the steps involved in how you plan to deliver your project and who will be facilitating the work.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL BENEFIT AND IN WHAT WAY?
Explain how many people will directly benefit from this project, estimate numbers and explain the reason why you have provided these numbers. How will this project have a positive benefit to those particular people, in what specific way will their lives be improved and what outcomes do you expect? Define how the need for this type of project has arisen?
HOW WOULD THE FUNDING AWARD BE MANAGED BY YOUR ORGANISATION?
Provide details of who would be the main person tasked with organising the budget, payments and receipts pertaining to your project financials and how they would manage those financials.
BUDGET
This section refers to the financial information surrounding the costs that you are applying for, as well as the overall total project cost. The budget should be broken down in as much detail as possible using relevant budget headings and explanation with the total requested completed in full.
If you have outsourced costs please demonstrate best value has been sought by providing quotations or a rationale as to why one particular company was chosen.
We also strongly recommend that you upload any documents that will support your financial explanation. eg; quotes
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DECLARATION
This section asks for the named person who will be responsible for your project along with their position/title and date. By signing this they confirm that they accept and understand the agreement in full.
NORTHERN IRELAND ACT 1998, SECTION 75 QUESTIONNAIRE
This monitoring form is not used for any assessment purpose and will be used for monitoring purposing only.
For International grant applications, we have a simple International Questionnaire form which again is only used for monitoring purposes and can be sent out to you if requested.
RECEIVING A GRANT
If you are awarded a grant, you will be informed in writing usually within 4-6 weeks of making your application. A letter of offer will outline the decision to fund your project, the amount of funding awarded and detail the eligible time period for expenditure. This letter will also list all obligations of the grant award and you will need to be satisfied that your organisation will be able to comply fully with all the criteria. You will be required to sign and return a copy of your letter of offer which confirms you accept the agreement in full and that all the information provided is correct.