Applicants must:
- Be submitting an idea which seeks to improve the Health and Wellbeing of local people by addressing the outcomes of the Community Insight Profiles
- Operate on a not-for-profit basis
- Be an entity that is (a) not engaged in economic activity; and (b) whose purposes are providing social value to the target community and supporting resident’s health and wellbeing
- Have a proven track record of delivery relating to the activities they seek funding for or if it is a new idea, there must be evidence of need, a clear plan for delivering the activity they seek funding for, and how the project will be evaluated
- Deliver the funded activity in the relevant area - Download the Oxford City Council boundary map.
- If you are an individual applicant, you must partner with an existing organisation. Applications submitted by individuals alone will not be awarded funding
We can fund the following organisations:
- Registered charity
- Community interest company (CIC)
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Community benefit society
- Co-operative society (if it has a not-for-profit clause and is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority)
- Voluntary or community organisation that can meet the requirements below*
- Company limited by guarantee (if it has a not-for-profit clause or is a registered charity – it can be registered with Companies House)
- School or college
- Faith organisation e.g. a church, mosque, temple or synagogue – providing their project serves the whole community
- Those who can demonstrate a previous track record of successful delivery
- Please note individual applications will be scored and assessed competitively as per the Oxford Community Insight Profile scoring criteria, which includes delivering activity in Oxford for wider public benefit
* To be considered for funding, groups, organisations, must be (or be partnered with an organisation that):
- Is a constituted group with a management group of 3 plus unrelated people, a Registered Charity, a Limited Company, or a Community Interest Company
- Hold their own bank account (in the name of the organisation) with two unrelated signatories
- Are delivering activities for residents in the target area
- Have appropriate organisational policies and processes in place including data protection, health and safety, safeguarding, DBS clearance, and equality and diversity procedures covering the organisation and activity. Appropriate levels of relevant insurance must be in place to cover the activity being funded
We cannot fund:
- Organisations focused on making profits and sharing these profits privately - including companies limited by shares, organisations without the right asset locks, or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders
- Organisations based outside the UK
- Organisations delivering political activities
- Organisations delivering religious activities solely for those of a particular religious denomination
- Activity taking place outside the relevant area for which funding is being sought
- Activities which duplicate those already funded by Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council or another public sector organisation
Other organisational considerations:
- Whilst the funded activity must be delivered in the relevant area, it is not a requirement that organisations be based in the city. We recognise there are Oxfordshire groups based outside of the city who deliver essential services to our residents
There will, however, be a preference to support groups based in Oxford / Oxfordshire over groups based further afield
Activities we can fund
Grant funding can be used for core, revenue or capital funding depending on the needs of the applicant and the strength of the proposal. Please bear in mind though that your application will be scored on the given criteria.
Types of activity we can fund:
- Activities centred around health and wellbeing
- Staff costs (including training/development)
- The design, implementation, and evaluation of new projects
- Allowing a successful project to continue its activity for a longer duration
- Extending the reach of a current project
- Transport
- Utilities/running costs (including facility hire)
- Volunteer expenses
- Equipment
- Capital costs (we can consider funding capital costs but do not anticipate these costs will be a significant amount of the proposed budget)
Types of activity we can't fund:
- Activities that don’t contribute to health and wellbeing
- Activities which should be funded by statutory organisations
- Loans, endowments or interest
- Paying someone else to write your application
- Political activities, including lobbying
- Activities where a profit will be distributed for private gain
- VAT you can reclaim
- Alcohol
- Retrospective costs for past activity
- Items which will only benefit an individual, rather than the wider community
- Religious activities
- Activities that are not targeted/located in the relevant area
