Organisations & projects

The Community Fund offers grants from £500 up to £10,000 that are available for organisations that meet our criteria. We consider applications once a year*. Grants are awarded for small capital items and/or running costs. We do not fund buildings, adaptations to buildings or minibus purchases.

Each year has a theme e.g. in 2009 we will be giving grants to organisations working with older people living with a long-term physical disability, impairmant or physical health problem where substance misuse has been a contributing factor.

* Please note the closing date for applications for funding available in 2009 is 30 September 2008.

	The kinds of organisations we help
	The application process
	Deadline for applications
	Grants awarded to organisations in 2006 to 2008

1.	Benefit people (over 16 years old) who live with have a physical long-term disability impairment or physical health problem.
2.	Benefit people living in Bristol or the surrounding area (North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset and Wiltshire).
3.	Make a real difference to people's daily lives.
4.	Be both properly constituted and a not-for-profit organisation.
5.	Fit with our current theme.

Please note: we do not fund buildings, adaptations to buildings or minibus purchases.

We are happy to accept applications from organisations that we have previously funded. All applicants must submit an application form together with additional information that is requested in the application form, e.g. annual report. The application form for funding available in 2009 and supplementary information are available to download here.


Deadline for applications
The closing date for applications for funding available in 2009 is 30 September 2008.


Filling in the application form
Please complete all sections of the form. As far as possible, please fit your responses into the spaces on the application form. If you do need more space then please attach one additional sheet only. (If you are completing the form in a different format than the standard 4 pages, we will advise you of the wording limits when we send you the form). Please include your annual reports, accounts, publicity materials and any additional financial information. If there has been any significant change in your income, expenditure or reserves since the accounts were prepared, please inform us of this and explain the difference e.g. if your accounts show reserves which have since been spent.

If you have any questions about filling in the form, please contact us on 0117 9494003


Assessment process
We will acknowledge receipt of all application forms in writing. We may then contact you for further information or to arrange to visit your organisation.
After you have submitted your application, please inform us of any changes relevant to your application e.g. if you receive funding from another source. If you produce a more recent annual report and/or accounts in the time between sending us your application form and receiving the outcome, please send us a copy.


Decisions
All applications will be carefully and fairly considered by the Community Fund Committee of the St Monica Trust. We will notify you of the outcome of your application in writing by no later than 30 January 2009. You may hear from us before January 2009, if your application is refused because it does not meet our criteria.


Payments
If your application is successful, we will send you the terms of conditions for accepting a grant and once you have agreed to these, we will release payment. This is likely to be in January or February 2009, but can be later in the year, if appropriate.


Not all applications will be successful
Please be aware that our funds are limited and we receive far more requests for grants than we can meet. We have refused applications which do not fully meet our criteria e.g. because the work benefits carers or people with a mental health problem or a learning difficulty and not those with a physical or sensory impairment or long-term physical health problem.

Where applications meet our criteria we have had to make difficult decisions which give priority to one application over another. It is difficult to give guidance about these priorities as each application is considered on its individual merits. The following trends may be of some help: we have tended to fund local organisations rather than national ones; we have turned down applications from organisations whose prime focus is not within our current priorities.