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People Helping People guidance notes

 


 

  Guidance Document - printable version (449 KB)

 


 

What is the People Helping People fund?   Back to top

If you are hoping to run a project that will make a real impact on people’s health and wellbeing, or on children and families who need a little extra support, this fund is a fantastic way to receive support.

Whilst we’re living longer lives, we’re not living healthier and independent lives, with far more people needing very expensive social care later in life.  But this can be avoided most of the time if people are able to do more to look after their health and wellbeing. 

Children have the best start in life when they grow up in a safe, happy and safe home and with their own parents. Unfortunately, more children are in care than ever before.

The People Helping People Fund helps community groups to help tackle these issues locally in ways that suit the community.  

In those places where there isn’t as much support for people locally, we want our money to help to create something new – and in places where there is already lots going on, we want to invest in growing even more.

Each county councillor in Staffordshire will be looking for projects to invest in which will help people to get support in their local community.

This money has replaced an older fund (the Local Community Fund) which many groups will be aware of and have received money from in the past. The People Helping People Fund is available in 2019/20. 


 

What will the People Helping People fund support?   Back to top

This page provides some extra detail about the issues county councillors are looking to support, along with some ideas for you to use to help raise further funds from the community, as well as how you can apply for funding from the People Helping People Fund.

To give you some ideas  take a look at examples of projects which received money under the old fund, but which would be exactly the kind of thing the new fund is hoping to support. 

In the People Helping People examples web page you'll find lots of examples of projects which received money under the old fund, but which would be exactly the kind of thing the new fund is hoping to support. 


 

I have more questions…   Back to top

If you have further questions about how the Fund will be run, the first point of contact is your local County Councillor (remember you can check who this is on our website). For more general queries, you can contact the People Helping People Fund mailbox at peoplehelpingpeoplefund@staffordshire.gov.uk

You can also go to our #doingourbit website if you want to understand more about how and why the county council is working differently with residents. 


 

Applying for funding   Back to top

To apply for funding, you must first have already spoken with the County Councillor you are seeking funding from. You will not be able to proceed with a funding application otherwise.  Please see the list of County Councillors on our website for contact details, where you can also search by postcode if you are uncertain who your councillor is.

The funding application form is hosted on our website and your application must be submitted online via that form.

The application form requires the project lead to outline the nature of the project, how it meets the funding criteria, and information about the applying organisation or group.

Please note – by submitting a funding application you will be confirming that you accept the Council’s funding conditions as set out in this guide at the time of application.  Organisations not accepting these at the time of applying will not be eligible for funding support.

Bids are accepted from 12 June 2019 to 1st December 2019.  No bid will be approved after 31 December 2019.  The People Helping People Fund is only available in financial year 2019/20. 


 

Eligibility for funding   Back to top

Groups eligible for funding include community groups, parish councils, social enterprises, residents’ associations or traders’ associations, local charities, schools, faith organisations and neighbourhood forums. Groups do not need to be formally constituted to apply for funding, though the County Council is not able to fund individuals.  Depending on the project being applied for, the County Council may wish to see evidence of safeguarding procedures, appropriate insurance etc. 


 

Criteria for funding   Back to top

To be considered for funding from the Council the project will need to meet some simple criteria.

  • Funding must support new activity (groups themselves do not have to be new, but this Fund is all about filling gaps by supporting new activity and projects).  Funding may possibly support the purchase of new equipment, or even improvements to buildings - but you will always need to demonstrate how the funding unlocks new provision.

  • Funding bids must be matched locally, in cash or in kind (for example in volunteer hours or use of a local room/facility).  If the match is in kind, you must tell us about the monetary value of the match.

  • This new activity must relate to children and families or health and care.  The County Council delivers lost of services in these two areas, and this fund is designed to support community projects which help us to do it - by supporting people early on.

  • Successful projects are about keeping people independent, healthy and supported within the places they live.  Projects that focus on these things prevent the need for local people to rely on County Council services, and this will mean we can use the money we have to support the vulnerable people who need our help the most. 

 

What does this mean?   Back to top

Take a look at some examples of projects the County Council has funded in the past which are exactly the kind of thing we want to support with this new fund.  In simple terms, these are projects which meet at least one of the descriptions below:

Children and Families

Projects might do one or more of these things:

  • Support families to resolve issues that matter to them without the need for support from the County Council.

  • Support vulnerable children and families to be more resilient without the need for support from the County Council.

  • Enable families to get help at the earliest possible stage through community led support.

Health and Care

Projects might do one or more of these things:

  • Improve or maintain mental health, physical health or general wellbeing.

  • Help prevent social isolation and loneliness.

  • Establish or connect people to support networks within their local community.

  • Help to prevent a crisis from getting worse.

On your funding application form you will be asked to write a statement about how your project makes a contribution towards these criteria.  Please be familar with them and write your application accordingly.

The Council cannot award funding for the following things:

  • Projects run for the benifit of an individual person.

  • Any ongoing running costs of existing activity eg. insurance, fees, rent , transport, Healthcare and treatment services.

  • Healthcare and treatment services.

  • Formal education.

  • Individually prescribed, targeted and specialist exercise and weight management programmes.

  • Any predominantly religious activity (but does not preclude religious organisations from making bids for non-religious activity).

  • Any political activity.

  • Expenditure previously incurred or committed.

  • A statutory responsibility or services generally resourced from/by other statutory organisations.

  • Projects for the benefit of residents predominantly from outside Staffordshire.

  • Any activity that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality, disability, age or sexual orientation.

  • Activity to make a profit for shareholders.

If you feel that you have a project that may achieve the outcomes required but are concerned by the restrictions above, discuss this with your County Councillor ahead of making the application. 


 

What about funding for other types of projects that fall outside of supporting health and wellbeing about children and families?   Back to top

#DoingOurBit and making Staffordshire a great place to live and work into the future is about the county council concentrating on its legal responsibility and caring for the most vulnerable people in society, and every resident thinking about one more thing they can do to:

  1. Look after their own health and wellbeing, and that of their family

  2. Help out others who might need a hand

  3. Help to keep their local area safe, clean and green

Whilst the People Helping People Fund can support a number of projects to support health and wellbeing and vulnerable children, there are other funds available to support anyone wanting to start projects to help their local area to be safer, cleaner and greener.  Explore the #doingourbit website to find out more. 


 

Funding amounts and match funding   Back to top

Each County Councillor has up to £2,500 to allocate to successful bids.  This can be spent in smaller amounts and there is no set minimum.  County Councillors are also able to jointly fund projects which work across their local areas, or even to fund projects working districtwide or countywide.

As is set out above, the County Council wants to ensure this funding is matched locally with the same amount or even more.  This could mean that bidders are able to match with cash directly (e.g. putting in £500 to match a People Helping People Fund grant of £500).  Or it could mean being clear about how your local resources are equivalent to the same value (e.g. a People Helping People Fund grant of £500 being matched by free use of a hall which would cost £100 to hire and volunteer contributions of time of £400 (at minimum living wage)).  Or it could be that the People Helping People grant is the final piece of funding you need to deliver a project with a much bigger total.

There are many ways that you can raise funds – from the community and beyond.  You could:

  • Speak to other groups and local organisations in your area
  • Speak to local businesses about how they might be able to support you 

You can also use Crowdfund Staffordshire to raise funds from the public which you can use as match funding towards an application from the People Helping People Fund.  It's a fantastic way of raising money and gathering support from your local community.

Please note: If you are using the Crowdfund Staffordshire platform to fundraise and are aiming to run a project working with children and families, you will have the option of also bidding to a separate Staffordshire County Council fund called the Children and Families Fund.  This is a separate fund to the People Helping People Fund and it can support larger amounts so you should consider whether it would be more appropriate - you cannot access funding from both.

You cannot bid to both the People Helping People Fund and the Children and Families Fund for the same project.  However, you can use Crowdfund Staffordshire on its own to raise money you could use as match funding for this Fund.


 

Assessment of application   Back to top

Your County Councillor will consider your application against the essential criteria set out above.  If they do not feel that it meets these criteria they may contact you to suggest how to change the project aims, or how to better tell the story of what you want to achieve and show the impact you will have.

Your County Councillor will then notify the Director of Corporate Services of their wish to support a proposal.  Provided the proposal is in accordance with the criteria of the People Helping People Fund, the Director of Corporate Services will normally approve it. If the Director is minded to refuse an application then they must first consult with the Leader of the Council. 


 

Award of funding   Back to top

If your County Councillor approves your application, the payment will be processed and you will receive funding generally within 4-6 weeks. 

 


 

Project delivery   Back to top

Your project must be underway, and this fund’s contribution must be spent, by 31 March 2020, unless there are exceptional reasons otherwise, agreed by the County Council in writing.  Discuss this with your County Councillor if you have any uncertainties about this.

If there are exceptional reasons for not spending the funding by 31 March 2020, then the Director of Corporate Services and the Leader [taking into account the views of the County Councillor affected] may agree either:

  • that the organiser of the proposal would have to return any unspent money and the council could re-allocate the unspent sum to the Councillor concerned, for that Councillor to re-allocate during the remainder of the funding period June-December 2019

Or

  • If agreed in writing by the County Council, the project could use the money during the following financial year. The project would need to be completed within the following financial year and could not be carried forward any further. 

 

Project evaluation   Back to top

Once your project has been approved for funding, you will be sent information including in respect of publicity.

You will be also be sent a short evaluation form which you will need to complete and return to us once your project has been delivered – this is only brief, but we want to understand how our funding has made a difference in the community.  You will also need to retain evidence of spending as we will need to see this, and will ask for it as part of the evaluation. 


 

Data protection   Back to top

As a public organisation we are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and, as such, where we collect any personal data from you as part of the application process we will only use it for this purpose and no other. Your personal data will never be shared with anyone else and will be retained only for as long as it is needed.  

Non-personal data you submit to use as part of this application process will be used to make decisions to award funding, perform anonymised analysis, or to undertake publicity or fundraising. For more information on how Staffordshire County Council handles personal data, please see our Privacy Notice

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