Parish Council adopts new policy for awarding grants

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Members of Alderley Edge Parish Council have agreed to adopt a new grant awarding policy in order to formalise arrangements.

The Grant Awarding Policy was approved by the Parish Council at their meeting on Monday, 10th April.

Grants requests will only be considered from local organisations or local branches of national organisations where evidence of local involvement can be provided. Alderley Edge Parish Council will not normally fund for-profit businesses or individuals, who must apply under the umbrella of a recognised community group or charity which is prepared to take full responsibility.

No grant funds awarded can be held over as part of a long-term funding strategy and any grants that are not used for the purpose provided within the agreed timescale must be returned to Alderley Edge Parish Council.

Organisations requesting donations will be required to submit a copy of their audited accounts for the last 12 months and should identify the specific use for the donation and the residents who would benefit from it.

Organisations that have only recently set up and do not have audited accounts should not be discouraged from applying though, instead they should provide a financial statement regarding their proposed budget.

Additionally, the Parish Council will normally require a report describing the actual outcomes of the project, to help AEPC assess whether the 'community' aims of its grants scheme is delivering appropriate results.

Chairman Geoff Hall explained "The Grant awarding Policy has been drawn up simply to formalise arrangements relating to how the Parish Council awards grants. This will act both as guidance for Councillors and for would-be applicants.

"It is part of our ongoing process to review and improve the way we go about things as a Parish Council. So, no particular significance to doing it now."

Photo: Councillor Geoff Hall, Chairman of Alderley Edge Parish Council.

Tags:
Alderley Edge Parish Council, Geoff Hall
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Kelvin Briggs
Tuesday 18th April 2017 at 11:37 am
Is this a Parish Council grant awarding initiative separate from the activities of The Alderley Edge Institute Trust?
Geoff Hall
Tuesday 18th April 2017 at 1:13 pm
The Parish Council has always had some funds available to support local events, an example being the Queen's jubilee party a few years ago. These funds are separate from the Institute Trust.

The grants policy referred to in the article is simply part of a process to review Council procedures to make them more transparent.

At the moment the PC only has very limited funds available for such purposes as it is continuing to deal with the knock-on effects of the additional £0.5m loan required to finance the Medical Centre.

This will remain the case for the next four years. That is why the PC has itself had to go out to organisations such as WREN - and the Institute Trust - to secure the funding needed to complete the Festival Hall refurbishment.