Stronger Communities Fund criteria and guidance

Funding facts and additional information

• Requests for funding of up to £2,000 and £10,000 are allowable.
• There will be one call for funding during the 2024/25 financial year (commencing in July 2024) and funding will remain available until such time as the budget of £250,000 is exhausted.
• Applications will be reviewed and recommendations will be made to the Council’s Cabinet for final approval.
• Direct beneficiaries of intervention must come from Knowsley.
• The funding cannot match fund pan-Liverpool City Region projects.  Funded activity must be exclusive to Knowsley.
• All requests for funding must be on the application form developed specifically for this Fund.
• The impact in terms of the priorities determined for the Fund must be demonstrable.
• Unless otherwise specified by the Council, applicants are required to maintain records to evidence the impact of their interventions for scrutiny and inspection by the Council for six years following receipt of funds.  This will include evidence relating to payments, financial records, and outcome monitoring reporting and will be regardless of whether any costs will be incurred by the organisation to retrieve such records.
• Applicants are required to publicise the Stronger Communities Fund in any marketing for their intervention and make clear the direct support which has been provided by Knowsley Council.
• Within 17 weeks of the call for applications, applicants will be informed of whether their submissions have been successful.
• Payments will only be processed following receipt of signed grant agreements and agreement to the Fund’s conditions.
• Council officers and One Knowsley staff are available to support groups to develop ideas which meet the required criteria.
• Groups can receive one allocation of funding per organisation for up to £2,000 and one allocation of funding per organisation of up to £10,000.
• Applicants will need to declare that all effective insurance, safeguarding and health and safety compliance is in place and provide associated documentation as necessary.
• Early notification of the inability to spend funding within the allocated time period will be encouraged to enable funding to be reallocated.
• Any unspent funds remaining at the end of the project period must be returned to the Council.
• All projects will be required to be delivered within a fixed time period as set out within the grant agreement and conditions.

Please note that all organisations applying to this Fund must submit an accompanying Safeguarding Policy.  Social Care officers will then review this Policy.  Subject to its review, applicants may be required to make recommended changes to their policies and resubmit to the Council within a designated timeframe, where it will then be reassessed.

Please be aware that a full audit trail of evidence of expenditure and outcomes should, therefore, be retained for inspection.  Appropriate checks may be carried out by the Council’s Internal Audit team. This might take place at any point within a six-year period of receiving the grant.

Additionally, at the end of each funding period, a selection of projects will be selected for full audit.

Knowsley Council has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud/corruption.