Community Capacity and Resilience Fund guidance notes

These guidance notes will help you to complete the fund application form and provide key information about the fund requirements

Introduction

In this 4^th round of the Community Capacity and Resilience fund we are looking to support a broad range of projects and activities that support local community based organisations across Scotland to help people mitigate the effects of welfare reform by providing them with the support and skills they need.

This fund gives local community based organisations who are tackling the effects of welfare reform the opportunity to test out new, creative approaches, develop their workforce and add capacity all with the aim of having a preventative impact on communities, help combat social inequalities, promote social inclusion and support partnership working.

The application process consists of one online form that must be fully complete before your application will be assessed.

If successful, then you will also have some key obligations as part of the Contract

• Provide approved evidence of your organisation income (must be £250,000 or less)
• Provide information on proposed project expenditure
• Maintain accurate records of your project activity and financial records and receipts
• Provide feedback on your project's progress at agreed intervals

You can also download a copy of the contract to ensure you can comply. HERE

In the following pages you will find information on

Key dates

Criteria

Guidance on completing the application form

Project ideas

Application form filling hints & tips

FAQ

Key Dates

Application process open                                                   10th September 2018

Closing date for applications                                                         26th October 2018

Decision panel meets                                                                     W/C 5th November 2018

All applicants notified of the outcome                              W/C 12th November 2018

Grant contracts issued to successful applicants                        W/C 12th November 2018

Project start dates                                                                 1^st Dec 2018 onwards

Project end dates                                                                 no later than 30^th Sep 2018 for

                                                                                                            Criteria 1-3 and 31^st Dec 2018

                                                                                                            for criteria 4 projects

Criteria         

The Community Capacity & Resilience Fund is looking to support a broad range of projects and activities that support local organisations across Scotland to help people mitigate the effects of welfare reform.  We do have some key criteria so please have a read the information below before submitting an application.

Organisation Eligibility

The fund is open to applications from third sector organisations based in Scotland and delivering services in Scotland, with an annual income of £250,000 or less. Organisations  that would be eligible to apply include:

• Charities
• Voluntary Organisations
• Social Enterprises
• Community Organisations
• Volunteering Bodies
• Co-operatives
• Housing Associations
• Credit Unions
• Community Interest Companies (CICs) – if no profit distribution
• Charitable trusts (if the trust was set up by a local authority, the trust must be fully independent from the local authority)
• Community Enterprise Trusts
• Mutuals
• Trade unions

Your organisation must be part of a regulated body. Where this is not the case, your application must be have the support of a regulated organisation who will be asked to provide a reference for you.

Examples of organisations who would not be eligible to apply include

• Arms- length council bodies including trusts (defined by clauses in the constitution that concede control to the local authority).
• Community Interest Companies where there is profit distribution
• Private sector
• Local Authorities
• Public sector

Project Criteria

Proposals must fit one only of the following criteria:

1. Deliver a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. One-off, short, sharp focussed piece of work that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000
2. Develop your organisation in order to tackle the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point. For example via staff training: volunteer training: development of materials, resources and systems: facilitate knowledge and experience sharing events/forums/networks: develop peer mentoring. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000
3. Expand the capacity of your organisation in order to meet demand relating to welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. increasing staffing levels/hours to increase/expand the delivery of an existing specific service(s): funding to support staff from partner agencies to deliver services in your premises. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000.  
4. Pilot/test a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. piloting a new service(s) that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period 12 months; award up to £10,000 maximum

The aim of the scheme is to fund projects and activities to mitigate the impact of poverty and welfare reform where there currently isn’t the capacity or resources, therefore, unfortunately, the scheme cannot fund any existing work or core costs.

Please note that there may be the opportunity to extend any approved projects submitted under criteria 1 and criteria 4. This would be discussed with organisations as appropriate

Completing the Application Form – Guidance Notes

The application process consists of one online form that must be fully complete before your application will be assessed. Once you start your application you should fill out all of the questions in one go, so make sure you have everything prepared before starting. You may find it useful to prepare your responses on a word document and then paste it in to the application form. Once you are happy with the content click on 'submit' to finalise your application- you will no longer be able to edit your form after you click ' submit' You will be emailed a copy of all your responses.

If you are unable to access the online application form, we can arrange to forward to you a word document.

The Application form is in 5 short sections.

Section 1 – About your organisation

You’ll be asked to answer the following questions.

• Organisation Name - Please enter the name of your organisation
• Organisation address – Please enter the postal address of the organisation
• Local Authority Area – Please enter your local authority area
• Organisation overview – Please give some background on your organisation, your aims and activities (max 150 words). This is about your organisation NOT the project/activities you are seeking funding for.
• Website – Please enter your organisations website address
• Number of staff – Please indicate your staff and volunteer numbers
• Lead Contact - Who is the lead contact for the purpose of this application? This is the person who we will communicate with and who will sign the contract if a grant is awarded.
• Email - Please enter the email address of the lead contact. Please ensure this is entered correctly to avoid emails being undeliverable
• Telephone – Please enter the telephone number of the lead contact
• Address – Please enter the address of the lead contact – this is the organisation address NOT personal address
• Type of organisation – Please enter your organisation’s type e.g. charity, social enterprise, etc.
• Charity number/regulation number/company number –enter your details.(leave blank if your organisation is not regulated)
• Annual Income– Please enter your organisation’s annual income. The fund is only open to third sector organisations with an annual income of £250,000 or less. You will be required to evidence this if your application is successful. Evidence we will require will be final accounts for 2017-2018. If these are not finalised, your final accounts for 2016-2017 with a statement declaring your income for 2017-2018 will be required.
• Access to free sanitary products - the Community Capacity and Resilience Fund supports the Scottish Government's 'Access to free sanitary products' policy and organisations which are successful in their CCRF application and are not currently distributing sanitary products but would like to will receive a small grant to enable them to start this activity in their organisation. Please indicate if your organisation currently provides access to free sanitary products, and if not, let us know if you would like to.
  

Section 2 - Project Details

Which criteria does your proposal fit? (tick one only)

1. Deliver a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. One-off, short, sharp focussed piece of work that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000
2. Develop your organisation in order to tackle the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point. For example via staff training: volunteer training: development of materials, resources and systems: facilitate knowledge and experience sharing events/forums/networks: develop peer mentoring. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000
3. Expand the capacity of your organisation in order to meet demand relating to welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. increasing staffing levels/hours to increase/expand the delivery of an existing specific service(s): funding to support staff from partner agencies to deliver services in your premises. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000.  
4. Pilot/test a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. piloting a new service(s) that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period 12 months; award level up to  £10,000 maximum

Project Name

Tell us what your proposed project is called. Keep this title short.

Describe what you would like us to fund.

This will be linked to the criteria that you have indicated at the above question. Tell us:

• WHAT it is you will be doing and HOW you’re going to do it e.g. delivering workshops/providing outreach services/holding events/training sessions/developing resources etc. Remember to include the frequency/volume/numbers and include any partners and the role they will play;
• WHY you want to do it and how you came up with this idea/approach.  
• WHO will benefit from the activities/services – is it staff/volunteers/specific client group/specific age group;
• WHERE (geographical area(s) the activities/services will be available from/delivered in.

Remember this is a competitive application process so please make sure you address all these points.

 See examples in the hints & tips section

What will the funding help you to achieve?

This section is where you must demonstrate that your project will be helping to mitigate the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point.

In this section we would like to know:

• The DIFFERENCE your project/activities will make, the IMPACT it will have in relation to mitigating the effects of welfare reform, combating poverty and social inequality, promoting social inclusion and having a preventative impact in your community:
• HOW MANY people will benefit from it and in what way.
• Tell us also about any LONGER TERM IMPACT it will have.

Remember this is a competitive application process so please make sure you address all these points.

See examples in the hints & tips section

Start and End Date – The earliest start date for successful projects is 1^st December 2018. Projects under criteria 1-3 must be completed by 30^th September 2019 at the latest and should be for up to 9 months. Projects under criteria 4 must be completed no later than 31^st December 2019

Amount of funding you are applying for 

Enter the amount you require to deliver the project. For criteria 1 -3 the minimum grant is £1,000 and the maximum is £5,000. For criteria 4, the maximum is £10,000

Financial Information

In this section please give an indication as to what the funding you are requesting will be spent on. There is no need to itemise your spend fully -broad headings will suffice. If your project/activity will span two financial years show the indicative spend for each financial year. Think about things such as (but not limited to); staff costs, material production, purchasing of items/goods/services, training materials. This funding is NOT for core costs e.g. rent, utilities, existing staff costs, but for projects/activities that organisations do not have the capacity to carry out otherwise.

Section 3 – Reference

You should only complete this section if you DO NOT have a charity or other regulation number. Please ensure the organisation who will supply a reference is aware of this and agreed with you that SCVO can contact them.

• Organisation name – Please enter the full name of the organisation who will provided a reference
• Address - Please provide the full postal address of the organisation who will provide a reference
• Website – Please give the website address of the organisation who will provide a reference
• Charity/regulation number – Please provide this information for the organisation who will provide the reference and specify the register e.g. OSCR, Scottish Housing regulator, Financial Conduct Authority etc.
• Contact person details – Please provide the name and position of the person in the organisation who will provide a reference
• Email and telephone number of contact person– Please provide these contact details for the person in the organisation who will provide a reference

Section 4 – Declaration

To be completed by ALL Applicants

The person completing this declaration must have the authority to do so. When you have completed all sections of the application form you can if you wish to go back and review the content and make changes if you wish. Once you are happy with the content click on ‘submit’ to finalise your application – you will no longer be able to edit your form after you have clicked ‘submit’ When you have submitted your application form you will receive a copy of your responses by email

Project Ideas

To get you thinking, below are some ideas that could increase an organisation’s capacity to help people mitigate the impact of welfare reform and poverty. Visit our website to see the projects that we funded in previous rounds.

• Develop an online system to track referrals and aid networking between organisations
• Train staff/volunteers in benefits advice
• Bring in-house an external benefits advisor
• Add some staffing hours to a service you currently provide to meet increase in demand
• Pilot an idea you think might benefit your community –something that is not currently being done. This could be a short, sharp piece of work that is time bound e.g. 6-9 months or a longer project, up to 12 months
• Set up or provide time for staff to take part in networks around welfare reform
• Build local partnerships to ensure clients are more effectively supported
• Promote your service within the community – focussed promotion campaigns, open days etc.
• Develop materials which aid work in relation to welfare reform and/or tackling poverty
• Develop a volunteer recruitment programme
• Facilitate knowledge and experience sharing – hosting events with partner organisations, inter-agency job shadowing etc.
• Develop innovative support for local people e.g. cheaper food, community food sources, budgeting workshops, peer support groups

Application Form Hints & Tips

Please remember that this is a competitive application process. Your application will be assessed against other applications with only the strongest applications chosen to receive a grant. After the first two round of applications, we’ve compiled the following tips:

• Be clear and focused in setting out your case for funding. Tell us what you are going to do, why and how. In previous applications applicants provided information on national strategies, national statistics and frameworks but omitted clear details of what the funding would actually be used for and how it would help mitigate the impact of welfare reform, social inequalities and poverty
• Sell the project/activities you are trying to fund – tells the what, the why and the how. Tell us how you came up with your idea
• Be creative with your new idea – how is it unique?
• Make your application as easy to read as possible. Use short paragraphs and an accessible font so that the decision making panel can give your application the attention it deserves. Do not be afraid to put things in simplistic terms – jargon often blurs what you’re trying to say.
• Ask someone else to proofread your application before submitting it.
• Be clear as to how your project/activities will mitigate the effects of welfare reform, combat poverty and social inequality, promote social inclusion and have a preventative impact in communities – give examples. Tell us how you will measure your outcomes and outputs
• Demonstrate clearly the impact your project/activities will have on the community. Set out the need in the community and how you will meet that need. Don’t be afraid to be passionate about your cause!
• Funders want to know there is value for money in the projects/activities they are investing in. Talk about the ongoing sustainability and impact of your project/activities on your audience and the community. Be sure to include the number and types of people who will benefit from your project and how.
• Think about the timeframe – ensure that you will have enough time to deliver your project/ activities within the period of funding. If your project involves recruiting staff be mindful of the time this can take. If your project/activities involve input from partners make sure they know about it and are able to meet your timescales.

Below are some examples of content that you may find useful in helping you to tell us about your project/ideas/activities. These examples are merely illustrations. Remember there is no word limit on the applications form so make sure you tell us everything!

Example 1 - New project/services

What would you like us to fund?

We are seeking funding to pilot a new service in the Cumnock that will provide those in the community access to bespoke money management services. The need for this new service has come about as a result of feedback from the community, who at present, have to travel 30 miles to access the nearest service and often have to wait 2-3 weeks for an appointment. This community experiences high levels of unemployment, fuel poverty, high level of debts and recent DWP benefit changes have had a huge negative impact on an already fragile community. We propose to deliver money management services that will include credit checks; budgeting sessions; support with DWP claims. These services will be available to all in the community. We expect the delivery to be one-to-one and some group delivery, partnering with local groups to perhaps use their venues, however we plan to seek the opinions of clients in how best we can deliver the services to meet their needs.  These services will be available community wide.

What will the funding help you achieve?

By introducing this money management service we hope to:

• Provide information and advice at an early stage to prevent crisis and support the development of a more financially aware community
• Provide support and practical assistance to meet immediate needs
• Increase financial awareness to enable people to take more control of their finances
• Ensure that people are supported to access benefits and they are supported to navigate the complexities of DWP
• Increase the awareness of DWP staff to the needs of the community
• Establish long term partnerships with DWP and other local groups

We anticipate that 100 individuals will access this new service on a one –to-one basis and if delivery of group sessions is identified as viable we would aim for two sessions per month with approximately 10 participants each session. Depending on the situations that present during the life of this pilot project we could see very tangible outcomes such as debt restructuring, additional benefits accessed, credit union memberships – only time will tell. Beyond this project individuals will have the skills and support to prevent them from financial crisis in future.

Financial Information

The funding requested will be used to pay 2 additional staff members, production of materials to support the project e.g. hint & tips leaflets, training materials and incidental costs that could be required when delivering out-with our own premises. We anticipate that from the project start date until 31^st March 2019 these costs will be XX and from 1^st April 2019 the costs will be XX

Example 2 – Developing your organisation

What would you like us to fund?

We are looking to develop our volunteer workforce and are applying for funding to help us do this. The drop-in café we operate in Govan provides low cost, nutritional meals for all ages in the community and it serves as a hub whereby people can access support and information on benefits, fuel and energy, bill paying, support services on specific days provided by partner agencies e.g. CAB, Advocacy projects etc. We want to raise the knowledge level of our volunteers, who more often than not, are asked a wide range of questions by café users when our partner services are not available. This funding will be used to gather information on a range of support services, helplines, contacts etc. and loaded on to iPads that our volunteers can then access to support our service users. Our volunteers will be supported to source information, load the iPads and update information. This will be complimented by volunteers attending a range of knowledge sharing information sessions, we anticipate 6, with our partner agencies.

What will the funding help you achieve?

By investing in our volunteer workforce in this way we will be providing them with additional skills and knowledge to provide support within the community by acting as a point of signposting and in some cases a triage service. We will also be increasing the confidence and skill levels of volunteers who will be able to use this as a step towards employment. We will also be strengthening our relationships with other agencies and providing the platform for wider knowledge exchanges which will ensure volunteers and staff working to support members of our community in relation to welfare reform, social isolation, poverty and health issues are well informed and therefore better equipped to support people in the community and have a preventative effect. We will be setting in place something that can be added to and enhanced over time.

We will be able to support the development of approximately 40 volunteers over the period of funding which will allow us to have a pool of volunteers who can support our community in a range of ways and means going forward. The diversity of needs in the community may see us supporting individuals to access for example more benefits; negotiate debt repayment plans; accessing health support services. The relationships developed during this project will help sustain growth amongst partner organisations.

Financial Information

The funding will be used to purchase 3 iPads, pay volunteer expenses and costs associated with knowledge sharing and training events. Some costs will be used to increase the hours of our volunteer coordinator. Estimated cost up to 31^st March 2019 is £x and the same from 1^st April 2019.

Example 3 – Expand the capacity of your organisation

What would you like us to fund?

We are seeking funding to increase our ‘cooking on a budget’ service in the North Lanarkshire area due to an increase in demand from residents. We started this service last year and have seen a steady demand from people of all ages as welfare cuts continue to leave their mark. The cooking courses run over a 4 week period, with 2 sessions each week (10 people per session). Our sessions are open to all ages and we encourage young and old to learn together. Funding from the Community Capacity & Resilience fund would enable us to hire an additional sessional worker to increase the sessions to 4 per week. We started these courses to encourage the community to use fresh ingredients where possible and dispel the myth that ‘fast food’ was cheaper. Families in the community are often left with very little of their benefits once all bills etc. have been paid and what little money they have left does not go a long way when ‘fast food’ is the order of the day. We will also incorporate diet and nutrition information and look to produce recipe cards that people can take home with them and will seek input from NHS staff based in the local health centre to do this. We will also, at the end of each course, provide participants with ‘take-away ingredients’ so they can continue at home.

What will the funding help you achieve?

This funding will enable us to take steps towards helping people in the local community to eat healthier, maximise their spending in relation to food and increase their awareness of health and nutrition. During the funding period we will be able to provide 5 additional cooking courses. Each course is run over 4 weeks with 2 sessions each week and 10 participants on each course. We will get feedback from all participants at the end of the courses to determine the immediate impact the sessions have had. By providing this foundation we are confident that the impact will be longer term and post this funding we will look at perhaps training volunteers to deliver future sessions to build on the momentum.

Financial Information

The funding will pay the salary costs including employer’s national insurance contributions for one additional staff member. We will also purchase ingredients and utensils and pay for participant travel costs. Estimated cost up to 31^st March 2019 is £x and for 1^st April 2019 onwards £x

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What organisations are eligible to apply?

Third sector organisations based in Scotland and delivering services in Scotland, with an annual income of £250,000 or less who would be eligible to apply include:

• Charities
• Voluntary Organisations
• Social Enterprises
• Community Organisations
• Volunteering Bodies
• Co-operatives
• Housing Associations
• Credit Unions
• Community Interest Companies (CICs) – if no profit distribution
• Charitable trusts (if the trust was set up by a local authority, the trust must be fully independent from the local authority)
• Community Enterprise Trusts
• Mutuals
• Trade Unions

Your organisation must be part of a regulated body. Where this is not the case, your application must be have the support of a regulated organisation.

Examples of organisations who would not be eligible to apply include:

• Arms- length council bodies including trusts (defined by clauses in the constitution that concede control to the local authority).
• Community Interest Companies where there is profit distribution
• Private sector
• Local Authorities
• Public sector

  The project I am looking to submit a proposal for a project that sits within a charity that has an income in excess of £250,000. Does this mean I cannot apply on behalf of this project?

Not necessarily. You would have to demonstrate that the project making the application is completely independent from the charity and has its own management board with no deferment to the charity. We would expect to see financial records that reflect this.

Can an organisation submit more than one application?

Yes, we will accept more than one application from an organisation however we can only fund one project per organisation in each round of funding.

We received Community Capacity & Resilience funding previously. Can we apply to fund the same project again?

The Community Capacity & Resilience fund is not intended to fund repeat projects/activity. The fund is primarily about providing small grants to grassroots organisations to deliver projects/activities over a short period of time (up to 9 months and in some cases 12 months) that will help mitigate the impact of welfare reform and poverty. It is hoped organisations can then use the experience and evidence of delivering their projects/activities to seek longer term funding from other sources.

However we recognise that organisations have previously received Community Capacity & Resilience funding to test/pilot a new project or service and where this has been the case these organisations have been invited individually, out-with this application process to apply to scale up this service and continue to deliver it over a 1 year period. This is a new element of the fund and provides the opportunity for longer term delivery of new approaches/services.

The Community Capacity & Resilience fund will continue to seek feedback on the funds operation and review its application process to ensure it meets needs

We received funding in a previous round. Can we apply to fund a different project/activity in this round?

Yes, as long as you still meet the organisation eligibility criteria and any proposed project or activity meets one (only) of the fund criteria as follows:

1) Deliver a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. One-off, short, sharp focussed piece of work that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000

2) Develop your organisation in order to tackle the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point. For example via staff training: volunteer training: development of materials, resources and systems: facilitate knowledge and experience sharing events/forums/networks: develop peer mentoring. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000

3) Expand the capacity of your organisation in order to meet demand relating to welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. increasing staffing levels/hours to increase/expand the delivery of an existing specific service(s): funding to support staff from partner agencies to deliver services in your premises. Delivery period up to 9 months; award level Minimum £1,000: Maximum £5,000.  

4) Pilot/test a new service/ new project which focuses on tackling the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social inequalities and develops people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point e.g. piloting a new service(s) that is not happening at present within the organisation. Delivery period 12 months; award level £10,000 maximum.

Please note that there may be the opportunity to extend any approved projects submitted under criteria 1 and criteria 4. This would be discussed with organisations as appropriate

I have an idea for a proposal – can I chat it through with someone in SCVO before I submit an application?

Certainly. Contact Irene Connelly 0141 465 7537 or email capacity@scvo.scot

           Can I save my application form?

   The application has to be completed in one go, so make sure you have all the necessary

    information to hand. Some applicants find it useful to prepare their responses on a word

    document and then paste this on to the application form. When you have completed all

    sections of the application form you can if you wish to go back and review the content and

    make changes. Once you are happy with the content click on ‘submit’ to finalise your

    application – you will no longer be able to edit your form after you have clicked ‘submit. When

    you have submitted your application form you will receive a copy of your responses by email

How will my application be assessed?

After the deadline has passed, all applications will be assessed and scored by the SCVO team. This assessment will involve looking at organisation’s eligibility; the proposal’s fit with the project/activity criteria; the impact will project/activity have on the community; the difference it will make in combating poverty, social inequality or welfare reform; the ongoing impact the project/activity will have.

During the assessment we may need to contact organisations for further information or clarification. Applications who meet the scoring threshold will be forwarded to the Decision Making panel for final selection of successful applications. The Decision Making panel will include a senior member of SCVO and two representatives from other third sector organisations. There will be no appeals process but unsuccessful applicants will be signposted to other potential sources of support.

Does my organisation have to sign a contract?

Yes. If successful, you will also have some key obligations as part of the Contract.

• Provide approved evidence of your organisation income (must be £250,000 or less)
• Provide information on proposed project expenditure
• Maintain accurate records of your project activity and financial records and receipts
• Provide feedback on your project's progress at agreed intervals

You can also download a copy of the Contract here to ensure you can comply.

When is funding paid to successful organisations?

The funding will be released when SCVO receive the following from successful applicants:

• Signed acceptance of grant contract
• Evidence of your organisation income (must be £250,000 or less)
• Your organisation bank details
• The detail of spend forecast

A payment will be released approximately 2 weeks prior to your project start date to cover costs for project activities up to 31^st March 2019. A payment will be released at the beginning of April 2019 to cover costs for project activity from 1^st April 2019 to the project end date. Payments will be made by BACS to the account notified to us. These payment dates are based on SCVO having received the funding.

What records do I have to keep?

 It is vitally important that complete records are kept for your project. 

All payments by projects must be supported by a fully transparent audit trail including transaction lists traceable to bank statements. Receipted invoices vouching individual items of expenditure are ideal. Where this cannot be done, payments must be supported by accounting documents of equivalent probative value. For example, salaries must be supported by payroll records, BACS lists and bank statements. Where electronic media are used for procurement / ordering / purchasing, payment, banking (bank statements) print-offs or ‘screen shots’ should be retained. These financial records must be retained for 5 years following the end of your funded project. We appreciate that some organisations might have difficulty in archiving information for five years and where this is the case all relevant transactions, bank statements, petty cash, etc. can be forwarded to SCVO who will hold them on your behalf for the required period.

You should also keep records that will allow you to report on the project in terms of project’s activities, beneficiaries, outputs, outcomes etc.

There is also a legal responsibility to comply with the provisions of the Data Protection laws and this applies to data sharing, transfer and retention.  

You should process all required paperwork within agreed timescales, provide evidence as required by SCVO (outlined above) and retain appropriate documentation to meet compliance and audit requirements agreed between Scottish Government and SCVO.