Check your organisation is eligible

We provide grants to not for profit community groups and social enterprises who are making a positive impact to people in their communities.

We welcome applications from both new and established groups.

Unsure if you’re eligible? Answer a few questions using our Eligibility Checker and find out.

There are some things we can’t fundA sum of money made available for grant making, often with specific criteria/conditions.:

• ProjectsA piece of work that delivers an output. or activities outside Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
• Commercial profit making organisations
• Organisations with significant free reserves
• Statutory/public sector organisations such as health authorities, schools, hospitals, parish and town councils
• Contributions to an endowmentMoney that is invested for the long-term., payment of deficit funding or repayment of loans
• Grant making organisations or bodies who fundraise or distribute grants on behalf of other organisations
• Activities or projects which have already happened
• Regional offices of national bodies that do not benefit local people
• Organisations whose beneficiariesIndividuals being supported by the group or organisation applying for a grant. are not people
• Organisations or projects intended to influence people’s religious choices or to promote a particular belief system
• The promotion of political causes

Check your project is fundable

You can apply for funding if:

• Your work benefits people living within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
• You can demonstrate a clear community benefit in your constitution or governing document.
• Your governing document states how any profits are to be reinvested for community benefit.

There is no requirement for you to be a registered charity.

Regional or national organisations working in Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly may be considered if they can demonstrate that they are the best organisation to tackle a particular issue or address a specific need and there is no local organisation able to do this.

Get required documents ready

When you submit your application you’ll need to include some documents.

• A copy of your constitution/articles/set of rules
• A list of names of your Trustees, Management Committee or Directors (you should have a minimum of three unrelated names, please highlight any connections)
• A copy of your most recent accounts
• A copy of a bank statement dated within the last three months.
• The bank account must have at least two signatories.
• Two competitive quotes for any one item of expenditure over £2,000
• A copy of your up-to-date safeguarding policy, with named designated safeguarding lead

If you are a Community Interest Company, please see our additional guidance for Social Enterprises.

Check for available grants

Visit our Available Grants page to find funding options – You can use the filters on this page to search for opportunities based on key deliverables.

Each grant has it’s own criteriaSpecific terms that a project has to meet to be eligible to receive funding. For example, grants in a specific geographic location. so when you find a grant you think you might be eligible for check the specific criteria for that grant and the application deadlines and panelA group of people who review grant applications and decide which will receive funding. dates before starting an application.

Submit your application

Once you have visited our Available Grants page and found a grant you are eligible for you can click the apply now button and get started.

Make sure you have all your documents ready to make the application process easier. You will be able to save your application and return back to it if you need to. Make a note of the closing date and ensure your application is submitted in time.

You’ll receive an automated confirmation once you submit your application. Once we have processed the application and uploaded it onto our system we’ll confirm by email and let you know if we need any more information.

Reviewing applications

Once you’ve submitted your application;

• You’ll receive a confirmation email with details to register for our grant portal
• Our grants team will review your application and let you know if we need any other information or documents as well as checking you meet the criteria.
• If you meet the criteria, we’ll start the assessment. We might need to contact you or maybe even ask if we can visit you. We receive a huge number of applications so we sometimes use external assessors.
• If you don’t meet the criteria, we will let you know. Sometimes it’s possible to transfer your application to a different grant programme which is a better fit.
• Once we’ve reviewed your application it will be sent to the grants panel for them to read before the panel meeting. At the meeting a member of the grants team will present all the applications and the grants panel will make the final decisions.
• Once the panel have made their decisions all applicants will be contacted to be told if they’ve been successful or not.
• Successful applicants should receive their grant within two weeks of confirmation.
• The time it takes for applicants to be contacted might vary depending on the closing date of grant round, how many applications were received and the date of the grant panel.
• When you’ve set up access to our grant portal you’ll be able to log-in at any time to check the status of your application.

Grant reporting

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