Abbeyfield Carlisle Society Community First Fund

Grants for charitable activities involving social action at a grassroots level in the local authorities of Allerdale, Carlisle and Eden.

Who can apply? • volunteer-led grassroots groups that support their local community

Priority will be given to projects that: • tackle disadvantage in rural communities • tackle disadvantage in pockets of deprivation, including the 20% most-deprived wards

Examples of projects supported: • grow and cook workshops • arts and culture programmes in local communities • improvement of community facilities • community support and development

What the Fund will not support in addition to our normal exclusions: • individuals

How much can you apply for? Grants will normally be less than £1,000 over one year, however, there is no minimum or maximum award amount.

What we will fund:

• Projects where the majority of people who will benefit are disadvantaged
• Groups working with children where the majority are disadvantaged or have special needs
• Groups with 12 months or less running costs in unrestricted reserves
• Groups operating within the county of Cumbria (Except Beckburn Windfarm and Cumberland Building Society Community Fund – please refer to the fund pages for the full area of benefit)
• Groups with a registered address and/or local voluntary management committee or Board of Trustees in Cumbria (Except Beckburn Windfarm and Cumberland Building Society Community Fund – please refer to fund pages for the full area of benefit)
• Core costs and overheads for your organisation
• Salaries and equipment purchases
• Capital projects that meet our fund criteria

What we won’t fund:

• Animal welfare
• Contact boxing, except where donor-advised
• Businesses and personal profit
• Deficit funding
• General large appeals
• Medical research and equipment, except where donor-advised
• Activities that are normally the responsibility of central or local government
• Awards from the same fund in a 12 month period
• Projects which duplicate an existing service in an area
• Fundraisers and fundraising events
• Advancement of religion including buildings solely for religious purposes, except where donor-advised
• Party political activities
• Retrospective funding unless through a disaster appeal
• Purchase of vehicle, except where donor-advised
• Groups or individuals who have not returned their monitoring form
• Beautification projects, except where donor-advised
• National organisations that do not have a local presence within Cumbria

Safeguarding relates to the actions taken to promote the welfare and wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and to protect them from harm, abuse and neglect.

The trustees of an organisation have the primary responsibility for safeguarding beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, and must take all the necessary steps to ensure that their organisation is operating in a safe and secure environment. This includes staff and volunteers receiving appropriate training and support to prevent safeguarding issues arising, or to spot signs of abuse; robust procedures for reporting abuse in a timely and objective manner, and clear accountability structures, including a named contact for any safeguarding issues.

Cumbria Community Foundation takes the safeguarding of children and adults at risk seriously and we expect organisations applying for our funding to have a safeguarding policy that is up-to-date and relevant to their beneficiaries.