Purpose

The purpose of this report is to highlight the benefit to the community provided by the Council’s Community Funding Programme and to present the findings of a review of the Fund’s reapplication criteria, specifically considering whether a small amendment relating to grants below £500 could provide additional benefits to local organisations and residents.

The report also clarifies the process used to determine the annual allocation of funding between the Community Fund and Youth Activity Fund.

The Council recognises the significant benefit that the community and voluntary sector bring to the Borough.  An annual budget of £50,000 is currently allocated to the Community Fund to support the voluntary and community sector.  Applications to this Fund are welcomed from not-for-profit organisations for contributions towards projects that are able to demonstrate benefit to a large number of Fareham’s residents.

Applications that are supported are varied, with the criteria being purposely broad to enable a range of different projects to be funded.  However, all applicants must provide certain documentation and follow a set process so the Council can be certain that requests are received from legitimate and well-run groups, that the costs provided are reasonable, that the project is sustainable, that the money is needed for the project to progress that all approvals required have been secured in advance, and that the proposed project will deliver clear and tangible benefits for Fareham residents.

In February 2016 the Executive approved a recommendation that, once an applicant receives an award from the Community Fund, they are not permitted to reapply within 2 years.  Following a presentation on the Community Fund to the Leisure and Safer Communities Advisory Panel in March 2026, Members noted, while these criteria are important in preventing long-term dependency on the funding stream and ensuring funding is distributed across a broad range of organisations, it can disadvantage groups that have previously received only small one-off grants

The report proposes that the two year restriction on reapplying is removed in cases where the amount awarded is below £500.

In December 2015, following the withdrawal of Hampshire County Council’s Youth Service, the Executive approved the allocation of £30,000 to provide revenue funding for open access youth provision in the Borough.  This Youth Activity Fund was to be managed through the Community Fund budget.

The amount allocated for the Community Fund and the Youth Activity Fund has reduced considerably over the last 10 years, as a result of the need to manage wider Council budgets.  From April 2025, the total budget was £50,000, comprising £40,000 for the Community Fund and £10,000 for the Youth Activity Fund.  In 2026, the Executive Member for Leisure and Community requested that these allocations were reconfigured to provide a budget of £15,000 for the Youth Activity Fund in response to an increase in the financial pressures being experiences by youth provision.  As the overall Community Fund allocation cannot be increased, this reduced the Community Fund budget to £35,000.

The decision to adjust the budget allocation for the Youth Activity Fund and Community Fund was made following a full assessment of the demands on both funds during the previous year, undertaken in consultation Finance, to ensure that available resources were allocated appropriately and reflected levels of demand.

The report recommends that this ability for the Executive Member for Leisure and Community to vary the allocation between the two budgets is formalised to provide flexibility whilst maintaining assurances that changes are made based on evidence of need.

Decision

RESOLVED that the Executive approves the following changes to Community Funding:

(a)  removal of the two-year restriction on reapplying following a successful application where the amount awarded is below £500; and

(b)  approval for the Executive Member for Leisure and Community to adjust the annual allocations between the Community Fund and Youth Activity Fund following a considered assessment of identified need.