Cumbernauld Community Organisations Invited to Apply For Up To £1,000 Through Small Grants PB Fund Round 4

Voluntary and community organisations are being invited by Cornerstone House Centre to apply for a small grant of up to £1,000 to deliver a proposal which will benefit one or more communities within Greater Cumbernauld. 

Small Grants PB Fund Round 4 is being rolled out with a view to funding multiple community activities and projects which seek to support, strengthen and improve the Cumbernauld area and its people. It is an initiative of Cumbernauld CAN (Community Anchor Network), a local community capacity building venture launched in 2020.

Through three previous innovations (Small Grants PB Fund Rounds 1, 2 and 3), a total of £43,912 has been distributed to 53 community groups, benefiting the local area significantly (see below for full distribution of funding list). Indeed, an array of impactful activities were delivered following awarding of funds to 31 organisations through Small Grants PB Fund Round 3 in August 2021.

This included the provision of free nutritious meals to older and at-risk people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the transportation of a Mobile Flight Simulator for community use in the Cumbernauld area, the facilitation of a large summer outing to Blair Drummond Safari Park for families of children with support needs and the advancement of a community hub facility in Croy.

Over the past two years, the small grants programme has contributed notably to improving the organisation, outcomes and sustainability of several small to medium sized charities, social enterprises and community groups operating in Greater Cumbernauld. It has also been prominent in helping a number of small, volunteer-led groups transform services from face-to-face to digital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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AN OVERVIEW OF CUMBERNAULD CAN (COMMUNITY ANCHOR NETWORK)

Cumbernauld CAN is a Scottish Government-supported project of Cornerstone House Centre which strives to enable Cumbernauld residents and organisations to work together to become better at responding to local needs.

To this end, ‘Cumbernauld CAN’ provides ways to help the local community improve the places where they live. The innovation focuses on the principles and objectives identified with Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and Fairer Scotland Action Plan.  

The Cumbernauld CAN project provides a platform for local communities to become stronger and more resilient. This is being done in both a strategic and a practical way, with Cornerstone House Centre facilitating leadership and interventions as a recognised Community Anchor Organisation.

SMALL GRANTS PB FUND ROUND 4: APPLY FOR A GRANT OF BETWEEN £100 AND £1,000

Through Small Grants PB Fund 4, not-for-profit community groups (including but not exclusively charities, SCIOs, social enterprises and unincorporated associations) operating or providing services within Greater Cumbernauld (incorporating Northern Corridor, Kilsyth and surrounding villages) can apply for a grant of between £100 and £1,000 to deliver any specified community-benefiting proposal. This includes groups that cover a wider geographical area but intend to utilise the funds specifically to benefit Greater Cumbernauld.

Groups that have previously received funding through Small Grants PB Fund Rounds 1, 2 and 3 are eligible to apply again, and unlike the previous round there is no upper organisational annual income limit on applicants. Equally, proposals which seek to contribute to the Greater Cumbernauld area’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are eligible for submission.

To submit a proposal, please download and complete Small Grants PB Fund Round 4 Application Form and email this to events@cornerstone-house.org.uk by no later than 12.00noon on Monday 14 February 2022. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.

COMMUNITY VOTING: DECISION-MAKING VIA PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING 

Once the deadline for applications is reached, Cumbernauld citizens will be invited to be part of a Participatory Budgeting (PB) process to decide on which proposals are awarded funding. Participatory Budgeting is a methodology where ordinary people are given power to democratically and collectively make key decisions on how public funding is spent.

Therefore, key information that applicant organisations provide about their proposal within their submitted Application Form will be included alongside details of all other proposals in an online Community Voting Survey. This will be promoted and distributed widely to individuals and organisations across Cumbernauld during February 2022.

After the Survey has closed, an independent and esteemed Cumbernauld CAN Steering Group will verify the final results to ensure that transparency has been adhered to. Finally, voting results will be publically released in March 2022 and a proportion of proposals receiving the highest number of votes will be funded.

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For further information on Small Grants PB Fund Round 4, or to request an Application Form by post, please contact Cornerstone House Centre on 01236 739220 or email events@cornerstone-house.org.uk.

Click Here to Download Small Grants PB Fund Round 4 Guidance Notes and Application Form

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FULL LIST OF ORGANISATIONS FUNDED THROUGH CUMBERNAULD CAN’S SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME SINCE 2020