Community Leadership fund

The Community Leadership Fund is for all councillors to have the opportunity to support worthwhile initiatives, projects and activities of their choice.

1. This document sets out the conditions for how councillor’s can deploy the community leadership fund in 2022-23.
2. Each councillor has been allocated £500 (five hundred pounds) to support worthwhile initiatives, projects and activities that will benefit their wards. The accountability for decisions rests with individual councillor’s – they know what best meets the needs of local residents. However as public money is involved, there are some simple conditions to follow. Some of these conditions exist in order to minimise the cost of administering grants paid from the fund and also in order to avoid conflict with the council’s statutory duties.
3. The minimum allocation for any organisation is £250. Thus each councillor can support up to two initiatives, projects or activities. The council cannot afford the cost of administering large numbers of small payments.
4. Councillor’s can work with other councillor’s to pool their grants – for example, three councillor’s might each choose to allocate £250 or £500 to the same organisation.
5. Allocations do not have to be to an organisation located in the councillor’s ward but the organisation does have to be located in Wyre Forest. The councillor will know best whether an activity, project or initiative undertaken elsewhere in Wyre Forest will nevertheless be of benefit to local residents.
6. Organisations should have a clear legal identity. We do not require any evidence of the nature of the organisation if it is a registered charity or statutory body (such as town and parish councils). In the case of organisations which are not charities or statutory bodies, evidence of incorporation will be required, such as registration as a company or articles of association / constitution for an unincorporated body (such as a community group). It is the councillor’s responsibility to ensure that the council is provided with a copy of these documents where relevant – no payment of grant will be made without them.
7. Payments will be made by BACS only which means that we need to know the sort code, account name and account number of the organisation. A written receipt signed by the treasurer or other appropriate office holder of the organisation will be required.
8. Grants cannot be given for the following purposes:
   • to individual members of the public;
   • to organisations that are or may be perceived to be political parties or whose principal role is to undertake political campaigning, including campaigning against agreed policies and priorities of Wyre Forest District Council;
   • to organisations of a religious character where the grant would be, or would reasonably be perceived to be, for promoting the religion. For example, grants could not be given for a youth camp for members of a chapel or to improve a church building. Churches and other religious organisations are eligible for grants for activities that are demonstrably for the benefit of the wider community, such as running a shelter for homeless people or organising a community games event or street party which will be open to all local residents;
   • to organisations which promote or are perceived to promote criminal behaviour, including terrorism;
   • to organisations whose policies (including membership policies) discriminate against people on grounds of gender, race, disability, age or sexual orientation. Single sex organisations are not therefore eligible for support.
9. Grants may be given for revenue or capital projects, including contributions towards building projects or purchase of equipment. It does not matter if the activity or project has already been undertaken or lies in the near future. (within 6 months)
10. councillors must allocate their funding no later than 31 December 2022. This is to encourage timely spending of the fund, and so that any publicity will be undertaken well before the “pre-election period” for elections in May 2023.
11. This is to encourage timely spending of the fund, and so that any publicity will be undertaken well before the “pre-election period” for elections in May 2023.
12. The council media office will issue press releases about the allocations made by councillors and will involve councillors in any photographs and in quotations about their decisions. All allocations made will be published on the council’s website as part of the transparency code on the use of public funds.
13. councillors will be required to declare any Other Disclosable Interest (ODI) or Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI), should this be applicable for organisations being grant funded.
14. The application form must be completed by the relevant councillor and all sections of the form must be completed in full. Once approved by the Chief Executive, monies will be payable to the organisation’s bank account and must be used within six months of receipt. Any monies not used for the approved purpose are repayable to the local authority.