Community Action Programme

What do we do?

The Community Action Programme provides local grants of up to £10,000 to support a diverse range of projects. Examples of support already provided include funding equipment at a special needs school, and supporting a debt advice service in an economically deprived area.

HBOS Foundation donations must fit within the two key themes of:

• Money advice and financial literacy
• Developing and improving local communities

Each of the Foundation Regional Co-ordinators will assess applications against these themes and on the impact that donation will have on the community.

Who does the Foundation support?

You must be a registered charity, or a not for profit local community group.

In order to make a real difference within the community the Foundation remit is tightly focused. Unfortunately, therefore, anything falling outside the Foundation's key themes is unlikely to be supported.

The Foundation will also exclude all requests for:

• Animal rights or welfare organisations
• Sponsorship of fundraising events for registered charities
• Sponsorship of individuals or third party fundraising initiatives
• Medical research
• Political appeals or organisations
• Overseas charities, projects or trips
• Any group which discriminate on the basis of age, race, colour, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation
• Conferences
• Charitable advertising

If you wish to apply for funding, then download and print a PDF version of the HBOS Foundation funding application form. Complete the application and post it to:

Peter Holding
HBOS Foundation
The Mound
Edinburgh
EH1 1YZ

How much can you apply for?

You should apply for what you need to do the job, which should be supported by a clear breakdown of how the money will be spent. The main purpose of the Community Action Programme is to add sustainable value to communities through local charities and community groups. It is therefore unlikely that contributions to general running costs such as salaries or building maintenance will be considered.

What does the Foundation look for in the applications that we receive?

When considering applications for donations the Foundation likes to understand:

• How specifically you will spend our donation?
• What difference the donation will make:
  • - to the group of people your organisation exists to serve?
  • - the day to day running of your organisation?
  • - to policy and practice at local, regional or national level?
• How many people will benefit as a result of the donation?
  • - Within your organisation?
  • - Amongst the group of people your organisation exists to serve?
  

The decision on your application

We will respond to all applications we receive through the process as described. It takes from two to four months to process an application, please note these timescales before contacting us for a decision.

We do contact and visit a number of successful grant recipients for the purposes of assessing the impact of the community action programme.

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