Emergency CIF Fund - CURRENTLY CLOSED
administered on behalf of Essex County Council
PLEASE NOTE – THIS FUND IS CURRENTLY CLOSED.
There is provision within the Communities Initiative Fund (CIF) for grants over £500 and up to £10,000 to be made, on an exceptional basis, outside of scheduled bidding rounds on the grounds of extreme urgency.
The applicant must be able to demonstrate the urgent nature of the request and why it was not possible to use the normal CIF grant application process.
• Such emergency grants are for unexpected and unforeseen events only, and not a substitute for where planned, scheduled or preventative measures could have been undertaken to alleviate the issue or situation that has arisen.
• The applicant shall have to demonstrate why financial reserves, indemnities or other funding cannot be utilised to fund the requirement.
• The emergency grant must be able to be deployed by the recipient in quick measure to reflect the urgency of the requirement.
• The standard eligibility for the CIF must be met in terms of alignment to the strategic aim and priorities within the Essex Organisational Strategy, who we will fund and what we will fund.
• The emergency fund should not be viewed as a second chance opportunity to improve on a previous unsuccessful application to the main annual CIF round.
• As per the terms of the standard CIF criteria, you can only apply to the emergency fund once, every three years from the date of any other grant award
• Grant funding will not be awarded retrospectively, and if applying for emergency funding, no financial commitments should be made in advance of approval of any emergency grant award.
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Application Form
Please click HERE to download the application form. All forms must be filled out alongside proof of Bank account details (eg: bank statement or paying in slip) to the Funding administrator at Funding@ealc.gov.uk
The grants will be awarded twice a month, on a continuous engagement basis until funds are spent. Grants typically will be awarded once to an organisation within a 12month period, however should projects be able to demonstrate successful outcomes, an additional application could be considered from the same applicant for the same project only. Applicants must provide evidence of their bank account details for example a copy of a paying in slip or Bank statement. If you do not have access to a business bank account, then the EALC can look at local Voluntary Sector Organisations who can act as a broker to arrange payment.
Guidance Notes
Funding for both capital and revenue projects is available and the following are examples of what might be supported:
• One-off projects or events to bring communities together in community spaces
• Starting new, or expanding existing activity such as community gardening projects, arts and crafts workshops, knit and natter groups or digital skills training programmes
• Supporting your organisation’s development through training for your staff or volunteers; support with evaluation; or access to improved IT equipment for example. *Note that Parish and Town Councils are ineligible for this element of the fund.*
Click HERE for guidance notes in PDF form.
If you have any specific enquiries on the grant funding we offer, please contact Emma, our Funding Adminstrator at-