THE CROYDON PARTNERSHIP YOUTH & ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITY GRANT FUND

• Date :
  13 January 2017

Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grant Fund

The Croydon Partnership will deliver a £1 billion redevelopment of Croydon’s retail centre, creating 5,000 jobs and acting as a catalyst for the wider physical and social regeneration of the town centre. Our mission is to enhance the ongoing regeneration of Croydon through the creation of jobs, apprenticeships, training and new business opportunities. As a long term investor in Croydon we believe that it is important to play our part and pledge further use of our resources to help both the town itself and its residents to achieve their potential.

The Croydon Partnership is delighted to offer our Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grant Fund, a regular programme of dedicated funding aimed at supporting employment prospects and enterprise opportunities for people across the borough.

The programme forms part of the Croydon Partnership’s Community Plan, a voluntary initiative which was launched in June 2014. The plan sets out a comprehensive programme of community support, with a focus on youth engagement and local enterprise. There are three components to the programme, which commits the Partnership to become “Partners in the Town”, “Partners in Business” and “Partners in the Community”, which is where the Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grant Fund sits.

Grants Overview

The focus of the Croydon Partnership Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grant Fund is on organisations working with young people between the ages of 12 and 18 to support them in terms of employability, and supporting enterprise initiatives across all age groups. This might be through:

- developing specific skills through the provision of training and/or equipment

- activities that help develop positive attitudes towards work

- projects that help engage them in enterprising activities

- learning about product development, as well as marketing and sales, amongst others.

Applications can be for capital costs (equipment, goods and materials) or revenue costs (room rental, staff and volunteer costs).

The Croydon Partnership Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grant Fund will award grants of between £500 and £1,000 three times a year, totaling £6,000 per annum to support local third sector activity in Croydon. Applications are invited from: registered charities / CIOs / CICs / companies limited by guarantee or community / voluntary sector groups with a constitution (or set of rules). Please note, this Fund is not open to applications directly from schools, colleges or other statutory bodies. Preference will be given to smaller grassroots projects as opposed to larger charities. Unfortunately, individuals or groups with no constitution are not eligible.

Applicants need to be working with disadvantaged elements of local communities in Croydon either on a borough-wide or local basis.

Standard Grants Criteria

The Croydon Partnership Youth & Enterprise Opportunity Grants will operate under a standard grants criteria the details of which can also be found on our website but, in brief:

- We will fund registered charities or constituted community groups with a bank account requiring two or more signatories and a management board of at least three unrelated people

- We prefer to be a major contributor to a project (we will rarely make a small contribution to a large appeal)

- 100% of the grant must be spent on activities promoting opportunities for youth and enterprise

We will not fund:

- projects that have already taken place or applications for retrospective funding

- activities that would normally be funded from statutory sources

- projects that are primarily for the advancement of religion or politics

We prioritise projects that:

- Are run by local people, for local people

- your group either needs to be based in Croydon or be directly benefiting individuals and communities in Croydon

- Are relevant to local needs and have a direct impact on the community

The application process is now open with the deadline for entries being 12th March, please find attached further information and the application form.