Volunteering in Wales Fund

Year 1 – 2013/14

DEADLINE for applications: 5pm 22March 2013.

Guidelines and notes for applicants

It is important that you read these guidelines and notes before completing your application form

The Volunteering in Wales Fund (VWF) is a popular and heavily oversubscribed grant scheme. Our assessment process seeks to be fair and consistent to all applicants.

Here are the top 5 reasons why many applications are not successful.

  1. Applicants fail to include the relevant supporting documents required as part of the eligibility criteria – on application will not be assessed if you do not include the documents detailed in these guidelines.
  2. The documents that have been included are not up to date e.g. the latest set of annual accounts.
  3. The application has not been signed (for information on electronic signatures please see page 12 of the guidelines)
  4. Applicants failing to answer the questions asked – always read the question and refer to the guidelines
  5. Ensure your budget costings are calculated correctly – this could impact on the assessment.

The guidelines for applicants follow on the next page.

Introduction

The Volunteering in Wales Fund is a scheme funded by the Welsh Government to promote Volunteering in Wales. The Fund is administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).

The aim of the Volunteering in Wales Fund (VWF) discretionary grant scheme is to:

  • Support projects whose aims are mainly achieved by the use of formal volunteers (see page 8 question 2.1 for the definition of formal volunteering for VWF purposes)
  • Support not for profit organisations whose primary purpose is the recruiting, training and placing of volunteers
  • Encourage good practice in volunteering; and
  • Encourage projects in areas where volunteering is under-developed because of location of the project, or the type of volunteering activity.

Voluntary organisations are invited to forward proposals for:

  • Projects or programmes that recruit, support, train and place NEW volunteers
  • Projects that help to develop good practice in volunteering;
  • Projects that are volunteer-based and have difficulty in attracting funds from other grant /charity funding sources

Note - activities that should be supported by the statutory bodies will not be considered for funding

Please note that VWF 2013/14 is a single grant round and there can be no assumption of continuation funding.

Awards can be made up to a maximum of £25,000 and where appropriate may be offered on condition that match funding is secured.

Electronic submission of application form

It is possible for you to submit your application electronically with the supporting documents to

Please ensure that all supporting documents are attached to the email. Should your application and supporting documentation be too large to send in one email (limit of 10Mb) please send separate emails clearly stating your organisation’s name and number of emails to be received i.e. WCVA Email 1 of 2.

Important – In order to submit an application electronically you will need to have electronic signatures inserted into the relevant sections on the back page of the application. For an example of an acceptable electronic signature please see the section Is the form signedand dated on page 12 of these guidelines.

Electronic submissions will receive a holding acknowledgement email within 1 working day of WCVA receiving the application. If you do not receive acknowledgement within 1 working day you MUST contact us on 0800 2888 329 to confirm receipt.

WCVA does not accept responsibility for any ‘lost’ electronic applications if you do not comply with the above.

Submitting a hard copy of the application form

If you decide to submit a hard copy application please make sure that sufficient postage is put on the application pack. We cannot take responsibility for applications which we do not receive.

What can you apply for?

It is possible to apply for up to a maximum of £25,000 VWF grant in year1. The grant must be expended on the support of new volunteers to be recruited in 2013/14 who will be formally registered as volunteers.

What is the deadline for completed applications?

Applications for Year 1 funding must be submitted to WCVA by5pm, 22 March 2013. There is a single VWF year 1 grant round in 2013/14. Applicants will receive full written acknowledgement by post of receipt of applications within 10 working days. If you wish to confirm receipt before this please contact 0800 2888 329.

We cannot take responsibility for applications which we do not receive.

Note –

Applications received after the closing time will not be considered.

Who can apply?

Your organisation can apply if:

  • it is a not-for-profit organisation and is independent of government and private sectors;
  • it has a constitution or set of rules, dated and signed as ‘adopted’ by the chair, or other senior office holder on behalf of the organisation:
  • it has a bank account, in the name of your organisation, which requires at least two signatures;
  • it is able to provide a copy of its most recent audited accounts or statement of income and expenditure signed as approved by the chair or other senior office holder;
  • its proposed project /activity will be taking place in Wales (employment outside Wales is not supported under this grant scheme) ;
  • it is an organisation using volunteers to benefit the community
  • the proposed project recruitsnew volunteers.

Who cannot apply to the Volunteering in Wales scheme?

  • Political organisations
  • Statutory organisations
  • A CVC or Volunteer Centre

How your application will be assessed:

Eligibility

Your application will first be checked to make sure it is eligible for funding under the terms of the scheme. The essential eligibility criteria are:

  • the organisation must be legally constituted with a governing document that is signed and adopted;
  • the organisation must be independent of government and private sectors;
  • the organisation must be eligible according to the rules of the grant scheme;
  • the activity must take place in Wales ( employment outsideWalesusing VWF funds will not be supported);
  • the objectives of the project must fit with the constitution provided;
  • there must be a current public liability insurance.

If it qualifies, a check will then be made to establish that the organisation has appropriate systems and procedures in place. These include:

  • up-to-date accounts;
  • written equal opportunities statement;
  • other appropriate policies, eg for the protection of vulnerable adults or children;
  • evidence that the organisation is financially viable, and demonstrates good financial and managerial capacity;
  • information on any previous WCVA administered grant awards and compliance with the conditions of grant;
  • bank account details.

Failure to include all enclosures will result in the return of the applicationand it will not be assessed .

We will require:

  • A copy of your governing document (constitution);
  • Latest annual Report and accounts;
  • Equal opportunities statement/policy ;
  • Copy of current Public Liability Insurance Certificate;
  • Welsh language policy - where applicable;
  • Environment policy – where applicable;
  • Copy of the training programme for new VWF volunteers to be recruited in 2013/14;
  • Job description of any staff to be employed with VWF funds;
  • Role description of new volunteers to be recruited with VWF funds;
  • Other policies as required e.g. vulnerable persons protection

Failure to include all required enclosures will result in non-assessment of the application.

If any of the documents above have been supplied via WCVA Passport scheme in the last 12 months please include your WCVA Passport reference number. If you are unsure whether your organisation has a WCVA Passport, or what documents are held for your organisation please contact our helpdesk on 0800 2888 329.

Please note that transitional documents e.g. annual accounts, do not form part of your WCVA Passport

Applications are assessed against a number of criteria and scored on how well they meet the criteria. The criteria are:

  • project description and outputs
  • marketing promotion and development
  • quality of new volunteer support and training plan
  • demonstration of need
  • sustainability – future funding and environmental policy
  • outcomes
  • value for money

The scores are passed to the Community Grants Advisory Panel whose role is to consider the assessments and make decisions within the terms of the scheme. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your application.

The decision of the Community Grants Advisory Panel is final but applicants have the right to make a complaint if they feel their application has not been properly administered. Applicants who are unhappy with the decision may ask for further clarification from the Volunteering in Wales Senior Grants Assessor.

For further information about the VWF scheme contact Mark Bendon, Senior GrantsAssessor on  029 2043 1749 or visit the website

All completed applications are to be returned electronically to:

WCVA, Baltic House, Mount Stuart Square, CardiffCF10 5FH

The application form

Part A

Documentation

Please provide the documents as detailed below and indicate if they have been enclosed with the application, or are held as part of your WCVA Passport.

You will need to provide:

  • Your governing document (eg constitution, set of rules, etc) . This should be signed by at least two members of your current management committee.
  • The latest set of your organisations Annual accounts and Annual Report.
  • Applicant organisations must demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities. Please include your organisation’s statement/ policy on equal opportunities.
  • Job descriptions of any staff to be employed with VWF funds.
  • A recent bank statement – it should be the account into which VWF funds would be paid.
  • Your current Public Liability Insurance Certificate.
  • A completed WCVA Equal Opportunities form.
  • The 2013/14 training programme for the new volunteers to be recruited under the VWF project.
  • Job description of any staff to be employed with VWF funds
  • Staff structure
  • Welsh language policy
  • Environmental policy
  • Other policies as required e.g. vulnerable person’s protection.

WCVA Passport Scheme

If you have sent copies of your governing document and policies to WCVA previously and have received a WCVA Passport reference, you will not need to resubmit material unless they have changed as we will retrieve them from existing records. To enable us to do this please enter your reference number in the box on the application form.

Please note that transitional documents e.g. annual accounts, do not form part of your WCVA Passport

General information

Question 1.1

Please state the name, address and the postcode of your organisation. Please also provide a contact name for any correspondence; this must also be the person who signs the form on behalf of the organisation. If any of these details change whilst your application is being processed, it is essential that you contact us and update the details.

Question 1.2

Please provide your registered charity number, if your organisation is a registered charity

Question 1.3

The amount of the VWF grant you are seeking for 2013/14(Maximum £25,000).

Grants are paid directly into your organisation’s bank/building society account by Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) and it is important that your account details are correct. Grants cannot be paid into individual accounts only that of the organisation and it must have a minimum of two suitable authorising signatories.

If your organisation has a building society or Giro bank account, please contact your branch and ask them for the sort code and account number required to make a BACS payment: this will not necessarily be the same number that you use to make payments into the account.

Please note that we are unable to make BACS payments to Post Office National Savings accounts; however we can make payments to Giro bank accounts.

If your application is successful we will write to you to let you know when the money will arrive in your account.

Part B

About your Organisation

Question 1.4

Tell us about your organisation and its activities, when was it established, and list its key aims and objectives. Who are its main beneficiaries?

Question 1.5

Tell us about the people carrying out your organisation’s work – how many staff (full time (f/t) and part time (p/t)), do you have specialist staff; how many people regularly volunteer and are they f/t or p/t.

Project description

Question 2.1

Please tell us the name of the project, when and where it will take place. Volunteering in Wales Fund projects should operate from July 2013 to June 2014.

Tell us what type of volunteering activity your project will include.

Please provide a brief summary describing the project and what you want to do with the grant.

Please list how many new volunteers will be recruited and trained and the number of people in the community that are likely to benefit from the new volunteers activities. Make sure you include a copy of the Training Plan for the new volunteers to be recruited. Let us know if the training will have the benefit of accreditation.

The Volunteering in Wales Fund regards a volunteer as a person being involved in any non-compulsory activity which involves spending time, unpaid, doing something which is of benefit to others (excluding relatives), society or the environment. It is a requirement that any volunteers to be supported must be new to the organisation and have been recruited using VWF funding. The volunteer’s details must be recorded for monitoring purposes.

Question 2.2

.

Please let us know how many volunteers you currently have in your organisation.

Question 2.3

VWF has a particular interest in underrepresented volunteers being recruited from certain categories -those aged 16 – 25 years;Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups and migrant workers; unemployed people and those not in education or training (NEET); people aged 50 years plus and disabled people. Please estimate how many of your newly recruited volunteers will be drawn fromthese groups and record in the boxes on the form. Also show details about any of the beneficiaries who will benefit.

Question 2.4

Please tell us from what age ranges your volunteers will be recruited and the reason why you believe they will be from those age ranges.

Question 2.5

It is important that volunteers are safe when supporting your charity. Please confirm and supply copies of your Child Protection and Vulnerable Persons Policies (if appropriate). Confirm that any personal information about young people will be treated confidentially and that your organisation complies with the Data Protection Act. Please confirm that no new volunteers recruited under this scheme will substitute for paid jobs or devalue the contribution of existing volunteers and the programme will not be used as work experience in private and commercial organisations.

If you do not tick any of the boxes in this question please tell us why.

Question 2.5

  • Please provide a copy of your Welsh language policy. If you do not have a Welsh language policy, please tell us how you can accommodate the language requirements of your community, (e.g. Welsh, Bangladeshi, Urdu, Chinese, Sign language)
  • For example, when promoting and running your project. Will any of your publicity be in other languages or will you have any speakers of other languages?
  • If you have established that there are no language requirements in your area please tell us how you have established this, (such as looking at demand).

Marketing, promotion and development

Question 3.1

How will you recruit the new volunteers listed in box 2.3? How will you advertise /promote the volunteering opportunities to underrepresented groups?

Question 3.2

What role will volunteers and beneficiaries have in running and developing the project? Explain what the new volunteers will do and how they will fit into the organisationeg as trustees, through consultation or feedback in supervision etc.

Demonstration of need

Question 4.1

Please state how the need for the project was identified. Please estimate the number of beneficiaries who will benefit from the newly recruited volunteers support and put a figure in the box.

Tell us who the main beneficiaries of this project are and how they will benefit.

Question 4.2

You will also need to demonstrate how the wider community benefits from the project as distinct from members of your organisation.

For example, community radio volunteers will benefit X number of listeners in their local community; young volunteers offering car transport to hospitals for local pensioners can help reduce hospital/ambulance costs and promote inter-generational links.

Does it have the support of other organisations in your area and does it avoid duplicating the activities of existing organisations? Does it fit in with local, Welsh Government’s or national strategies and plans?

Question 4.3

Tell us how your project will develop volunteering.

What new volunteer opportunities will be developed as part of the project? E.g. Will it increase or develop your organisation’s volunteers/trustees; increase beneficiaries’ skills as potential volunteers; or raise awareness about the value of volunteering with the general public, etc? Is your organisation taking a different approach to developing volunteers compared to previous years?

Will any volunteers receive accredited training which could assist in future employment opportunities?

Sustainability

Question 5.1

When the VWF funding ends how will you continue to involve and retain the new volunteers that have been recruited?

How will you maintain the project’s activities? Orif your project will not continue please detail how it will come to an end and what will happen to any materials developed, equipment acquired or staff recruited during this project.

What steps will be taken to ensure that the impact of the project continues to benefit the wider community

Question 5.2

Will this project benefit or protect the environment? What actions have you taken to protect the environment, eg recycling, shared transport, in carrying out the project? Please provide a copy of your environmental policy or a statement on how you support the environment.

Recognition

Question 6.1

It is important that the work of volunteers is appreciated. How do you recognise and show appreciation for the volunteers support e.g. Do you hold Award events, issues certificates to record how many volunteering hours have been contributed by the volunteers, write letters to thank the volunteers for their contributions?