DEADLINE

The application deadline is 5pm, 19 February 2010 for posted applications and midnight, 21 February 2010 for emailed applications. However, grants will be awarded on a rolling basis and there is only a limited pot of money available. In order to access funding, it is important that you submit your application as soon as possible. Any money awarded must be drawn down by 31 March 2010.

SUMMARY

The details are:

• - Minimum bid 100k, max 450k (although if more is required, then also ask for a loan)
• - You must be proposing/improving existing products/services that deliver health and/or social care outcomes (this funding is from the Dept of Health)
• - Bids will be first come, first served and assessment against quality threshold will start on receipt of bid
• - Money will need to be spent within a few months and you will need to indicate that you have quotes / plans / contracts etc to prove readiness to spend (although you won't need to send these with the application)
• - Categories of spend include purchasing land / building, building works, purchase of IT systems / vehicles / other equipment and professional fees related to capital projects (SEE IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTES BELOW)
• - There will be no expectation that you also need to take out a loan and there will be no requirement to forecast a cashflow
• - If you recently applied for a SEIF grant you can also apply for this (SEE IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE BELOW). Some of the questions will be the same so some cut and paste is possible.

OTHER CRITERIA

Usual rules apply:

• - Third sector (not-for-profit) organisations only and for enterprising organisations
• - organisation must not be insolvent
• - your service must mainly benefit people in England
• - organisation must have been in existence for more than 12 months
• - you must not be able to get a commercial loan for the project.

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE

What is a capital grant?

A capital grant is an investment from the Fund for the costs related to land, premises or equipment needed to deliver the organisation's services. This could cover the purchase of land and buildings, the costs of redevelopment and refurbishment of premises and building new premises, the associated professional fees for these activities, the costs of upgrading your IT systems or purchasing equipment. Within this the range of options is considerable.

It cannot cover the ordinary or project running costs associated with the organisation, that is the costs of maintaining and delivering your service such as staff salaries, volunteer expenses, travel bursaries for users or similar payments, governance costs, professional fees not related to capital equipment, professional indemnity insurance and other such costs would not be covered under this.

Because the timeframe for this grant round is extremely tight we would expect successful applicants to be well advanced in their planning or delivery of the capital project. If you need money for feasibility studies to develop options for your premises for example or to assess your IT needs then this grant fund is not for your organisation. If however you are in discussions to buy a building and need additional capital to put in the most competitive offer and fully resource the site and expect a purchase to happen within the next few months then this Fund could help you.

The minimum amount of any application is £100,000. Applications below that amount will not be considered.

If I have applied for the Enabling Growth Fund, should I apply for this Fund?

Enabling Growth was a revenue fund. If an organisation who applied to Enabling Growth had additional needs for capital investment which they did not include in the Enabling Growth Fund then they should submit a separate application to the Capital Fund.

We need a range of capital items that in total add up to more than £100,000 but individually are quite small. Is this permissible?

Yes, it is acceptable to put in an application for these items. The key issue in any application for capital investment is to show how these items will enable the delivery of health and or social care services.

When do we need to spend the money by?

There is no set date, although as the grant will need to be agreed by us before 30th March 2010, we will only be investing in organisations with clear plans on using the grant and would expect them to have used the fund by the end of quarter one 2010/11, although this will obviously vary dependant on the need. Building works for instance will occur over a longer period of time with payment at the end, but we would expect to see evidence that the building works were planned and agreed to start within a reasonable timeframe.

Will the grant cover routine repairs and improvements such as decorating or maintenance of external property (gardens etc)?

We would not consider £100,000 of repairs to be routine. However if as part of a capital project there were costs for repairs and improvements, this would be acceptable.

Contact details are as follows: Mobile 07890 825978, Desk 01652 636643 and email: anne.tunnicliffe@socialinvestmentbusiness.org and the application form is attached below.