| Friends of Somerset Churches & Chapels
Registered Charity No 1055840
Correspondence and applications to:
Grants Policy
The Trust's primary objective is to give help to historic churches and chapels that are in use as places of Christian worship, in the historic county of Somerset. Preference will be given to smaller communities but applications from those with a higher potential for fund raising will, of course, be considered. Grants will normally be between £1,000 and £5,000, but in exceptional circumstances may be up to a maximum of £10,000.
Grants are normally restricted to repairs to the main fabric of the church (walls, roofs, towers, drainage, etc) but may also be given for specific items of repair or towards phased repair projects. Grants are not given for basic maintenance, bells, decorations, ornaments, lighting, heating, organs, boundary walls and churchyard maintenance, nor for alterations, extensions or re-ordering schemes. However, if church membership is less than twenty-five, a small grant to cover some routine maintenance repairs may be considered.
Grants will not be considered if work has started before the application has been received and registered with the Grants Secretary, and normally work should not start on site until a grant offer is made. In the case of major restorations and for buildings of outstanding architectural merit, the Trust will normally be able to consider a grant before the outcome of an application to English Heritage or the Heritage Lottery Fund is known, although the Trust reserve the right to request further information as a condition of their offer. It is presumed that the applicant has also considered applying for aid from other sources - the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, denominational funds, and so on.
The following factors will be considered:
The Trust will be the final authority for making grants and it will be guided by the definitions of the Trust Deed, comments from the Trust's Management Committee and by these guidelines, which are intended to ensure consistency, uniform treatment and the most appropriate use of Trust funds. The Trustees reserve the right to publicise any project and grant offered.
It is also requested that, should a grant be offered and accepted, the church or chapel display a ‘Trust notice’ acknowledging the grant, and perhaps place a small statement in the parish news letter, to encourage individuals in the area to become Friends of the Trust - for without members' subscriptions, we have no money to give!
GUIDELINES
APPLICATIONS
Applications should be made on the Trust's application form, which can be obtained from the Grants Secretary or downloaded from the website. When completed, it should be returned to the Grants Secretary, together with the documents requested. She will arrange for an architect/surveyor and the Trust's Area Representative to assess the application before reporting to the Trustees. The Trustees meet four times a year (normally in January, April, July & October) when they will adjudicate the applications presented.
GRANT PAYMENTS
Grant payments can be made against the architect/surveyor's interim certificate as work progresses, or at completion, provided that the value of the work completed has exceeded the grant by a factor of two. The Trust reserves the right to withdraw grant offers if not accepted within two calendar months, if work has not been completed, or if a certificate of practical completion has not been provided within eighteen months of the date of the grant offer. An extension of time (normally for a 12 month period) can be given upon request.
July 2006
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