The Brentwood Community Fund had been set up to give Brentwood’s communities the opportunity to provide local initiatives to improve the quality of life for local people living in the borough. The Community Fund, of £31,300 is currently allocated within an existing 2020/21 budget, and grants of up to £4,000 are available to applicants. The funding was open from 1 April until 30 September 2021. A summary of the applications and the officers’ scoring sheet is attached in Appendix B of the report.

Mrs Anderson summarised the report advising Members of the scoring process and alternative methods of available funding to unsuccessful organisations.

After a full discussion, Cllr Poppy MOVED and Cllr Hones SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that Members:

Agree to fund those projects highlighted in green as outlined in Appendix B out of the Community Fund.   

Reasons for Recommendation

Each application had been subject to a robust, independent and transparent scoring process to ensure fairness in the allocation of funding (Appendix C).  Once reviewed, the applications were scored by a panel of officers and a representative from Axis, considering the following key priorities:

a)    Evidence that the bid meets the criteria, the Council’s priorities and expected outcomes;

b)    Evidence that the community has been involved in the development and implementation of the project;

c)    Evidence that the bid supports the promotion of volunteering and community participation;

d)    Evidence that the applicant has sought additional external funding or in-kind value (such as the use of volunteers) for the project; and

e)    Evidence that the project is sustainable once the Council’s contribution has ceased.

Once the applications were individually scored, they were ranked by their score.  The recommendations by officers of the projects that met the key priorities and the amount of funding that is recommended is attached in Appendix B of this report.