The Mental Health Small Grants Scheme was set up to give Brentwood’s communities the opportunity to provide mental health initiatives in the Borough. In partnership with theBrentwood Health and Wellbeing Board, grants of up to £2,000 were available toindividuals, organisations and groups for wellbeing projects delivered between 1 April2020 and 31 March 2021. Projects must be delivered in the Borough and involve people with lived experience in design planning and delivery. The Council received 16 applications requesting a total of £29,058.37. The Mental Health Small Grants Scheme is currently allocated within an existing 2019/2020 budget. The funding was open from 14 January until 31 January 2020. A summary of the applications and the officers scoring sheet is attached in Appendix C of the report.

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Poppy and SECONDED by Cllr Tierney to approve the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

            Agree to fund those projects highlighted in green as outlined in

Appendix C of the report out of the Mental Health Small Grants fund.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Mental Health Small Grants Scheme will be subject to a robust, independent and transparent scoring process to ensure fairness in the allocation of funding.

Once received the applications will be scored by a panel of officers looking at the following key priorities:

 Evidence that the application meets the criteria, the Council’s priorities and

expected outcomes

 Evidence that the community has been involved in the development and

implementation of the project

 Evidence that the application supports the promotion of volunteering and

community participation

 Evidence that the project is sustainable once the Mental Health Small

Grants Scheme contribution has ceased.

[Cllr Reed declared a non-pecuniary interest as a council representative for mental health]