Proposed thresholds, timescales and criteria for community and business grant schemes ((to be finalised in consultation with Portfolio Holder)

Thresholds

· Minimum of £2,000 and maximum of £10,000

o Expectation of 10% match funding from application

Timescales

· w/c 2 June to w/c 30 June 2025 – window open for funding bids

· w/c 7 July – bids assessed

· w/c 14 July – funding awarded

Criteria

Projects must be:

1. located in New Forest District and within either:

a. towns, villages and hamlets with populations below ten thousand and the wider countryside, or

b. market or hub towns with populations of up to thirty thousand.

2. meet the themes, be comparable to the intervention list and deliver against the outputs and outcomes of REPF; and

3. support NFDC’s corporate priorities; and

4. demonstrate evidence of liquidity (e.g. accounts showing healthy reserves, and that organisation is sustainable); and either

5. For community grants demonstrate evidence of being a community organisation (e.g. parish council, registered charity, CIC, or other form of organisation; or

6. For local business grants demonstrate evidence of being a business (e.g. listed on companies house or an equivalent).