The CAG Project is announcing a change to the way we are administering our Special Project Grant and putting out a call for applications!
What is the Special Project Grant?
The Special Projects Grant is a fund held by the CAG Project which is available to all CAGs within the network in order to deliver “special” projects, events or activities which they may not be able to self-fund otherwise. This was previously administered by the Network Forum, but it has been decided that the CAG Project staff are in a better position with knowledge of the funding sector and the network as a whole, to award these funds. In future the application will be scored based on a set of criteria by the staff team.
We want to fund you!
We’ve got a bit more money than usual left in our Special Project Grant fund, which we want to spend by November. We know there’s no shortage of brilliant ideas out there just waiting for a bit of funding to help bring them to life – projects, activities and events engaging their communities in building a fairer, more sustainable future.
What we fund
Any Community Action Group in the network can apply, although priority may be given to groups that haven’t received a grant recently. It could be anything from running a workshop, buying a new piece of kit or getting training for your group. We like to fund work that would be hard to fund in other ways and represents value for money. Shiny new ideas are great, but we also know how difficult it can be to fund core costs for groups and organisations so we are open to funding these too. You don’t need a polished or definite plan at this stage, we’re happy to work with groups to develop ideas.
See the list below for some ideas for things we’ve previously funded.
How much?
The vast majority of grants we distribute are under £500, but there is some flexibility. We would especially encourage groups applying for larger grants that are to fund collaborative work involving several CAGs.
How to apply There is no application deadline, and we’ll look at applications on a rolling basis. Just fill in a simple form and send it in to us at: info@cagoxfordshire.org.uk
Examples of project previously funded by the Special Project Grant
£600 for Broken Spoke’s Beryl’s Night project to fund a new female mechanic to be trained for their women’s and trans repair night (total cost of project: £2880)
£410 for Rose Hill & Iffley Low Carbon’s Cycling Campaign to fund bike repair kits, a workshop from Broken Spoke and bike day event (total cost of project: £1375)
£395 for Barracks Lane Community Garden’s Internship scheme to fund admin costs for hosting 6 week internship to research social prescribing and create links with social care organisations (total cost of project: £395)
£400 for Stonehill Community Garden’s Sensory garden for visitors with disabilities (total cost of project: £500)
£210 for Sustainable Wheatley to buy apple pressing equipment including a pasteurizer and apple picker to be shared by the network (total cost of project: £210)
£400 for Oxford Circular Collective / Share Oxford for set-up costs for the Library of Things (total cost of project: £516)
£480 for Orinoco to fund fees for a consultant to support with business planning and strategy development (total cost of project: £480)