Review of Grant Aid to Community Groups

During 2010/2011 we carried out a review of our Development, Grounds Maintenance, Maintenance of Community Facilities and Support Grant Aid Schemes.

We consulted with community groups via questionnaires during September and October 2010. We also held two public meetings. At the first meeting in November we discussed the results of the questionnaires. We then came up with proposals for changes to the schemes and outlined these at a second public meeting in February 2011.

We would like to thank everyone who completed questionnaires and / or attended the meetings. Your feedback was extremely helpful.

The main changes that came into effect at the start of April 2011 are as follows:

• Groups with bank balances in excess of £10,000 will be asked to confirm what the funds are for.
• Any incomplete applications must be completed within 2 months of the date we receive them, or they will be withdrawn.
• The maximum Development Grant available has decreased. See Guidelines for full details.
• Adult groups applying for grant assistance towards travel costs for off island events/competitions shall only be considered for financial support if they are representing Shetland, the region or a national body. The only exception is where the travel is for a course or an event that enables the participant(s) to make a further contribution to their group or the wider community.

In response to suggestions from the questionnaires, we have also:

• Made electronic application forms available on our website.
• Started to look into the possibility of providing an on-line database of non-SIC funding sources.

Relevant documents: