Your group must:

• be independently set up for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes and not make private, commercial or personal profit or gain
• not be a statutory organisation, or not be set up or managed wholly or partly by one
• not promote or appear to support a political party or ideology
• have a legal structure appropriate to the size and nature of the organisation with a governing document defining your aims and procedures
• have at least three unrelated, elected volunteers who decide policy and overall management. These must not be family members, married couples or civil partners, or people living at the same address
• not have a ‘person with significant control’ listed on the Companies House register with:
  • the right to appoint and remove the majority of the company’s directors
  • more than 50% of the company's shares
  • more than 50% of the voting rights
  • the right or power to exercise (whether directly or indirectly) a considerable degree of influence or control over the company or its activities
• meet the legal responsibilities of an employer and adopt, implement, and monitor good employment practices and procedures, if relevant
• comply with all statutory and legal responsibilities applicable to the organisation and its regulatory body
• have up-to-date, appropriate and adequate insurance cover

Your group must:

• keep proper, adequate financial records appropriate to legal requirements and complying with any legal or organisational governing document requirements
• have a dual-controlled group bank account
• have a reserves policy that is updated annually and that explains position, calculations and why they are held
• be able to demonstrate that you need financial support for the activity

Your group must be able to provide:

• a bank statement from within the last three months
• your latest set of accounts
• an organisational budget or up-to-date management accounts
• a governing document
• insurance certificates
• a risk assessment for your projects
• policies for:
  • complaints
  • data protection
  • environmental impact
  • equality and diversity
  • health and safety
  • reserves – read the government’s guidance on charity reserves
  • safeguarding

If you are applying for a grant of £5,000 or less and are a newly formed group, you may not have these in place yet but it would be expected that you work towards them as a condition of any grant awarded. Insurance costs can be applied for as part of a grant if essential to the activity you are running, therefore documentation may constitute a condition of award.

We won’t fund:

• personal care or funding for individuals
• activities that will make a direct private, personal or commercial gain/profit
• activities that are more suited to other Cambridge City Council grant schemes such as homelessness prevention
• activities that are for religious instruction or worship or involve proselytizing
• trips to religious places of worship, however funded activities can happen in places of worship, for example in your local mosque. Religious groups can apply for non-religious activities but will need to demonstrate that the activity is inclusive to all faiths and religions when appropriate
• activities that promote or appear to support a political party or ideology
• activities that have already happened or happen before funding awards have been released, or are outside the grant award year
• food and refreshments that are not integral to the activity’s outcome, up to a value of £7 per head
• equipment that is not integral to the activity’s outcome, reasonable equipment costs will only be considered as part of a fully costed activity
• gifts and prizes 
• activities that include hiring a bar or buying alcohol
• fundraising activities, including for charity shops
• competitive activities
• activities that will be held outside Cambridge unless there is no other suitable location (such as day trips to the seaside)
• entrance fees and the use of cars will only be considered in exceptional circumstances
• activities where groups do not hold appropriate qualifications and accreditations to deliver them
• redistribution of grant funding to another group or individuals (such as running a microgrant scheme for individuals in need)
• activities for those that could afford to pay
• running costs that are not realistic and proportionate in relation to the activity delivered
• publicity that is not related to an eligible activity and is not reasonably costed
• website development or updates unless it is directly providing, and integral to, the funded activity
• apprenticeship schemes
• language and cultural classes
• staff, self-employed, or contracted costs which exceed those agreed for Cambridge City Council workers. However, we actively encourage organisations that employ people to pay or to work towards paying, the Real Living Wage

Groups we cannot fund

We cannot award funding to:

• groups based outside the UK
• uniformed groups
• groups that have not complied with the monitoring requirements for any grant previously received from us

Activities that we cannot fund

We cannot fund activities and support that are the remit of another statutory organisation. This includes:

• Cambridgeshire County Council, including:
  • children’s centres, childcare, school curriculum activities
  • breakfast and afterschool clubs
  • education for young people aged 18 and under,
  • activities that take place in schools as part of the school day.
  • young offenders,
  • personal care, carer’s groups, day centres, older people’s lunch clubs
  • literacy and library, community education
• health authorities or services, including:
  • clinical health or issues groups and projects
  • medical support groups, counselling or therapy
  • activities for people in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction
• other authorities and partnerships, including:
  • homelessness
  • community safety (victims of domestic violence, reducing crime and anti-social behaviour)
  • immigration advice
  • uniformed groups
  • toddler and playgroups

You must have permission from the landowner if your activity will take place on land that you do not own.

For activities on Cambridge City Council owned land, you must complete a ‘statement of intent’. Please allow four weeks for us to decide whether to allow it to take place.

• Hire a park or open space for your event

You can apply for this grant on our grants portal in November.

You will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt of your application after you submit it through the grants portal.

We will tell round-one applicants whether their application has been successful by the end of February and round two applicants by the beginning of July of the funding year. You will have no right to appeal against the decision if you are not awarded a grant. All awards will be subject to the approval of the overall council budget in February.

We will pay round one awards from 1 April and round two awards from mid-July of the funding year, after grant agreements are signed and any other conditions are met, such as returning monitoring reports from previous grants.

You are required to complete a monitoring report as a condition of grant. A report will be generated for you on the grants portal for you to tell us what you did with the grant and what difference it made to the participants. You must submit the report one month after the completion of your activity and by 30 April at the very latest.

Monitoring reports should be accompanied by supporting evidence such as publicity material and photographs. We may request further information.

Please keep all receipts and invoices related to the activity as we may ask to see these.

Any award that is not spent or evidenced for the purpose allocated will have to be repaid in full.

You can apply for this grant on our grants portal between 4 August and midday on 22 September 2025.

You will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt of your application after you submit it through the grants portal. You may be contacted for further information or clarifications.

You are required to complete a monitoring report as a condition of the grant. A report will be generated for you on the grants portal for you to tell us what you did with the grant and what difference it made to the participants. You must submit the report one month after the completion of your activity and by 30 April following the funded year.

Monitoring reports should be accompanied by supporting evidence such as publicity material and photographs. We may request further information.

Please keep all receipts and invoices related to the activity as we may ask to see these.

Any award that is not spent or evidenced for the purpose allocated will have to be repaid in full.