Charity Selection Committee
Application for Mini-Grant and Grant Funding or Volunteer Support
November, 2011

Nominations for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are now closed.

Information to help you find a charity in future as below:

Finding a charity to nominate:

We suggest several ways to help you find a charity:
• Look at localgiving.com, type in your postcode and review the results

All charities on localgiving.com have been checked by the Berkshire Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Surrey, two independent charitable trusts that act as peak/umbrella fundraising and grant giving bodies for each county. This website works best for Berkshire charities but also has a small selection of Surrey charities.

• Contact your closest volunteering centre
(based in Reading, Slough, Windsor, Chertsey for Runnymeade charities, Staines for Spelthorne charities, Guildford for South West charities, Camberley for Surrey Heath, and Woking) listed on the AWBS Philanthropy  - Volunteering in Your Local Community section and ask them to help you find a charity that you are interested in (you may need to be logged in to the AWBS website first)

• Contact the VP Philanthropy if you are still stuck to help you find a local charity that mirrors your interests.

Criteria

Please note our minimum eligibility criteria for nomination below:

• The charity must benefit residents in Surrey or Berkshire counties.
• The charity must not be affiliated with a religious or political organization.
• The charity must have a registered charity number (most charities will put this number on their websites).

Under English law, registered charities meeting our criteria have the following purposes including, but not limited to the following areas:
• prevention or relief of poverty
• education
• health or the saving of lives
• citizenship or community development
• arts, culture, heritage or science
• amateur sport
• human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or equality and diversity
• environmental protection or improvement
• relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
• animal welfare

What Happens Next:
• All charities are checked to ensure they meet the minimum eligibility criteria and have a charitable purpose.
• All charities meeting the minimum criteria are contacted to confirm their details via an Eligibility Criteria Questionnaire which seeks extra information and confirms eligibility.
• Charities meeting the minimum eligibility criteria are contacted to submit a more detailed Request for Funding (an Application).
• Requests for Funding (Applications) are reviewed by the Charity Selection Committee and undergo a more detailed assessment using a set of criteria based on AWBS philanthropic policies.
• The charities that best meet the organisation's policies are then recommended for funding and/or voluntary support to the AWBS Board for approval.
• Funds for the successful charities will be distributed in the spring (most likely at the 27 March General Meeting) from our 2011 fundraising (AWBS Holiday Craft and Gift Fayre, vendors' donations from the "Best of Britain" room and other activities).
• A slate of Continuing Charities to receive funding from the 2012 Fayre will be also be announced at the same time, along with any charities that are to receive voluntary support.

Points to Note:
Whilst all charities are carefully reviewed by the Charity Selection Committee, AWBS is unable to fund all the charities that are nominated.

All AWBS members involved in the charity selection process will need to declare any conflicts of interest with the nominated charities and abstain from any discussion on any nominated charity/charities that they are personally connected to.

Mini-grants are small grants of up to £500.

How You Can Get Involved:
Nominations for Charities and the Charity Selection Committee are now closed.

Social Disadvantage in Berkshire and Surrey

To learn more about the issues facing the local communities in which most members live, your attention is drawn to the work that the two county community foundations do.

The Community Foundation for Surrey and the Berkshire Community Foundation are both independent charitable trusts that inspire local giving across their counties and provide grants to small voluntary groups that tackle grassroots needs.

Each community foundation has prepared a report which summarises the social disadvantage in Surrey and Berkshire and highlights examples of how those communities are currently helping those in need. These reports may help you identify an area of need that resonates with you and other AWBS members.

An an example, the latest statistics in Surrey reveal:

* Child poverty is well over 30% and as high as 44% in some areas of the county, with this figure worryingly increasing since 2001 reports.
* 35.8% of children in some areas of Surrey live in a household headed by a lone parent.
* The South East has the highest rates of sickness absence in the country with mental and stress related illnesses the greatest factors.

More details are available here:

"Hidden Surrey" Report

"The Hidden Need in Berkshire" Report

Leanne Evans

VP Philanthropy

Cell: 0758 017 0829