Ward Member Community Grant Scheme

This grant scheme provides each Ashford Borough Ward Councillor with the ability to financially support local community projects and services and to therefore play a more active role in their ward.

Funding available

Each Ashford Borough Ward Councillor has £3,000 in the financial year (April–March) to allocate to projects within their ward. The minimum grant under this scheme is £100.

What will the grant pay for?

The grant can provide either revenue funding to pay for venue hire, for example, or capital funding to pay for the purchase of equipment, for example.

As the projects and services funded through member grants must benefit residents in the Ward Councillor's own ward, they are not able to fund projects that are delivered outside their own or adjacent wards.

Ward Councillors are able to consider funding towards any element of your project (apart from core revenue costs such as salaries or rent) as long as the project itself does not conflict with, nor contravene, any policy of the Borough Council.

Funding is available to cover project costs for up to one year only.

The scheme does not fund projects that have already been delivered or work that has already been carried out, or reimburse money that has already been spent.

How to apply for funding

You must contact your Ashford Borough Councillor to discuss your project.

You cannot submit an application form for a ward member grant until you have discussed your project with your Ward Councillor and he/she has agreed to give you a grant towards it.

Your Ward Councillor can advise and help you though the application process and will be able to explain the conditions and criteria of the scheme in more detail when you speak to him/her.

If your Ward Councillor agrees to give you a grant, he/she will send you an application form. You must complete the application form and return it to your Ward Councillor to sign to indicate his/her support of your application and to authorise payment of the grant.

Grant Payment

Once your ward councillor has signed the application form he/she will send it to the Council's Funding and Partnerships Officer to process for payment.

We aim to pay the grant within 15 working days of receipt of a fully and properly completed application form.