Strengthen and Grow - Application Form

Applicant Charter

This is Grimsby's money, allocated by Grimsby people, to support work happening in Grimsby. The Decision Makers who will read your application are local residents who care about the same streets, communities and futures that you do.

We have kept barriers to applying as low as possible and the process as simple as we can make it. A simple process is not a casual one. This money matters, and the people making decisions are giving their time because they believe in the work.

As an applicant, you commit to:

Being honest about what you know — and what you don't. If you are not sure about something, say so. An honest application with gaps is more useful than an inaccurate one.
Being realistic about your budget. Ask for what you actually need. If awarded funding, you are committing to spend it as stated.
Telling us if things change. If your timeline, costs or plans shift, contact us early. We will work with you. We cannot manage problems we don't know about.
Applying in good faith. The information you provide will be shared with Decision Makers and, where grants are approved, with the wider community. Everything you submit should be accurate to the best of your knowledge.

We commit in return to treat every application fairly, provide clear feedback whether you are successful or not, and support you through the process.

I have read the Applicant Charter and agree to apply in the spirit set out above.

Please note that we will share details about your project, but not about you, with the Decision Makers' Assembly of Grimsby residents who make the funding decisions, as well as with the wider community. All approved grants will be published and the reasoning behind all decisions will be available to applicants.

Before you start this application, please ensure that you have read the FAQ guide which will help you answer the questions as well as the Towns Priorities:

Grimsby Together - Our Future that you must address in your application. Because this is money from government and money for the whole town we have to ensure various standards are met and terms and conditions are agreed to - that is why the application form is quite long!

Before continuing, that though your organisation may be based outside of these postcodes, please make sure that your project activities take place in at least one of the following postcodes:

DN31
DN32
DN33
DN34
DN37

Strengthen and Grow is revenue funding of up to £50,000 for defined, time-limited activity that strengthens an existing idea, organisation, asset or partnership and prepares it for a bigger next step. An example of what this funding could be used for could be: preparing for a building project, developing a business plan, or building a partnership. In other words, the funded work should materially increase the likelihood of a next stage, whether that is capital investment, co-funding, trading income, asset acquisition, service contracts or another sustainable route forward.

This funding pot is not designed to cover open-ended running costs, routine service delivery, deficit rescue, or advice activity unconnected to a real next-stage proposition.

There are two stages to this application. First, you submit an initial application by the first deadline on Friday 19^th October at 5pm, Key Fund gives you feedback. You then have the opportunity to refine and resubmit before the final deadline on Monday 2^nd November at 5pm.

Please tick the box to show that you have read, understood and agree with the above.

Tick here

Safety, Deliverability and Policies

How will you make sure people involved in your project activities stay safe?

Please describe the practical steps and procedures you will use to keep participants, staff and volunteers safe during your project activities (for example: risk assessments, supervision ratios, incident reporting, training)

What policies do you have in place to support your answer above? Are there any gaps that you need to fill?

Please tell us which existing policies your safety approach relies on (for example, health and safety, safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults), and note any new policies you will need to create before the project starts. Your answer should show how these policies back up the practical steps described above.

Do you have insurance already in place to deliver your project? (if you do not you must include insurance in your budget)

YesNo

Please upload a copy of your insurance policy/ies here:

Financial Information

Please give a full breakdown of your project budget and provide quotes for items over £5,000. This is a requirement for this fund. If you are unable to provide these quotes by the 19^th of October, please make sure to have them by the final deadline of 6^th of November. All costs must be revenue costs; capital costs cannot be funded through Strengthen and Grow.

Please see the FAQ sheet for the explanation of the difference between capital and revenue costs, and for examples of the revenue costs Strengthen and Grow can support.

Quotes required:

£5,001 – £25,000

At least 1 written quotation

£25,001 and above

Minimum 3 written quotations

Please note that you can only apply for a maximum of £50,000 for Strengthen and Grow.

	Spend Type	Total

Will any other funding contribute towards your project? If so, please provide details in the table below. For any funding that is not yet secured, please tell us who you have applied to or are in discussion with, when you expect a decision, and how likely you think it is that the funding will be confirmed.

	Budget Type	Capital	Revenue	Has this been secured?	Total

Where has/will the additional funding come from?

If other, please specify:

Who have you already engaged about the next stages (professionals/ architects/ social investors/ funders)?

Upload quotes for items over £5,000:

Thinking about the answers you have already given re: opening the next stage and delivering lasting change can you explain how you plan to make your project more financially sustainable in the future?

This next section is about your organisation

Applications may be made by organisations and groups. Individuals cannot apply directly, although we can make payments on behalf of unincorporated groups where appropriate.

Organisation Details

Legal name of your organisation

Legal identifier

This is the Charities Commission number, or Companies House number or FCA number for cooperatives.

Type of organisation

What is your organisation's legal structure? For example: registered charity, charitable incorporated organisation, company limited by guarantee, community interest company, community benefit society, unincorporated association, or informal group working with a host organisation.

If other, please specify:

Is there anything about your organisation’s values and approach you would like the Assembly to know?

Main address of your organisation:

Building Name/Number:

Street:

Area:

Town:

Region:

Postcode:

If your main address is outside Grimsby, please tell us about the substantive activity you already run, or plan to run, in the area.

Website (if you have one)

Social media accounts (if you have any)

Please upload either your latest full year accounts (either audited or unaudited management accounts) or your host organisations full year accounts.

Please upload your last 3 months bank statements

How would the grant be paid and managed? Please tell us whose bank account the grant would be paid into, who authorises spending, and what financial controls and record-keeping you have in place. If your group is unincorporated, please give these details for your host organisation.

Are you being supported by a host organisation, which will hold the money for you?

Yes NoA host organisation will support you by holding the grant award for you and making payments for the items in your budgets. Grants cannot be paid direct to individuals.

Host Organisation

Legal name of host organisation

Legal identifier of host organisation

This is the Charities Commission number, or Companies House number or FCA number for cooperatives.

Address of host organisation:

Building Name/Number:

Street:

Area:

Town:

Region:

Postcode:

Contacts

This section is about the contacts for the application and project delivery.

Main contact for this application:
Please provide the name you use for official purposes and a date of birth for ID purposes. This is so we can do basic due diligence checks.

Title:

First Name:

Last Name:

What you are known as:

Pronouns:

D.O.B.

we require this only for ID purposes

Main contact's role in the organisation:

Address of the main contact:

House Name/Number:

Street:

Area:

Town:

Region:

Postcode:

Telephone number:

Email address:

Main contact for the project:
(If this is the same as the main contact for application, please leave blank and go to the next relevant question)
Please provide the name you use for official purposes and a date of birth for ID purposes. This is so we can do basic due diligence checks.

Title:

Full name:

What you are known as:

Pronouns:

Second organisational contact for ID checks and signing purposes:

Title:

First Name:

Last Name:

D.O.B.

we require this only for ID purposes

Telephone number:

Email address:

Any other information about any of the sections above that you would like to give us?

Declarations

By signing this document, you agree to the programme standards including safeguarding and compliance. If your project involves vulnerable adults or children, you must have a safeguarding of vulnerable adults and/or safeguarding of children policy. You must also include Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) checks on any adults working with vulnerable adults or children in your budget if required.

By signing below, you confirm that the information in this application is accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you agree to the programme standards referenced above.

Name:

Signature:

Date:

I confirm that I have read the Privacy Notice and understand how my data will be used by Key Fund, Our Future and North East Lincolnshire Council. Please read our Privacy Notice at Privacy Statement 1 - Proposal Applicants (Sep 2026) which explains how we will use the information you provide.

How we use your data

Your application data is collected and processed jointly by:

- Key Fund Investments Limited - who manage the application process, carry out due diligence and administer payments

- Our Future - who lead the community involvement side of the programme and use application data for programme learning and fund design

- North East Lincolnshire Council - who are responsible for making sure the public money behind this fund is used properly and may receive data for audit and compliance purposes

Your personal data will be processed in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as retained in UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Key Fund is the primary contact for data queries relating to your application. You can read Key Fund's full privacy statement at https://thekeyfund.co.uk/legals/privacy/full-privacy-statement/

I agree to receive marketing communications from Key Fund about further opportunities and events.

You can withdraw this consent at any time by contacting Key Fund. Withdrawing consent will not affect your application or any grant already awarded.

Please note: details about your project will be shared with the panel as part of the Citizens Assembly. Personal contact details, bank statements and detailed financial information will not be shared.

If your project is funded, we would love to share your story. With your permission we may share information about your project publicly - for example on our website, social media, in reports or press coverage. This would include your project name, a description of what you are doing and the amount of funding awarded. You can withdraw this consent at any time by contacting info@growingtogetherfund.org.uk. Where information has already been published we will take all reasonable steps to remove it on request.

If your project involves photographs or video of other people, it is your responsibility to make sure you have their permission before sharing those images with us.

I agree to the Growing Together Fund sharing information about my project for promotional purposes if I am successful.

Subsidy Control

I understand that my application for a grant from the Key Fund is subject to the laws applying to subsidies that the grant is made available as “minimal financial assistance” and that, therefore, my application must satisfy the conditions applying to minimal financial assistance.

I further understand that subsidies that exceed the limit on minimal financial assistance may be unlawful and that my business may be required to make repayments of any unlawful subsidy.

I confirm that I have listed below the total amount of all forms of public subsidy received by my business in the past three years and I acknowledge that the Key Fund will use this information to determine whether my application meets the conditions allowing payment of minimal financial assistance.

To be eligible to receive certain types of publicly funded business funding and support, we will need to establish whether you can receive a subsidy within the regime set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (and if relevant the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) between the United Kingdom and the European Union).

We hereby notify you that:

(a) if your application is supported, we would be proposing to give you a subsidy by way of minimal financial assistance,

(b) the gross value amount of the assistance will be confirmed at the point of making a written offer, and

(c) we are seeking your confirmation that any eventual payment to you will not cause you to have received more than £315,000 attributable to minimal or SPEI financial assistance in total in the current and two preceding financial years (beginning on 1^st April). (SPEI assistance relates to services of public economic interest, and this will have been explained in the context of the award of any such funding.)

Please note, we are unable to provide you with any funding until we receive the confirmation referred to in the previous paragraph.

Potentially any assistance you may have received from a public body might be a subsidy. This could be from Central, Regional, Development Governments or Agencies or Local Council. If you are not sure whether any assistance you have received is a subsidy, and whether it qualifies as minimal financial assistance, please clarify with the body which granted the assistance.

The Regulations allow an entity to receive up to £315,000 as minimal financial assistance over any period of three financial years. This is subject to cumulation rules and any SPEI assistance, EU de minimis aid or SAFA subsidy given under the TCA will reduce the scope for receipt of subsidy.

Please confirm the amount of subsidy or state aid your business has been granted within the current and two preceding financial years beginning on 1^st April:

For information, full details of the UK Subsidy Rules can be found here

UK SUBSIDY CONTROL: SMALL AMOUNTS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DECLARATION

Please complete the table below listing any other subsidies (particularly grants/loans/equity packages) received by your business from public (UK Government or European) sources in the past three years and tick the above box. The Key Fund will then be able to check the minimal financial assistance position as part of the eligibility assessment process.

Please note that at our discretion, as part of the application process we may require you to take legal advice confirming that any funding we provide to you further to this application will not breach the rules relating to subsidy control.

In certain cases, the recipient of funding may consider that use of the minimal financial assistance exemption is not appropriate in the circumstances.  Where this is the case, please let us know as soon as possible.

	Date	Grant/Loan or Equity	Funder	Amount of Subsidy

Signed:

DN31	DN32	DN33
DN34	DN37

Strengthen and Grow - Application Form

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