Community Grants
The Blaby District Council Community Grants scheme is open for 2023-24. The scheme supports the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) to develop and strengthen community facilities and activities for the benefit of Blaby district residents. We offer the following grants to suit different project types:
- Capital Green Grants - up to £4,000 (20% match funding required)
- Large Capital Grants - up to £4,000 (50% match funding required)
- Small Capital Grants - up to £500
- Revenue Grants - up to £500
- Everyone Active Grants - up to £500
For the November grant round only we are making some additional funding available for organisations running Warm Spaces during Winter. For full details, please read the Warm Spaces Additional Guidance. All applicants to the grants scheme should also read the main guidance notes available to download on this web page.
Grant deadlines
We will hold four grant rounds during 2023-24. The deadlines for applications are:
- 31 May 2023 at 5pm
- 30 August 2023 at 5pm
- 29 November 2023 at 5pm
- 28 February 2024 at 5pm
The grant panel usually meets two weeks after the grant deadline and applicants are notified within a further week.
Who can apply
Our grants scheme is open to applications from a range of VCS organisations:
- Community groups, youth clubs and sports clubs
- Registered Charities
- Social Enterprises (such as Community Interest Companies)
- Religious or faith-based organisations for non-religious projects, open to all irrespective of faith
- Schools, Academies and PTA/fundraising groups for extra-curricular activities or projects of wider community benefit
How to apply
The same application form is used for all of the different grants.
You can apply to the grants scheme online on this web page. You may find it helpful to download the Application Questions document at the bottom of this webpage before you begin your application.
You will need to provide some supporting documents as listed below when you apply, so please have these ready to upload. If you apply online and you want to save your application as you go, you will need to log in using your My Account.
We recommend that you save your work regularly when using the online application to avoid your session timing out. You will receive a confirmation email and reference number upon successful submission of an online application.
For more information and to register for My Account visit the My Account web page.
If you would prefer to submit your application by email or post, please use the contact form at the bottom of this web page to request an application pack. Completed forms should be sent to the Funding and Awards Officer, Council Offices, Desford Road, Narborough LE19 2EP or email grants@blaby.gov.uk. If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within a few working days, please contact the Funding and Awards Officer on 0116 272 7566 to ensure receipt.
Organisations are expected to provide copies of the following to support their application:
- A governing document (for example, Constitution or Articles of Association)
- An equality policy/statement (if not included within the governing document)
- A child safeguarding policy and/or vulnerable adults policy (if applicable)
- Copy of statement(s) for all bank/savings accounts held in your organisation’s name (dated within the last three months)
- The organisation’s most recent set of accounts
- Three quotes for any single items or works over the value of £1,000
- Evidence of any consents/permissions in order for the project to take place, for example, Planning Permission, Advertising Consent or Landowner Consent. These must be secured before the application is submitted
- Where the project involves alterations to land or buildings, the applicant must provide evidence of ownership or a written agreement/lease with at least five years remaining
We expect all grant recipients to comply with periodic checks and complete our monitoring form at the end of a project, including providing copies of invoices showing the expenditure on the project as well as any evidence of the intended outcomes being achieved. Our standard terms and conditions can be found in the main community grants scheme guidance notes.
Read about how the scheme has helped other organisations:
84th Leicester (Littlethorpe) Scouts were awarded a £4000 Green Grant in March 2022 to replace old fluorescent lighting and storage heaters with more energy efficient solutions.
Paul Cooper, Honorary Treasurer of the groups says: "The old and inefficient storage heaters have all been replaced by new modern and energy efficient storage heaters. We have replaced our old fluorescent tube lighting with new energy efficient LED lighting. We expect our energy costs to be reduced by at least 35% over the coming years, which is very important as energy costs have increased and forecast to increase more. We estimate this will save at least £800 per year at current costs. The new devices have an expected life of 10+yrs for lighting and approximately 20+yrs for the heaters. These cost reductions will mean that we can continue to provide a valued community facility, where we balance off some of the cost increase with a reduction in consumption; the result will mean cost increases to be passed on to our users and their families will be significantly less."
Countesthorpe Academy was awarded a £4000 Capital Grant in December 2022 to resurface an area of outdoor space to make it a suitable place for physical activity/play.
Chris Ripley, Facilities and Programme Lead at the Academy says: "The funding has supported Countesthorpe Academy to transform an area of the school that is now used at break and lunchtimes as a suitable play area for students to be physically active and creative through play. The new play area has already started to improve the health and wellbeing of students currently on-roll at the Academy. The school is already seeing less instances of disrespectful and intimidating behaviour and more instances of positive social interaction and physically active play. All students within the Academy are benefitting from the positive change in culture on site".
Whetstone Good Neighbour Scheme was awarded a £500 Revenue Grant in June 2022 to fund a social event for residents supported by the scheme and who are experiencing isolation and loneliness.
Louise Hathaway, chair of the scheme says: "The benefit was overwhelming - seeing people swap phone numbers, laughing and having the feeling of being part of a community. Some of the people had not been out since before lockdown as they were too scared to come on the event we held last year. Being able to have conversations with people face to face, discuss fears and gain connections made them feel human again. As a scheme we are so grateful to you for supporting us with this. We have a mixture of ages and they have all sorts of disabilities, a lot with Cancer and undergoing treatment, or dementia. Without the funds we would struggle to get people together, so thank you all for your support and funding".
Thistly Meadow Primary School was awarded a £500 Everyone Active grant in January 2022.
Amanda Gordon, Business Manager at the school says: "The project was to run an after-school fitness club aimed at improving the fitness and mental well-being of a group of pupils who have been particularly badly affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. In total, 30 children participated in the sessions. These children were invited to attend based on their needs, to support their mental health, improve their fitness levels and confidence. We found that we had to split the sessions into two halves during the term so that more children could participate. The children were very enthusiastic about the sessions and it made a real difference to them. Due to the popularity of this project it is something we would like to continue if funding can be sourced."
Scheme Sponsors
In addition to funding provided by Blaby District Council we are very grateful to our sponsors:
- Everyone Active
- Love Blaby Lottery