Community Grants

This grant, provided by Kingston Council, aims to help local groups and individuals to deliver activities or projects that contribute to the aims of the Kingston 2025 cultural celebrations. The maximum amount you can apply for is £3500, however we expect to award grants in the region of £500 and £2000. During this period a fixed amount of £20,000 has been allocated for Kingston 2025 community grants that benefit communities across the borough. 

Timetable summary:

• Kingston 2025 grants open for applications in October 2024
• Deadline for submission 27 January, 5pm, 2024
• Notification of the outcome of your application within 3 weeks of the submission deadline

Information for applicatants

What is Kingston 2025

Next year the borough will mark the 1100th anniversary of the crowning of King Athelstan, the first King of England, with a borough-wide celebration. Kingston 2025 is a six-month programme of cultural events and activities starting in April 2025 and ending in October 2025 created with local communities, businesses and organisations. Its aim is to amplify some of the great things already taking place in the borough and provide opportunities for communities to develop their own creative projects and ideas that support our three themes: Sharing our Stories; Celebrating our Place Together and Looking to the Future.

Projects will be prioritised that support activities that tell a more inclusive and diverse story of the borough’s culture and heritage through creative activities.

For example we will support projects that:

• research, explore and share what Kingston means to a particular community or group by adding to our knowledge of the heritage of the borough
• investigate aspects of the borough’s heritage that are less well known by
• bringing attention to voices/histories that deserve to be shared more widely
• exploring heritage that is at risk of disappearing because of generational shifts, or through the loss of particular skills, knowledge and traditions
• celebrate an aspect of a local community’s heritage for example through creative activities such as dance, food culture, storytelling, exhibitions
• explore different aspects of the built environment by capturing how these places have changed over time - from high streets to community events and/or celebrations etc
• bring heritage and culture to life on the streets of the borough through physical interventions, performances or activities
• develop a project or activity that enhances the borough’s natural heritage, such as a riverside, community park, garden, facility or project
• share or upskill local groups/communities by exploring different crafts, skills or traditions in an engaging way

How you can use the grant

Funding can be used to:

• develop a new project that benefits the community
• pump-prime or pilot activities to test new ideas and explore demand
• develop and expand an existing project to increase access, particularly in areas that are underserved and benefit disadvantaged or vulnerable groups
• develop new cultural partnerships and collaborations
• deliver one-off projects, but they must be completed during 2025
• meet costs toward venue hire or equipment to run the activity
• meet costs towards staffing on the specific project applied for

How can apply                     

You can apply as an individual or as a representative from a community/cultural group as long as you can demonstrate community benefit and involvement. 

• not-for-profit organisations
• voluntary or community sector organisations
• faith groups
• individual artists or practitioners

What we cannot fund

We are unable to award funding that does not meet the objectives of Kingston 2025. Only one idea per person/organisation will be eligible to receive a Kingston 2025 grant during the duration of the six month programme. 

In addition we will not fund duplicate applications that have been declined for other Kingston Council grants (e.g. neighbourhood, borough-wide, community hub grants); commercial organisations (unless the project can clearly demonstrate community benefits); applications from full or part-time students for activities linked to their studies; applications for support to attend courses in further or higher education; activities which have already taken place, or will commence during the assessment period; activities where the benefit falls outside of Kingston; school projects that are a part of the statutory timetable; and activities where the primary focus is the promotion of religion. 

Funding cannot be allocated for:

• major building works
• a minibus or minibuses
• political activities
• teaching community languages
• activities that are part of normal day-to-day running (though not capacity building)
• activities that are normally undertaken by Statutory organisations
• organisational fundraising activities
• endowments (to provide a source of income)
• retrospective events/ activities

Completing the application form

In the application form you will need to show that you or your group:

• Has the resources, skills and knowledge to deliver the activity
• That the activity supports the aims of Kingston 2025
• Has support from the local community for the activity/project
• Does not duplicate an existing activity in the area
• Can describe the outputs and outcomes you expect to achieve
• Can explain who is involved in delivering/managing the project
• Adheres to the principles of open access and does not discriminate against any group for reasons of the gender, race, disability, religion, age, marital status or any other protected characteristic group

You will also need to demonstrate how you will embed good practice in the activity/project in terms of any:

• health and safety requirements
• safeguarding (children and vulnerable adults)
• environmental good practice

For example, we would expect you to provide a DBS certificate if the activity involves children and to provide a risk assessment for your activity/event - as required. 
If you are successful you will need to provide information on how you will measure the success of the activity or event by completing a short end of year report against your outputs and outcomes.

Help and Advice

We are keen to provide advice to anyone interested in submitting their ideas. Please contact our Programme Producer, to arrange a surgery slot email milan.govedarica@kingston.gov.uk

Notification of decision

If your application is not complete during the assessment, we will send this back to you and give you five working days to provide any missing information. We may also contact you for further clarification. We will aim to let applicants know the outcome of the decision within approx 3 weeks of the submission deadline. We anticipate high demand for the grants and may not be able to fund everything we would wish. When making our decision we will also consider types of activities and locations to ensure different activities are supported in different locations across the borough. 

If the council offers you/your organisation a grant it will be conditional on you signing the offer letter and accepting the terms and conditions of the grant. If your application is unsuccessful we may be able to provide you feedback upon request, as to why it was unsuccessful.
Please return the documents within 10 days of receiving our offer letter.

Apply for the grant

Borough Grants Application form