The EACR has some funds available to award grants for bell restoration and maintenance, education and training.
We hope that the FAQs and other guidance below will prove useful in determining what can be applied for.
We strongly encourage you to get in contact with either the Education Officer, Technical Advisor or General Secretary before starting an application as they will be happy to support you in preparing and submitting your application.
As we are a registered charity, any award of funds has to be legally consistent with the objects of the Association. This means that the trustees of the Association need to be assured that money is being spent properly.
The Association will take several factors into account when deciding on the value of an award, including the amount of local fundraising already achieved, applications submitted to other award giving bodies, the likelihood of success of the project, and value for money through scrutiny of quotations received. Where possible, more than one quotation should be supplied for review with your application. This is particularly important where the value of the project exceeds £5,000
If you are ready to proceed with an application, use the button below to access the application form.
As ringers, we can often get involved in either contributing to or leading a fundraising campaign. Irrespective of the size of the project, there are five simple principles published by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (coif.org.uk), which are useful to consider to ensure that our plans and activities are legal, honest, open and respectful to the public.
Principle 1 | being clear and truthful | Whether you are raising money for a charity or not, you will need to make it really clear who or what you are fundraising for. Always tell the truth and take care not to exaggerate any facts relating to beneficiaries. |
Principle 2 | honouring your promises to supporters | If money is raised for a specific purpose, it has to be used for that purpose. This means that you will need to think carefully about what you will do if you raise more money than expected or if you fail to achieve your fundraising goals. If you think it’s likely that you may exceed your target, you may need to inform donors from the start how any excess funds will be used. |
Principle 3 | treating the public fairly and with respect | Fundraising should always be a positive experience; an action that enables the public to engage with and support the causes that really matter to them. So, always treat the public fairly and with respect, and take care never to pressurise anyone into giving, particularly those who may be considered vulnerable. |
Principle 4 | handling donations safely and securely | Think carefully about how you will handle funds. Safe and secure donation handling is important to protect the organisation from fraud, theft or embezzlement and to assure donors that their donations and gifts are used for the purpose for which they were given. There are specific laws for how to manage public collections, bank transactions and the signatories required to access charity bank accounts. Also, make sure that you carefully consider expenditure, ensuring that fundraising costs are proportionate. |
Principle 5 | taking responsibility for your fundraising | If you have carefully considered your fundraising decisions, ensured that you have the right approvals internally and acted in line with your organisation’s values and policies, you shouldn’t go too far wrong. Be willing to stand up for your fundraising decisions and, if something does go wrong or a complaint is received, make sure you handle any concerns promptly and sensitively. |
The Association has provision to support the awards of grants for bell restoration and maintenance, education and training. As we are a registered charity, any award of funds has to be legally consistent with the Objects of the Association. This means that the trustees of the Association need to be assured that money is being spent properly.
Applications for less than £250 can be approved by either the Grants (BRA) subcommittee or the Recruitment and Training subcommittee (although these awards are reviewed periodically by the trustees to ensure that they are being used properly).
Grants for more than £250 have to be approved by the Association Trustees. The Association recognises that it is not always obvious what sort of grant is required, and therefore strongly recommends that you discuss any prospective application with the Education Officer, Technical Advisor, or General Secretary in advance of starting an application. They will also support you in preparing and submitting your application, to make sure that it goes through the approval process as quickly as possible (NB – we are working on a simpler way to do this – watch this space).
Trustees will take a number of factors into account when deciding on the value of an award, including the amount of local fundraising already achieved, applications submitted to other award giving bodies, the likelihood of success of the project, and value for money through scrutiny of quotations received. Where possible, more than one quotation should be supplied for review with your application. This is particularly important where the value of the project exceeds £5,000.
You also have the option of applying for additional funding from the Bequests Fund. Awards from this fund need to meet the general principles identified in the Bequests Strategy here, and you will have the opportunity during the application process to provide additional information if you want to do this.
If you want to discuss your application, please contact us.
If you are ready to proceed with an application, the form is available here.
For guidance on applying, see Grants Process – Step by Step Guide below or click here.
A completed Application Form, with supporting documentation, should be submitted online by the applicant to the General Secretary who will forward to the relevant sub-committee Chair and members.
An initial eligibility assessment will be carried out by the subcommittee members. If the application is not eligible in accordance with the Rules or further information is required, the sub-committee Chair will contact the applicant. When all requested information is received and the application is ready to be assessed, the sub-committee Chair will advise sub-committee members.
A full assessment will be carried out by the sub-committee and the recommendation recorded in the meeting minutes.
The decision of the sub-committee will then be conveyed by the Chair of the sub-committee to the Management Committee for discussion and endorsement to the trustees.
The decision of the trustees will then be conveyed by the General Secretary to the applicant within 2 weeks of the meeting, saying what, if any, grant was agreed and any conditions which may be attached. If no grant was agreed due to insufficient information, then a letter of intention to support the project in principle may be issued.
Once the project has been completed the applicant should contact the sub-committee Chair to arrange an inspection. They will inform the General Secretary and Treasurer by completing a Statement of Satisfaction.
Once the project has been completed the applicant should contact the sub-committee Chair to arrange an inspection. They will inform the General Secretary and Treasurer by completing a Statement of Satisfaction.
