Community Grant Fund

***Current Open Rounds close at midnight on 26 October 2025***  

There are two rounds open concurrently - Year 2, Round 1 and the Underspend Round from Year 1

Year 2, Round 1 

The criteria, process and parish allocations are similar to Year 1. Before applying, please read the full Applicant Guidance document which includes the grant criteria below; you must meet these criteria before you can apply for a grant. 

• Applications for capital funding will only be accepted from town and parish councils, constituted parish meetings and constituted community groups/organisations. Fees and charges are not covered, as the grant must be used for the direct benefit of the community.
• Parishes/Towns can work together to submit joint applications, but not exceeding their allocation.
• Before applications are submitted, all applicants must seek the views of their Ward Councillor(s) and include these within their application. This link is helpful for finding contacts: Find my councillor | Harborough District Council.
• In addition, community organisations outside Market Harborough who wish to apply will also need to provide a letter of support from their Town/Parish Council or Meeting. On receipt of your application, HDC will send your Town/Parish Council or Meeting a supplementary confirmation form  
• In Market Harborough only, community organisations will first need to obtain a letter of support for their proposal from the Market Harborough Special Expenses Advisory Panel, consisting of the ten ward councillors, before the organisation submits an application. If this applies to you, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can assist in arranging a date for your proposal to be discussed at a Panel meeting. On those occasions when it will not be possible for Democratic Services to hold an MHSEAP before the closing date for the current round of applications, organisations will be asked to submit their application pending MHSEAP support initially, to avoid any delays.
• All applicants must hold a bank account in the name of the organisation and be able to provide at least three years of accounts if requested.
• Organisations must have Equality and Safeguarding Policies/Statements which they are able to attach to their application. If not, they agree to set these up as part of the application process. 
• All completed applications will be presented to the Cabinet Grants Sub-Committee for consideration and decision.
• Grant applications can be used to support other grant opportunities such as S106, as a ‘top-up’.
• More than one application can be submitted from each parish or town council, subject to applications not exceeding the total allocated grant amount for that parish or town
• Grants must generally be spent within one year of receipt, unless agreement is given by the Council to extend the spend-period. Any non-spent money must be returned to the Council.
• Applicants are welcome to attend Cabinet Grants Sub-Committee meetings. For applications over £25,000, this will be a requirement.

Underspend Round from Year 1 - unallocated funds of £73,623

Groups will be eligible where any one of the following applies:

• They are groups that deliver services across the district who have not been able to apply previously.  Evidence will be required of existing services or activities delivered in the district.
• They are in parishes who have not received any Community Grant funding in the first year.
• They are in parishes that have not used their full allocation.  No funding will be given to a group that takes a parish above their individual allocation (in the case of small parishes, this is maximum £5k).

If there are more applications than funding available, assessment criteria considered to prioritise applications will include:

• Quality of consultation and evidence of need for the project.
• Clear demonstration of wide community benefits of the project.
• Smaller projects (e.g. under £5k).
• How much funding the parish and/or applicant has previously received from the Community Grant.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted through Grant Approval: GrantApproval.co.uk. Please refer to the useful Step-by-Step Guide to making applications on the Grant Approval portal. When applying, there will be a drop-down list of options to indicate if you are applying for the Underspend Round or Year 2 Round 1. Don't worry if you aren't sure, officers will assign you to the best round for your application and the benefit of the community.

If you have not used Grant Approval before, you will need to register an account. If you have used the system before for other grants, you will just need to log in. Once you are logged in, please select your local authority as ‘Harborough’ and then search all grants. Please select £1m Community Grant Scheme. Ensure you save your document when prompted as you progress through the form. As the option to save is only offered at specific intervals, we recommend preparing your answers and documents to load in advance and ideally completing your form in one sitting.

Applicants will need to demonstrate, in up to 4,000 characters, how their project meets or aligns to at least one of the Council’s priorities which are:

• Community leadership to create a sense of pride in our place
• Promoting health and wellbeing and encouraging healthy life choices
• Creating a sustainable environment to protect future generations
• Supporting businesses and residents to deliver a prosperous local economy

The application form will also ask the following questions:

• Please provide a brief description of your project and the activities involved, including timelines and milestones (up to 3000 characters)
• Explain how you know there is a need for it, consultations you may have carried out and how you have considered this need in relation to the Equality Act (up to 4000 characters)
• Explain what difference and impact the project will make and how the community will benefit e.g. will the funding increase capacity; widen the range of people using the facility; enhance the accessibility? Detail where the community which benefits comes from e.g - within a few streets of the project; the whole village/town, surrounding villages and towns; visitors from further afield? (up to 4000 characters)
• Which specific group is your project aimed at? (up to 2000 characters)
• How much funding are you applying for from this grant scheme, plus details regarding any other funding you may have secured and whether your project is part of a larger project (up to 2000 characters)
• To ensure value for money for your project, you will be asked to attach one quote or catalogue price for values under £5k, and two quotes for higher values. Please list your Preferred Supplier/s and reasons
• Community organisations outside Market Harborough who wish to apply will need to provide a letter of support from their Town/Parish Council or Meeting. For Market Harborough only, this will be from the Special Expenses Advisory Panel. All applicants will be asked to attach a letter of the views of your Ward Member. For details of your Ward members, please see: Find my councillor | Harborough District Council
• You will also be asked to attach any proof of ownership/lease of the property/land related to the project, plus permission from the landlord, if leased.
• Your project plan and any other supporting documents must also be attached, together with your Equalities and Safeguarding Statement/Policy, if already in place.