Community contribution fund - application guidelines

The City of Westminster Charitable Trust is opening the Community Contribution Fund to applications from schools, voluntary and community organisations to support one of the following areas:

• helping young people reach their full potential, including staying safe, contributing positively to their community and developing longer term skills
• providing extra support for people who find themselves sleeping on Westminster’s streets
• tackling social isolation and loneliness
• promoting social inclusion

Maximum grant request

You may be able to apply for up to £25,000. The maximum amount you can request is based on your organisation’s expenditure and project area.  

Any applications for an amount above the limit will be rejected. For more information, please download the application guidance document below.

Application process

You can apply if your organisation is a:

• voluntary or community organisation
• registered charity
• constituted group or club
• not-for-profit company or community interest company
• social enterprise
• school

Applications for grants are considered individually and approved by the trustees. All organisations bidding for funding will be subject to due diligence and reviewed by Westminster City Council officers.

Applications will be accepted from Thursday 2 January until midnight on Thursday 13 February 2024. 

You will need to complete the eligibility quiz before you receive a link to the application form.

Eligibility quiz 

Please download the application guidance to determine if your project and organisation is eligible.

Document

Community Contribution Fund – round 7 application guidance PDF, 130.84 KB, 2 pages

Queries

If you have any other questions or want more information on whether your bid fits our criteria, please email [email protected]

Successful applications

Final decisions on grant awards are made by the COWCT Trustees following advice from a Westminster City Council Officer advisory board.

You will receive half of the funding at the start of your project. The second half of the funding is dependent on a satisfactory mid-term report.

Monitoring, reporting and evaluation

If your application is successful, trustees will expect that you keep them updated about the progress of your project. It is important to the City of Westminster Charitable Trust that we know about the difference that our funding is helping to make. 

Reports are an effective way for us to see if your project is on track and, if not if there is anything we can do to help address any issues. It will also give us vital information that we can use to feedback to those who have supported the Community Contribution Fund.

We will ask you to send us updates during your project to let us know how things are going and then provide a more in-depth report at the end of the project. 

At the end of the project, you will need to report the details of your project, such as the number of beneficiaries and the outcomes achieved.