achieving Community Empowerment (ACE)
Application form
Please read the Achieving Community Empowerment (ACE) guidance notes before you fill in this application form. The notes set out the rules for applications to the ACE support programme, including:
o who can apply;
o what information your group needs to give us;
o how we assess applications and what criteria we use to prioritise applications.
You may also find answers to questions you may have in the ACE guidance notes. You are welcome to ask us any other questions by contacting us at the email address below, but please read these documents before doing so.
Please answer each of the questions, and return this form to:
Scottish Community Development Centre
Suite 305 Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
Glasgow
G2 6HJ
Phone: 0141 248 1924/1964
E-mail:
17
Application process - summary of the main steps
Step 1 / Discuss ACE and decide whether or not it can provide the kind of support your group needs to achieve its goals.Contact us for more information.
Step 2 / Read the ACE guidance notes.
Ask yourselves the following questions.
· Are we eligible?
· Are we clear about what we want to achieve?
· Will the support we get through ACE help us make a difference in our community?
· Have we got people who are willing to carry out the activities we need to make that difference?
If the answer to any of these questions is ‘No’, don’t go any further.
If your answer to these questions is ‘Yes’, go to the next stage.
Step 3 / Read through the application form.
· Identify any things you are not clear about.
· If you are not sure about anything, contact us and
ask for advice.
· Identify two application referees (see section H) and talk to them about what you want to do.
· Fill in and sign the application form.
· Send your application form to us.
Step 4 / We will consider your application and advise you whether or not you have been successful. We will either:
· ask you for more information before deciding on your application;
· tell you that you have been short listed and arrange an interview with you to discuss your project further;
· tell you that you have been successful, or;
· tell you why you have not been successful;
· refer you to another support agency for a more suitable kind of support
Section A - Contact details
1 Name of your group/organisation ______
2 Name of the main contact for this application
Surname:
First name:
3 Address and postcode of the main contact for this application ______Postcode ______
4 Phone numbers of the main contact for this application
Landline:
Mobile:
5 E-mail address of the main contact for this application (if you have one)
6 Do you need this application and guidance notes in a language other than English?
Yes No
If ‘Yes’, what language do you need (for example, British Sign Language or Chinese)?
Section B - Eligibility
All groups that apply for ACE support must be able to tick all the boxes:
Your group is / Please TickSet up for the public good
Works on a not-for-profit basis
Is able to show that it does not already receive the kind of support that ACE will provide
Is able to show how ACE support will help your group members develop skills and become more effective
Please answer the following questions.
Section C - Monitoring
This section helps us monitor groups applying for ACE support and the types of applications we receive. This will help us identify and target the groups that are least successful in accessing ACE support and helps us to find ways that we can promote the programme more fairly.
We are interested to know if your organisation focuses on any specific group or issue.
1. Does your group work in an area which is:
Urban
Rural
Covers both
2. Does your organisation work for all the people in the area you serve or a particular community of interest?
All of the people If so, go to question 3
A particular community of interest
If so, which of the following specific groups do you work with?
Ethnic-origin category
Black and ethnic-minority groups / WhiteMixed ethnic origin / All
Gender
Female only / Male onlyAll
Disability and health (please tick all that apply)
Learning disability / Physical disabilityMental-health issues
Other disability or health issue: Please give details. .………………………………………………......
Sexuality
Lesbian / BisexualGay / Transgender (a person living as the sex opposite to that which they were born)
Faith or religion - please give details. …………………………………………………...
Age
Under five / 16 to 25Six to 15 / 26 to 50
50 or over
3 Does your organisation work with a particular issue?
Yes No
If ‘Yes’, which of the following issue or issues?
17
Employment / HousingEducation / The environment
Training / Crime
Health and wellbeing / Community safety
Arts and sports / Youth
Children and family / Older people
If you deal with any other issues, please give details.
………………………………………………………………………………………………......
Section D - Your group
The purpose of this section is to let you tell us about your group. We would like to know:
· What your group is about and what it aims to achieve;
· What kind of things you have already been working on;
· What issue or issues your group is interested in and want to do something about;
· What resources you have to carry out your activities;
· Who will benefit as a result of your group activities
· What will changes or improvements your group want to make to improve the quality of life for the wider community
Please provide your group’s information in the table below.
Your Group1a. When was your group set up and by whom?
1b. What is the main purpose of your group? What was it set up to do?
1c Does your group have a constitution? Yes / No
1d. Who’s involved in your group?
No. of committee members / No. of wider group members
No. of co-opted members / Anyone else? (e.g. local Councillors, representatives of funding bodies, etc.)
1e. Are you still working on the same issue/s you originally were set up to do something about? If not, tell us why not?
1f. Describe the issue/s you are currently working on and why they are important to you and the community you work with or work in.
1g. How have the issues you are working on been identified and by whom?
2a. What are you currently doing to address these issues? Describe your activities.
2b. What resources do you have to undertake these activities? (This could include funding, access to premises and time of group members).
3a. Do you have any evidence that your community is really interested in the issue/s you want to address? By evidence we mean things like group minutes, local reports, surveys, statistics that tell us why the issue/s is important. If yes, describe it briefly.
3b. Are you in contact with any other local groups who are interested in the issue/s you are working on? Tell us who they are.
3c. Are you in contact with or working with local agencies or staff who have an interest in your issue/s? If yes, tell us about them.
3d. To what extent would you say that you are able to influence decisions taken about your community?
A lot
A bit
Not at all
3e. What kind of things do you do to keep the wider community informed about what you do? This could be informal things like regular conversations with people or more formal things like newsletters or open meetings.
Section E – The support your groups gets
We want to find out more about the people who are currently helping you or who may be able to help your group. The answers to this section are only to help us to decide on the kind of support that you may need from the programme.
Please provide the information in the table below.
The Support Your Group Gets1a. Who has been helping to support your group? Briefly explain what kind of help has been provided.
1b. Is this support likely to continue over the next year? If not, why not?
1c. How does the support you already get differ from the kind of support you will get through the ACE programme?
2. What difference/s do you think ACE support will make to your group?
3a. Would you say your group is experienced in carrying out group activities? Yes/No.
3b. If yes, what skills would you say your group has in carrying out group activities?
3c. If no, what kind of skills would you want to develop in carrying out group activities?
4a. Have group members been on any training courses? If yes, please describe them and when they took place.
4c. Are there any barriers which prevent group members from taking up training and/or learning opportunities? If yes, tell us what these are.
Section F – Additional information
Please use the space below to tell us any other information we should know about that helps support your application.
Section G - Name and address of referees
Please provide the name and address of two referees who are not members of you organisation, but are familiar with what you do, who we can contact to ask about your application.
1. Name……………………………………………………………………………………….
Address and postcode………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Phone numbers
· Landline:
· Mobile:
2. Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………...
Address and postcode: …………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Phone numbers
· Landline:
· Mobile:
Declaration
I confirm that, as far as I know, the information contained in this application is true.
Your signature:
On behalf of (name of organisation):
Date:
If you have a copy of your set of rules (constitution) please attach it to this application.
Note: applications will be treated in confidence. They will only be available to those responsible for assessing and managing ACE support programme applications.
Application checklist
Having discussed ACE in your group, you have:
Please tick.Read the ACE guidance notes
Read the ACE application form
Contacted us for advice (if appropriate)
Contacted two application referees
Filled in section A – contact details
Filled in section B – eligibility (all boxes must be ticked)
Filled in section C – monitoring
Filled in section D – about your group
Filled in section E – about the support your group gets
Filled in section F – additional information
Attached a copy of your set of rules (constitution) if you have one
Please return this form to:
Scottish Community Development Centre
Suite 305 Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
Glasgow
G2 6HJ.
Phone: 0141 248 1924/1964
E-mail:
17