Sheds Grant Fund

Grant Guidelines for all Applicants 2017

What is the Royal Voluntary Service / Asda Foundation Sheds Grant Fund?

Royal Voluntary Service provides practical solutions to help older people live better lives, where they feel safer, happier, healthier and more valued. We do this thanks to our 35,000 incredible volunteers who support older people every day of the year. We believe that, with support, local communities and older people themselves can put in place their own solutions to tackling loneliness and isolation.

Working with the Asda Foundation, we want to support the development of “Sheds” – community spaces where older people can come together to take part in meaningful, constructive activities which provide opportunities to develop existing skills and learn new ones whilst building social networks and connecting with their communities.

Asda Foundation, established in 1988, was set up to help support our communities on a local level to further enhance the work carried out by our Community Champions in the local stores. We aim to support truly local projects that benefit the wider community and make a huge difference in the areas that our colleagues live and work supporting projects/charities and good causes with the hope of transforming communities and changing lives.

Royal Voluntary Service, with funding from the Asda Foundation, have established the Sheds Grant Fund to provide small scale funding to Sheds operating at a grass roots level, who are looking for help with either set up or early stage development costs.

Sheds are determined as community spaces where people can come together to take part in practical skills and crafts. Sometimes called Men’s Sheds or Community Sheds, they are designed and run by the members and provide opportunities for people to share skills, create, learn and develop social networks.

Shed activities often involve traditional crafts such as joinery, furniture renovation, metal work and bike repair but each Shed will meet the interests of its particular members and could include a broad range of activities such as gardening, model making, baking, brewing or garment making. Recycling and repurposing often play a major role.

This guide provides full details about the grant in terms of what the Royal Voluntary Service / Asda Foundation can fund, who is eligible to apply, any restrictions and what you need to provide with your application form. It is important that all applicants read this guide as it gives additional information to that contained within the application form. All applications must be made on the application form and submitted with the specified supporting documentation.

The Sheds Grant Fund is administered by Royal Voluntary Service who can answer any questions and give assistance and/or advice to potential applicants to ensure the best possible outcome.

The Shed Grants Fund is administered nationally and the grant panel is made up of representatives from Royal Voluntary Service, Asda Foundation and the national Men’s Sheds Associations. This means funding decisions are made by people with a wide ranging knowledge of the Shed movement and its needs.

Is the Sheds Grant Scheme right for you?
  • Is your Shed less than 18 months old?
  • Do you need between £250 and £1,000?
  • Is your Shed run and co-ordinated by un-paid volunteers for the benefit of your members?
  • Is your Shed a member of (or willing to join) your national Men’s Sheds Association?
  • Do you have a UK based bank account in the name of your organisation and financial procedures that both require at least two people who are unrelated and do not live at the same address to sign cheques or make a withdrawal?
  • Will your organisation be able to complete a simple monitoring form, provide proof of expenditure and demonstrate how the money has been spent within a 6 month period?
  • Are you happy to participate in local promotional or partnership opportunities, as may arise, with your local Asda store?

If you answered YES to all these questions, then the Shed Grants Fund could be right for you.

Who can apply?

You don’t have to be a registered charity to apply to us. We can make grants to small “not for profit” organisations (ie: constituted community groups, not for profit unincorporated associations) as long as you can explain clearly how you would use our grant for charitable purposes.

Applications from new or existing Sheds who hold membership with the relevant Men’s Sheds Association in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland are eligible to apply. If you are unsure how to register with them, please talk to us (individual website details are provided at the end of the guidelines).

You can only hold one grant from us at any one time and priority will always be given to new applicants.

We are unlikely to fund organisations that have had a previous grant from us which has not been managed satisfactorily.

To apply, all community organisations must –

  • Have a written governing document (ie: constitution, memorandum of articles, set of rules)
  • Have at least 3unrelated people as trustees / committee members / organisers on their governing body
  • The organisation filling in the form must be the same organisation that will receive the grant and manage the project.
  • Have a UK based bank account in the name of your organisation and financial procedures that both require at least two people who are unrelated and do not live at the same address to sign cheques or make a withdrawal.
  • Have a membership (or planned membership if a new Shed) which is appropriate to their aims and objectives.

The following are not eligible to apply for a Shed Grant:

  • Individuals
  • Private Businesses
  • Town, District or County Councils
  • Any other organisations (formal or informal in structure) with the ability to distribute funds and/or assets among its members
  • Any Sheds which have employed staff (part time, full time or sessional) to co-ordinate their activity

If you are unsure whether or not you are eligible to apply, please contact us for further advice prior to submitting your application.

What will we fund?

You can apply for between £250 and £1,000 to pay for some or all of your project costs. The Sheds Grant Fund will not give more than £1,000 (in one or more grants) to an organisation in any one year period.

Items that we can fund:

Capital costs e.g.

  • Tools
  • Equipment
  • Dust extraction units
  • Building renovation costs –ie: flooring / guttering / roofing materials

Revenue costs: e.g.

  • Rent
  • Insurance contribution
  • Electricity
  • Promotional Materials
  • Funds to hold public meetings to encourage membership (ie: pay for the room hire and refreshments)

There are some things that we cannot fund:

  • activities that happen or start before we confirm our grant
  • any costs you incur when putting together your application
  • any expenditure incurred or committed before we confirm our grant (including deposits)
  • staffed Sheds and staffing costs (including salaries of permanent, sessional or fixed term staff)
  • contingency costs
  • endowments(to provide a source of income), loans or interest payments
  • general appeals or fundraising activities for your organisation or others
  • items that mainly benefit an individual (for example, equipment that is not shared)
  • activities that are mainly set up to promote religious or political beliefs
  • projects that do not meet the determined definition of a member run Shed
  • projects that do not meet at least one of the objectives of the Sheds Grant Fund.

Land and Buildings: Projects involving work on land or a building (including refurbishment) can be complicated and take time to complete. We need to be sure that you can complete the part of the project that we will fund within 6 months of the date of the letter confirming the grant. So if you need planning permission, you must have it before you apply. You also need to own the freehold of the land or building, or hold a lease with a landlord for more than a 12 month period.

Objectives of the Grant Scheme:

All applications / projects must address one or more of the Sheds Grant Fund objectives. The objectives are:

  • Assisting people in setting up new Sheds.
  • Helping people learn new skills and pass on existing ones.
  • Increasing opportunities for community spaces where members determine the projects they work on and have a say in how their Shed develops.
  • Helping communities tackle social isolation and loneliness amongst their ageing population.

How to apply

All applications must be made on the Royal Voluntary Service / Asda Foundation Sheds Grant Fund application form. Please complete the form in full. We aim to make the process comprehensive enough to meet our needs, but simple from the outset for you. Applications will be accepted during the specific grant opening period only – please see our publicity and website for the next deadline date.

If we receive an incomplete application, this will not be accepted.

You must supply the following documentation / information alongside your application form (please follow the tick list on the application form):

  • A signed and dated copy of your constitution / memorandum of understanding / set of rules
  • Most recent set of accounts or records of expenditure – OR If you are a new organisation, then a letter from your bank giving your organisation’s name and account number.
  • A copy of a bank statement that is dated 4 months ago or less.
  • Any necessary written permission required from land / building owners / building regulations / planning permissions / lease agreements if your application concerns land or buildings.
  • Two quotes for each capital item applied for over the value of £250

Policies and Insurances:

Project working with vulnerable groups: If you are applying for funding to work directly with children, young people or vulnerable adults within regulated activity, you must have a policy that explains how you will make sure they will be safe. It is your responsibility to have acceptable safeguarding policies and procedures in place (if applicable) and evidence of appropriate checks with Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS – previously known as CRB checks).Evidence of appropriate disclosure includes name, disclosure number and date. Please note that this is a legal requirement, if your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults within regulated activity. See for guidance. We may ask to inspect these policies at any time if we offer you a grant.

Insurance: Depending on the type of project you are running, your group is likely to need Public Liability Insurance. It may also need insurance to cover you for your assets or events and products you may make (if applicable). It is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate insurance in place. We may ask to look at these policies at any time if we offer you a grant.

Equal Opportunities: We expect projects to be open to all who want to be involved, unless you can give a good reason why this should not be the case ie: a traditional Men’s Shed is open to men only. If you plan to restrict who takes part you should explain why in your application so that we can consider whether this is acceptable.

If you are a new group and do not yet have these policies in place, then it does not automatically mean you cannot apply for a grant from us. However, we would expect you to adopt policies as relevant to your group as soon as possible. If you need further information or support on any policies or procedures whilst setting up or developing your Shed, please contact us.

If you are successful in your application:

Successful applicants will be sent an offer letter detailing the grant awarded and a Conditions of Grant document, which must be signed to indicate that the conditions have been accepted.

You must return the letter, with any additional information we have asked for, within 10working days of the date of our offer letter, otherwise we may withdraw our conditional grant offer (unless you contact us with good reason to agree an extension).

After returning your offer letter, you will receive notification from us to start your project and details of when we will pay the grant. We will pay all grants up front by bank transfer to your nominated group account.

All grants must be spent within 6 months of the offer letter date.

Withdrawing our offer:

If what you send is unsatisfactory we will contact you if we think we can resolve the problem. If there is a problem or something which cannot be resolved, we will withdraw our conditional grant offer and write to you.

You may submit a new application during a future grant round, but before you do, we would expect you to address the reason why we withdrew the grant offer. Any new application will be assessed on its merits, in competition with others, so may not be successful.

Monitoring your grant:

If we fund your project we will need you to complete a Monitoring Report Form with evidence of all expenditure. Please make sure that you keep appropriate records and the original receipts for all the items and services you buy with our grant, as we may ask you to provide them anytime within the next three years.

Our Monitoring Form gives you the opportunity to demonstrate the difference that the grant money has made, whilst we can ensure compliance with the grant conditions and inform how the money has helped contribute to the scheme’s objectives. We expect all Sheds to provide us with evidence that the project took place via the submission of photographs / evidence of publicity / a case study.

All Sheds will also be expected to undertake a simple self-assessment questionnaire with their members at the end of six months, to help us and the national Sheds Associations, demonstrate how Sheds contribute to increased levels of social interaction, opportunities to use and learn skills and feelings of wellbeing.

If you are unsuccessful:

We consider all applications at our grant panel meetings in competition with each other – and seldom have the funds to support all the applications we would like to. We know that you will be disappointed if you are not awarded a grant. Please consider our feedback before deciding whether to submit again in the future.

Data Protection:

We will use the information you give us on the application form and during the life of the grant awarding period to administer and analyse grants. We may give copies of all or some of this information to individuals and organisations we consult when assessing applications and monitoring grants – eg: Royal Voluntary Service / Asda Foundation Sheds Grants Scheme Panel and the Asda Foundation Trustees. We may also share information with other organisations with a legitimate interest in Sheds Grants Scheme applications – ie: Men’s Sheds Associations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – or for protection from, or detection of fraud.

For further assistance and information:

If you have any further questions regarding the grant fund or require any guidance in completing the application form, or pulling together policies and procedures for your Shed, please contact:

Jo Phillips – Project Manager, Sheds

Royal Voluntary Service, Beck Court, Cardiff Gate Business Park, Cardiff CF23 8RP

Email:

mobile: 07423 471 018

Your local Council for Voluntary Service (directory available at or local third sector development agency may also be able to support you in submitting your application.

All Sheds must be members of the relevant Men’s Sheds Association in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland in order to apply. Membership will be checked and applications will not be considered if your Shed does not hold full, up to date membership.

Please visit the appropriate website for membership and support information for your Shed:

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Funding application deadlines for 2017

The grant panel will meet at intervals during 2017to make decisions on complete applications, whilst funds are available.

Round 2:

Open for applications from:Monday 9th January 2017.

Deadline for applications is: Sunday 5th March 2017 – 5pm

Round 3:

Open for applications from: Monday 17th July 2017.

Deadline for applications is: Sunday 24th September 2017 – 5pm

Please send a signed, completed application form and all supporting documents in hard copy to:

Royal Voluntary Service / Asda Foundation Sheds Grant Fund

c/o Beck Court, Cardiff Gate Business Park, Cardiff CF23 8RP

If you wish to send a supporting copy via email please send to:

Any applications received after the 5pm deadline will not be considered.