Decision details

(i)  To agree the recommendations for 2019/20 round 2 grants made by the cross-party Community Chest Grant Advisory Panel; and

(ii)  To award the remainder of the funding to Southampton Voluntary Services, as a grant, to distribute to local community and voluntary organisations.

All the applications have been considered by the cross-party Community Chest Grant Advisory Panel, which has made recommendations on which should receive funding.  All applications recommended for funding contribute to at least one of the council’s priority outcomes and will enable the applicants to provide activities for the benefit of their communities.

The Council has promoted the grants throughout the year but not received enough applications to award the whole budget.  A different approach is needed to ensure all local communities benefit from this funding.  As the local voluntary and community sector infrastructure support service, Southampton Voluntary Services reaches organisations who have little or no contact with the council.

The option of not recommending funding was considered and rejected as it would not meet the council’s aims of supporting local people to engage in community action.

The options of using the remainder of the funding available for a Mayflower 400 grant scheme was considered and rejected as the council already has plans for this via the Events and Festivals grant scheme.