Happy To Help offers small grants and support to residents and community groups in Northampton to help make a positive difference.
Please read the information and guidance on this page before applying to The Communities Fund.
If you have any questions or need help applying please email happytohelp@nph.org.uk or call us on 01604 527073.
I have read the information below and want to apply to the Communities Fund
It’s a grant fund aimed at helping NPH customers and community groups address their local priorities or simply do something good that helps the community.
The fund is open to anyone living in a property managed by NPH or a community or residents group attended by or used by people living in a property managed by NPH.
At any time! Our board meet every 4 to 6 weeks and any funding applications will be considered at the next meeting. In 2024, the board will meet in January, March, April, May, July, August, October and November.
For 2024 these are the cut-off dates
5th January 2024
9th Feb 2024
29th Mar 2024
10th May 2024
28th June 2024
2nd August 2024
27th September 2024
1st November 2024
We can award grant funding up to a maximum of £300 per application/new project. We will only make grant payments to constituted groups, not to individuals.
We can purchase items or services up to the value of £300 per application/new project on behalf of your community or group.
As long as your group, project or activity benefits Northampton communities, we’ll consider it. Common themes can include:
- Setting up or helping local clubs, community groups or voluntary groups that benefit the community
- Increasing opportunities for children and young people
- Improving the health, wellbeing and happiness of local people
- Improving your local environment including green spaces
- Uniting your community or solving local problems
There are some things that we can’t consider:
- Applications from groups or individuals who are not based in Northampton
- Activities that create a profit for an individual and/or shareholder
- Events that have already happened
- Activity that should be funded by statutory agencies/authorities
- Activity that promotes political or religious beliefs
- Interest charges, service charges, bad debts, fines, penalties or taxes
- Payments for unfair dismissal, redundancy, pensions
- Gifts/Entertaining e.g. business lunches, personal parties
- Events involving gambling or alcohol
- Any activity where our involvement may risk reputational harm or legal action to be taken against either Happy To Help or NPH.
Unfortunately, we are not able to fund all projects and final decisions are often difficult to make. The more information you can provide, the better. Applications benefit from demonstrating how well an activity or project can meet its aims, and that there is local demand or need.
The final decision is made on a majority vote by our board members. We might require more information to make a decision and we will contact you if this is the case. If we feel your proposal would benefit from some advice and support, a NPH staff member will get in contact with you to see what help they can provide.
Funding applications will be considered by the board at their next scheduled meeting. Some of our board are NPH tenants or leaseholders who may live in an area where a project is proposed. When this happens, any declarations of interest must be noted and that board member will abstain from voting. A NPH staff member might assist you with your application but as they are not board members and will not be part of the decision-making process.
- If your request for funding is approved, you will be sent out a grant offer letter and grant agreement which must be returned to us before any payment is made
- If your request for purchased items is approved in principle, we may ask some more questions when we get in touch to make arrangements
- If we feel that we need more information before we make a decision, we will contact you
- If we’re unable to assist with funding or a purchase but think that we may be able to support you or your group in another way (with advice, volunteers or donations of materials), we’ll get in contact with you to discuss how we can help
- Your funding application must include a breakdown of costs, and information on any other funding bodies approached to fund the same activity or project in the last twelve months
- Any evidence requested must be provided within one month of the funding decision being made (e.g. constitution documents, insurance policies, bank details, risk assessments)
- Any grant money must be spent on the project or activity outlined in the application
- Receipts of purchases may be requested and should be retained for one year
- Any grant unspent within six months of receipt must be returned unless an extension is agreed with Happy To Help
- Any items gifted by Happy To Help are the property of the receipting group/organisation (unless agreed otherwise); Happy To Help are not responsible for any repairs, maintenance, servicing or replacing of gifted items
- Happy To Help will contact groups around three months after providing any funding or purchases to find out how our support has helped the group
- Happy To Help can include your story, photos, funded project, group or idea in any promotional material that we or NPH produce
Simply complete the online application form or contact us if you’d like to discuss your application before applying.
Don’t worry if you’ve not applied for funding before – we want to make it as easy as possible. If we think we can help, we’ll work with you to see if we can make it happen, so don’t be put off by the application form – contact us for a chat. You can get in touch by emailing happytohelp@nph.org.uk or calling 01604 527073.
I have read the information on this page and want to apply to The Communities Fund