Neighbourhood Keepers Programme

The Neighbourhood Keepers programme is a community initiative, developed by the Church Street Futures Group and other working groups in the context of the Church Street regeneration.

It aims to improve the environment, increase digital inclusion, and enhance equality, wellbeing and community cohesion for all residents of Church Street ward.

1. About the fund
2. Who can apply
3. What we fund
4. What we cannot fund
5. How to apply
6. Application deadlines and assessment 

About the fund

We seek to award grants from £1,000 to £15,000 to organisations or individuals to run activities around digital inclusion, improving health and wellbeing for disadvantaged groups, community cohesion and/ or environmental activities. Specifically, we are looking for inclusive projects around tackling health inequality, strengthening community connections, closing the digital divide and enabling more people to become digitally connected; take part in gardening, recycling, waste awareness sessions or environmental projects involving wildlife hubs for local people of all ages and backgrounds to take part in.

Applications might propose one of the above activities or a combination of them.

We want to receive innovative project proposals that:

• directly benefit the local Church Street ward and its residents
• involve the local Church Street ward residents - to prove this, you must collect participants’ postcodes
• take place in Church Street ward
• respond to the Church Street Regeneration programme
• make use of the area’s existing and new outdoor spaces like the Green Spine

 Useful information

Venue Hire List 2022

Local School tables in the area

Find the ward that a postcode resides in

Past projects

Show List of Successful Applicants for Round 7.

See the impact the programme has had on residents through successful applicant, Fun 4 Over 50s.

The programme currently funds the Hammersmith Community Gardening Association to deliver gardening workshops at Fisherton Street Allotments.

Who can apply

Local community groups, organisations, individuals and Church Street residents can submit applications.

Individuals and organisations physically based in the Church Street ward will be prioritised.

Individuals between 16 to 18 years old can apply but will be required to have an adult with a current DBS certificate present while delivering their project. They also need the support of a guarantor who would be the recipient of the funds. For example, City of Westminster College students could be backed by the college.

Individuals over 18 (who are not registered as self-employed) may apply with the support of a partnership organisation (acting as their guarantor), which could be the venue or a professional facilitator. The guarantor would be the recipient of the funds, rather than the individual. Individuals over 18, who are registered as self-employed, do not need a guarantor.

We actively encourage organisations and individuals to make an application in partnership with other organisations and individuals, either as joint partners or with one partner as the lead. Please note that if one partner is the lead, this partner will receive the funds and be responsible for distributing the funds to the other partner/s.

We can accept applications from departments within local authorities that are physically based in Church Street ward only.

What we Fund

We will fund positive activities that address on least one of the following criteria’s:

Greener and Cleaner

Tackling the climate emergency to deliver a thriving zero carbon city, resilient to climate impacts and safeguarded for future generations through improving air quality, increasing energy efficiency and recycling as well as greening open spaces for the health and wellbeing of our residents and improving the local environment for wildlife.

Smart Cities

Increasing digital inclusion and connectivity to address digital inequality by closing the digital divide to enable people to thrive in an increasingly digitised society.

Vibrant Communities

Tackling inequality and ensuring everyone has equal opportunities to live healthy lives and strengthening community cohesion to enable communities to support each other. Improving the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged groups.

These must be activities that have a direct public benefit for residents of the Church Street ward and are delivered free of charge to participants.

Examples of the types of projects we could support are:

• sports activities and/ or health and wellbeing workshops
• healthy cooking and/ or nutrition workshops
• clubs for disadvantaged young adults and/ or children
• intersectional community events
• sessions that strengthen community connections
• gardening edible planting sessions
• developing wildlife hubs
• waste recycling and environmental awareness sessions
• classes that support disadvantaged adults to become digitally confident

If you plan activities for children or vulnerable adults, your staff or volunteers must have a valid DBS check of less than 3 years old.

You can apply for up to £15,000 per project. Projects applying for the maximum amount should run for the full 10-month funding period (1^st April 2022 – 31^st January 2023). The minimum amount of funding you can apply for is £1000. Projects should start no earlier than the 1^st April 2022 and finish no later than the 31^st January 2023.

We reserve the right to offer part-funding to some projects, if the assessment panel feel it is in the best interest of the programme’s aims.

Currently funded organisations may reapply through this website however, organisations will not be able to start their new project until they have completed their current Neighbourhood Keepers funded project.

We can help 

We will support:

• project activities
• competitively priced equipment and materials relating to the activity being delivered up to £150 (if you expect your equipment or material costs to be more than this amount please speak to a member of the Neighbourhood Keepers Team before submitting your application, we can’t guarantee equipment costs over £150 will be funded)
• insurance and DBS certificate costs
• staff costs for administration, management, planning and delivery of the project
• venue hire
• licensing, event notices and road closure costs (it will strengthen your application to have relevant permissions in place when you apply, but it isn't required)
• publicity and marketing costs
• costs for training volunteers and volunteer expenses (e.g. lunch expenses)
• costs to make the activity more accessible to participants
• Covid-19 related hygiene costs (e.g. hand sanitizer and masks)

Equipment may be purchased on condition that it is used by the beneficiaries. It will remain with the beneficiary group or organisation once the project has ended, for its continuous use by said groups. This must be agreed with the fund manager prior to purchase (a valid original receipt of purchase will be required).

What we cannot fund

We cannot support:

• projects that don't meet one or more of the three criteria listed above as their primary motive or activity
• projects that take place outside Church Street ward
• capital works on premises
• staff travel expenses and parking costs
• volunteer travel expenses (we wish to encourage Church Street ward residents to become volunteers that can therefore walk to the activity)
• previously funded equipment (that has not deteriorated beyond use)
• purchase of equipment, unless specifically used and retained by the beneficiaries
• activities that promote political, religious or extremist views
• regular core running costs, loan repayments or VAT
• activities that have no public benefit for Church Street ward residents
• Business as usual’ activities (such as normal maintenance or repairs, or projects that continue existing activities)

How to apply

There is no maximum number of times you can apply to the fund but please be aware that, in the interests of fairness, the panel will take the overall amount of funding awarded to individuals or organisations into consideration when assessing further bids.

Individuals and organisations can only make one application per funding round but can apply to deliver multiple projects within the same application.

Step 1

Please read all of the above sections and consider whether your project is suitable for this fund.

Attend our Meet the Funder event on Sunday 5^th December between 2pm – 5pm where you can find us at a drop by stall on the Church Street Market (NW8 8EU) during the Church Street Winter Celebration. Stop by to enjoy the festive activities and meet the Neighbourhood Keepers Team to ask any questions you have about the fund.

We will be holding two application workshops to go through the Neighbourhood Keepers application in detail and answer any questions you might have. Please sign up here to attend one of the workshops.

• Application Workshop 1: Thursday 16^th December 12pm – 2pm at Online via Zoom Sign Up Here
• Application Workshop 2: Wednesday 12^th January 4pm – 6pm at 35-37 Church Street, London NW8 8ES Sign Up Here

If you can’t attend one of these workshops, we encourage you to contact the Neighbourhood Keepers Team on neighbourhoodkeepers@westminster.gov.uk or 020 7641 2968 and ask to speak to a member of the Neighbourhood Keepers Team for a short, informal discussion of your project idea.

Step 2

​If encouraged to apply, complete the online application form below, providing detailed information on your project, when the next round of funding opens.

You will also need to prepare the following supporting documents:

• a financial projections (budget) template to let us know how much you're planning to spend
• a letter of reference or support from your guarantor, a partner organisation or employer (references will not be accepted from family or friends) if you are applying as an individual (if you are applying as an organisation, you are not required to provide a reference or letter of support)
• enhanced DBS certificates for all staff and volunteers who will be working with children or vulnerable adults, or proof of DBS application before the start of the project
• your public liability certificate (minimum indemnity of £2 million) and/ or your employer's liability certificate
• your occupiers' liability certificate (if services are to be delivered from premises leased or owned by the you/ your organisation)

Step 3

Applications have now closed.

Apply by clicking on the link below.

The Neighbourhood Keepers application form

Application deadlines and assessment

Applications for the Neighbourhood Keepers programme will open on open on the 6^th December 2021 and close at midnight on Sunday 30^th January 2022.

Applications submitted after this deadline or not submitted through the online application portal will not be accepted.

Decisions will be made at an assessment panel meeting. You will find out the outcome of your application by 31^st March 2022.

If your application is successful, you will be required to sign a 'project agreement'. After that, it will take at approximately 30 days for the first payment to be processed.

Please note that projects must start no earlier than 1^st April 2022, and must finish by 31^st January 2023.