1983 - 2023

40th Anniversary Community Grants Programme

At Sunderland Counselling Service, we are proud to have been delivering services to our
clients and communities for the last 40 years through the dedication of our staff and
volunteers.

51 John Street
Sunderland
SR1 1QN
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 0191 5147007
www.sunderlandcounselling. org.uk
Charity No: 1159057 Company No: 3315039
 These Guidance Notes are available by E-mail or through our website.
 Please let us know if you need assistance in completing an application, for example if
you have any special needs or if English is not your first language.
 Do not send in your application if you will not be available to speak to us during the
application period.
If you have any queries or questions about this application process, then please contact
Angela Dinsdale, our Business Development Manager:
[email protected]

Introduction
Sunderland Counselling Service celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2023, and in
commemoration of this, we are planning a very special year of events and projects. This will
include awarding grants to up to four organisations supporting the community in the areas in
which we work, who share similar aims to our own.
These areas are: Sunderland, Northumberland, North Tyneside and County Durham.

Our mission is to:

 Promote and improve mental health and emotional well-being for adults, children and
young people.
 Provide services which assist in relieving suffering from emotional and/or mental
distress.
 Enable and empower users of our service to live independently in the community as
valued citizens.
 Work in partnership with other services in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

Maximum grant size £10,000

We hope to make up to 4 grants of £10,00 each, one in each of the areas where we
currently work – Sunderland, Northumberland, North Tyneside, County Durham.
How long is the funding for?
Our grants are for one year maximum i.e. you cannot apply for more than 12 months' costs.
What information are we looking for?
Up to 1200 words that demonstrates how your project or activity fulfils the following criteria:

 How your project or activity aligns with our charitable aims and mission statement.
 Evidence of need: How do you know that the project is needed? Have you done any
research? Has the project been requested by users of your organisation?
 Evidence of community use: How many people currently use your services and how
many are likely to use any new services?
 Evidence of community involvement: How many people are involved with the running
of your organisation including people who help out with fund raising or volunteering?
  Value for money: You should include any equipment that you are looking to
purchase and for any repairs or building works that you are hoping to carry out. You
should ensure that your budget is realistic and that costings are as accurate as
possible.
What do you need to send with your application?
A copy of your organisation’s governing document: This may be a simple set of rules, a
constitution or memorandum and articles of association. You should have a volunteer
committee with a chairperson, and at least two other committee members.
You do not need to be a registered charity, but you must be a not-for-profit organisation and
be able to demonstrate that you comply with all relevant safeguarding requirements for the
activity for which you are seeking funding.
A copy of your organisation’s most recent accounts.
Details of your bank account. All grants will be paid direct to your organisation.
You should include the postcode of the area in which your organisation is based and works
and if applicable a postcode for the area where the project will take place if this is different to
your organisation’s address.
Assessment
A grants assessor will contact you to discuss your project. Please ensure you include a
named contact with a daytime contact number. Your assessment should take a maximum of
half an hour. Please ensure that the person named knows about the project and can talk
knowledgeably about this. We will also look at your accounts, your constitution and any other
available literature and reserve the right to ask you to submit further information in support of
your application.
A final decision on the award of the grants will be taken by the Trustees of Sunderland
Counselling Service.
What we will not fund

 Projects (or their governing groups) that:

o Do not fit with the overall aims of Sunderland Counselling Service.
o Are run by profit-making companies.
o Do not have the necessary permission i.e., without planning or landowner’s
permission.
o Are not open to the general public.
o Are not within the four areas listed above.
o Have more than 1 years’ running costs held as free reserves.
 Statutory responsibilities (i.e., projects which should be funded by a statutory body).
 Sponsored events.
 National or regional charities with no independent office in the area the project is
being delivered in.
 Projects promoting political or religious activities.
 Deficit or retrospective funding i.e., grants for activities, which have already taken
place before a grant was offered and accepted.
 Part of a project cost that is VAT recoverable.
 Animal welfare.
  General contributions to large appeals (but specific items can be funded).
 Medical research and equipment.
 Grants for more than one year.
 Freehold or leasehold land rights.
 Minibuses or other vehicles, overseas travel.
 Legal or redundancy fees.

Please do not contact us to find out whether your application has been successful or not.
We will contact every organisation with the outcome of the application.
If successful, the grant offer will be made in writing and will include any conditions imposed
by the Trustees.
If you wish to accept the grant, you must do so in writing before payment is made.
You MUST not commit any money before you have received your offer and conditions.
Should you need to request a change of use for any award made you MUST submit your
request to us in writing. Do not commit any expenditure until we have confirmed in writing to
you that your request is acceptable.
Details of all grants made will be published on our website and announced at our Annual
General Meeting in November 2023.
If your application is unsuccessful, you will be told why.
An initial assessment will be made by our Chief Executive and our Business Development
Manager to ensure compliance with the aims of the grants and that the application
requirements have been met.
Following this, a shortlist will be provided to trustees for a final decision.

Indicative timetable:

Launch of grant scheme 1st May 2023

Deadline for applications 31st July 2023
Review and shortlisting during August and September 2023
Successful applicants contacted during October 2023
Formal award and announcements November 2023

Half-term and holiday support: wellbeing warriors (poster, Rob & Bethany)
Support to be delivered in the office during holiday periods, when students are not in schools
and support staff are unavailable; parents and teachers have reported improved outcome
and coping skills when students have been receiving counselling support during the
holidays. Progress is sometimes impeded by the holidays and continuous provision as
opposed to intermittent has been shown to be particularly needed for children and young
people; several studies have shown that especially for children with Autistic spectrum
disorder (Larson 2006; Josefi & Ryan 2004) develop separation anxiety during school
holidays