Guidance for Grant Applications (450th Anniversary Grants
Programme)
About The Harpur Trust
The Harpur Trust will celebrate its 450th anniversary in 2016. The Trust was founded in 1566 by Sir
William Harpur (c.1497-1574), a Bedford man who became Lord Mayor of London in 1561.
In 1566, William and his wife, Dame Alice, created an endowment to sustain a grammar school which he
had already helped to establish in Bedford. The endowment also made provision for the award of
dowries on the marriage of ‘poor maids’ of the town, for poor children to be ‘nourished and informed”,
and for any residue to be distributed amongst the poor.
Today, our activities are still inspired by Sir William Harpur’s vision. He understood the value of
education, and saw the real needs to be addressed among the disadvantaged, poor and sick in his home
town of Bedford. Our three charitable objects are based on his philosophy:
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The promotion of education.
The relief of those who are sick or in need, hardship or distress.
The provision of recreational facilities with a social welfare purpose.
As well as running our own four schools we are proud sponsors of Bedford Academy and provide
Almshouses (sheltered accommodation) for older residents of the Borough. We support the local
community through our grants programme, with approximately £1 million a year in grant funds awarded
to projects that focus on education, relief and recreation.
About Our Grantmaking
We are a generalist grant giving charity with three broad areas of activity:
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the promotion of education;
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the promotion of any charitable purpose for the relief of people who are sick or in need, hardship or
distress;
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the provision of recreational facilities with a social welfare purpose
In addition to our three charitable objects we have 3 priority areas:
 Isolation
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Resilience
Transitions
For more information about our priority areas see our main grants page.
Our grantmaking is restricted to activities taking place in the Borough of Bedford for the benefit of
Bedford residents.
About the 450th Anniversary Grants Programme
Throughout 2016 we are running a series of events and activities to celebrate Sir William Harpur’s
remarkable legacy to the residents of Bedford. The 450th Anniversary grants programme is one of those
activities. We have set aside £45,000 to distribute in small grants of up to £1,000. The aim of the
programme is to make our grants more accessible to small, inexperienced groups who are not ready to
apply to our existing grants programmes. The programme is open for one year only, and will close to
new applications as soon as the money has been allocated.
Who can apply
Applicants must
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be registered charities, voluntary organisations, community groups, charitable incorporated
organisations, CICs (if limited by guarantee) or state schools
have a suitable constitution or governing document (set of rules)
have a bank account
have a governing body or management committee of at least three members
have a balance of power on the committee which rests with an unrelated majority with no financial
interest in the organisation
be based in Bedford Borough and/or be conducting specific charitable activities aiming to meet the
needs of people who live in the Borough. The Borough comprises the town of Bedford and the
surrounding area of North Bedfordshire.
already be providing the services which they are requesting funding for
in the case of schools, demonstrate why they cannot purchase the item through statutory funding
sources
be able to spend an award within six months of receiving a grant offer.
provide services which meet one or more of our charitable objects of education, relief of poverty,
sickness or distress and recreation with a social welfare purpose.
We will give priority to organisations which
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have not applied successfully to the Harpur Trust before
have little or no previous experience of fundraising
work at grassroots and local community level
deliver projects which meet our priority areas
Who can’t apply
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Individuals
Businesses.
Projects that promote a particular religion, although faith groups can apply for completely secular
work.
New organisations which have not started providing services
What can we apply for?
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Capital items costing up to £1,000 e.g. equipment
What can’t we apply for?
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Revenue or running costs for example salaries or bills
A contribution to the cost of a piece of equipment costing more than £1,000 (unless there are
exceptional circumstances, in which case the additional funding must have been secured before
you apply to the Harpur Trust)
Projects which we consider the local authority or national government has responsibility for
funding. In the case of schools you must demonstrate why the item cannot be purchased through
statutory funding sources.
Items you cannot demonstrate a genuine need for. You cannot use the fund to stockpile equipment
for future use.
Projects that do not benefit the residents of the Borough of Bedford.
Costs already incurred.
How to apply for a 450th Anniversary Grant
Complete the application form by 1st April 2016. We are happy to provide assistance at any stage during
the application process.
Make sure you provide all the supporting documents requested:
 a copy of your constitution or rules
 your accounts
 your equal opportunities policy
 safeguarding policy and procedures if you are working with vulnerable groups, such as children or
older people
 a quote or price list from the supplier of the equipment you would like us to fund.
 if your organisation is a CIC, you will need to provide a copy of your CIC36 or CIC37 document.
We will acknowledge receipt of your application form within a week of receiving it. Please contact us if
you have not heard from us within two working weeks of submission.
Our staff will first look through your application.
We will ask you some additional questions, based on the areas of your application that we believe our
Trustees will focus on when they consider your request. We may visit your project.
We may ask you to provide references from someone who can vouch for your group, particularly if we
have not come across your organisation before.
When you will be notified of a decision
Your application will be considered by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of our Grants Committee
when they meet in April 2016. They will decide whether to award you a grant. We will inform you of their
decision in writing in May 2016.
Payment
Payment will be made once you have accepted the grant offer in writing. You must spend the grant
within six months of the offer being made.
Monitoring arrangements
All organisations in receipt of a 450th Anniversary grant have to fill in a simple end of award monitoring
form. This allows the Trust to monitor awards effectively, and evaluate their impact on the local
community. This will include evidence that the grant has been spent as planned and a photograph of the
item in use.
Publicity
The Harpur Trust will provide you with a commemorative 450th Anniversary sticker which you will be
required to attach to items purchased with the grant.
Filling in the Application Form
General
Please answer all the questions fully, even if you feel you are repeating yourself. Our Grants Committee
deal with large numbers of applications, and they are likely to miss your response if you have written
“see previous answer” or “see appendix 1”. If necessary, you can send in attachments with supporting
documentation, but they may not be seen by the committee.
Answering the questions
Question 3 Name of contact person This person must be available to talk to us about your application.
Question 12 What project do you want us to fund and what will the money be used for? Tell us
about the equipment you want to buy and describe the project (events or activities) you will use it in.
Some applicants will only have one core project.
Question 13 Why does your project need this equipment? Tell us why this equipment is important to
the project you want to run. For example, are you replacing broken equipment or have you got a new
client group with different needs?
Question 14 Why is this project needed? What evidence do you have for this? Tell us about the
problems or issues your project aims to address. As evidence you might use national and local statistics,
research or surveys you have conducted or evaluation of previous work you have carried out.
Question 15 Who will benefit from your project? Be realistic when answering this question. Only
mention particular groups if your project is specifically aimed at them.
Conditions of funding
Each application is considered on merit, and the ability of an organisation to secure alternative funding
will be taken into account.
We may seek guidance from other organisations during the assessment of your request. If you wish us
to treat the information provided in your application in confidence, please tell us as soon as possible.
Information on grants awarded to organisations will be included in our Annual Reports, our website and
other general publicity materials. We will also share this information with other funders.
The Trust reserves the right to ask for further information which may include banking arrangements, the
results of other funding applications and the composition of the management committee.
Additional documents
Your application may include additional documents that you believe will support your request. Please
note, however, that Trustees will make their decisions based primarily on the information you have
provided in your application form.
Make sure you send us all the attachments listed on the last page of the application form.
Signatures
Each application must be signed by the person who wrote the application and by a senior person within
your organisation. The senior person might be your Chief Executive, your Headteacher, a Trustee,
Governor or member of your Management Committee. Please contact the Harpur Trust if you would like
guidance on appropriate signatories.