Abingdon Area Committee

Do they have?	0 - 1 points	2 - 3 points	4 - 5 points
A balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base?	(0) Unfortunately, no plan has been submitted. (1) A limited plan which doesn’t cover the required three-year period and there doesn’t appear to be the detail on how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	(2) A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Whilst some over reliance on certain income streams and small gaps in funding, this is unlikely to impact service delivery. (3) As above however Clear movement towards a more sustainable and balanced funding base, with a realistic plan to reduce budget deficits.	(4) A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. (5) As above and There is a healthy balance of both restricted and unrestricted funds.
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021)	(0) Each financial year appears to show significant gaps in balancing the budget and / or unfortunately, no reserves policy has been submitted. (1) 2018/19, 2019/2020 show balanced budgets. 2020/21 budget negatively affected by COVID 19 or other factors, with evidence of significant reduction in services/activities. Officers note a concerning depletion of reserves over the three years.	(2) 2018/19, 2019/2020 balanced budgets 2020/2021 budget negatively affected by COVID 19 or other factors, leading to an overall reduction in services. The reserves policy, some depletion over the last three years with little explanation but officers can see it is still within reserves parameters (3) As above however Officers note only a marginal reduction in services/activities with a clear explanation for depletion of reserves.	(4) 2018/19 - 2019/2020 balanced budgets, 2020/2021 budget affected by COVID 19 or other factors, overall increase in services/activities. Has a reserves policy, no depletion of reserves over the last 3 years. (5) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income and officers note some growth in reserves.
Deductions	Officers can remove one point if the organisation’s finances suggest they could contribute towards the service/activity costs but are not. Even if an application scores enough points, the community grants panel can recommend not funding it if they: have serious concerns around the management of the organisation now or in the future; believe the applicant has sufficient unrestricted reserves to fund the service themselves; have serious concerns about the appropriateness of the service or its financial viability, such as if the organisation has not demonstrated having a sound fundraising plan with contingencies should any of their grant applications (to the council and others) be unsuccessful or award less than requested.

	0 - 1 points	2 - 3 points	4 - 5 points
Community need and consultation	(0) There does not appear to be community need, most likely due to insufficient evidence/information submitted (1) Officers get a limited sense of community need, likely due to limited evidence/information supplied and / or limited consultation has taken place with existing users.	(2) Some indication of community need with consultation limited to existing service users only. (3) as above however Officers can see evidence of regular consultation with service users.	(4) Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders. (5) as above and Substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.
Direct community benefit and inclusion This is not an exhaustive or definitive list yet within the scope of this scoring matrix ‘vulnerable’ / priority groups can include, the elderly, isolated young families, homeless, economically disadvantaged, educationally disadvantaged, migrant groups, individuals with disabilities, and those with impairments.	(0) The service/ activities appears to offer little or no direct benefit to the community. (1) Up to 50 residents, which does not appear to include vulnerable/ priority groups.	(2) More than 51 and up to 500 residents and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups. (3) As above and Providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council. or (3) points if a service/activity is directly supporting up to 50 vulnerable residents and / or priority groups	(4) More than 501 residents and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents. (5) As above and Providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.
District reach	(0) Appears to be minimal district reach (focused on town or village organisations located in) across the district. (1) Limited reach (up to two wards) across the district.	(2 – 3) Good geographical reach (up to 10 wards) across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	(4) Very good geographical reach, (up to 15 wards), across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size. (5) Full district-wide reach with clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven?	(0) It is unclear as to how the targets have been arrived at. (1) Targets are high and officers feel could be unrealistic.	(2) Targets are mostly internally focussed, with some research/benchmark data to support, which includes some measurable outcomes for residents. (3) As above however Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	(4) Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable. (5) As above and An increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting, in 2023/2024.
Add	Add an additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation
Add	An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded, in addition to the above score banding, for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities.
Deductions	The community grants panel can recommend not funding a service / activity if they have serious concerns about the appropriateness of the service.

NOMAD Youth and Community Project		Ref	SRev22-24/ 13
Project name Core costs towards staff salaries and rent including dedicated hours to fundraising and diversifying income streams.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Nomad supports children/young people and their parents/carers, particularly those who are marginalized and disadvantaged through economic and/or complex social issues and living in Henley and the surrounding area, including Nettlebed, Stoke Row, Bix, Shiplake, Woodcote and Sonning Common.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund 1. We operate under the following 4 elements in order to achieve our aims: Schools Work – 1:1 mentoring with referred students in local schools, delivering Life Skills programmes and attending professional meetings to support young people and parents. Also support students on verge of school exclusion through off site learning and mentoring. 2. After School & Holiday Programme includes, targeted weekly detached youth work sessions, football project, targeted youth groups, peer group activities, trips out and residentials. 3. Parenting Support – includes, 1:1 and group parenting support/advice programmes, practical support re benefits, budgeting, housing issues and ‘Family Focus’ sessions provides to support for individual parents and their teenager addressing issues of anger, communication, and relationships. 4. Community Activities – includes support for 16+ cohort in or at risk of NEET helping with the transition from school into further education or employment. Foodbank, annual community fun events on local parks and beach trip. Income diversification and fundraising - increase fundraising events in the following years, host an annual basis fundraising dinner, this proved to be a success, and we are planning on holding this on an annual basis, continuing to raise our profile and encourage the local community to support us financially, develop our presence on social media through Facebook and seek to engage further with key people and businesses in the community through the use of LinkedIn, a dedicated fundraiser who is responsible for grant applications and diversifying our income streams.
District reach Henley-on-Thames, Sonning Common, Woodcote and Rotherfield
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£25,000	£25,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£8,083	£8,487
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£50,000 (fundraising and income diversification cost not included)
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£181,599
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£60,526	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant (2017 – 2022) total award £95,000 Community Safety Partnership annual grant - up to £10,000 Various Councillor Grants, most recent (2021/2022) £1,958 Volunteering Grant (2018/2019) £474

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Whilst some over reliance on certain income streams, clear movement towards a more sustainable and balanced funding base, with a realistic plan to reduce budget deficits.	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion. More than 501 residents benefit from this service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	2/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are targets are specific and achievable with some measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people) at the heart of the improving service design and delivery, evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note the applicant has not included the fundraising and income diversification cost in the total grant amount requested.	Total score	34/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

NOMAD has been operating in Henley for 25 years and we know from our own knowledge base and evidenced from the number of annual interventions we make, that there is a need for our services. We have developed a strong track record of working with statutory services, local schools, the Town Council, local police and other local charities who all make referrals to us underlining the need for our work.

Recently we have increased the number of local schools that we work with, particularly those in rural areas. In one secondary school we have seen a 100% increase in the number of referrals for our mentoring programme. We have also seen demand from local primary schools increase, these schools cover the entire social economic strata which shows that we are valued by our local community.

The large increase demand for the foodbank described elsewhere also shows significant need within the community.

Our ability to serve the community in this unique and tailored way was demonstrated during the national lockdowns. Nomad saw a 175% increase in demand for food parcels during this period and with the support of the local community were able to respond to this demand. Due to the local and national lockdowns many of our services were paused so our workers were asked to concentrate their work on the foodbank to ensure that we were able to support as many families as possible. As we were delivering parcels we were able to have doorstep conversations with many vulnerable families who were known to us and continue to support them at a distance. We also created a series of lockdown challenges which were designed to be enjoyed as a whole family and created a more positive atmosphere within the home. These were developed as a response to the loneliness and isolation that many of the young people and families experienced during lockdown. These included flapjack making, pancake designing,chubby bunny challenge and many more.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

As part of our management system we have an advisory board which meets quarterly with us. The board is made up of a cross section of the community including but not limited to, former service users, representatives from the local town council, head teachers from local schools, local business people and representatives from the local police force. The advisory board plays an important role in shaping what we do and are an essential part of developing our strategies going forward.

We also participate in monthly calls with the Community Safety Partnership to share knowledge and information with other third sector agencies in the South Oxfordshire area.

In addition to this, we meet regularly with the local police officer to information share and discuss key areas of our work. This includes our programme of targeted diversionary activities during the school holidays.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We have strong relationships with other local organisations including but not limited to John Hodges Charitable Trust, Henley Citizens Advice Bureau, Henley YMCA, Henley Educational Trust, Henley Churches Together, Community groups and statutory agencies working with families in Henley and the surrounding villages.

As referenced in the previous section we participate in regular calls with the Community Safety Partnership to information share with other third sector agencies working in the South Oxfordshire area. Due to our isolated location on the edge of the county it is not always possible for us to work collaboratively with these third sector agencies, as like us their work is area specific.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

600

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

NOMAD support a variety of families and young people from Henley and the surrounding villages. The majority of these people are disadvantaged by economic circumstances and or complex social needs. Many of our service users are also disadvantaged by our location on the edge of the county which makes it difficult to access services.

We work with isolated young families, particularly those that were adversely affected by the national lockdowns and lost their support networks.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

By working with young people and families holistically we are able to reduce the reliance upon statutory services such as Child Social Care. We support the families during Child in Need and Child Protection cases to help them meet their goals and ultimately step down from the need for Social Care involvement. This frees up the social workers who have limited time and resources to work with other families in need.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

We are looking to increase the amount we raise via fundraising and income generating activities (i.e. more paid schools work). By employing a dedicated worker to facilitate this we believe that we will increase this year on year.

NOMAD works hard with families and young people to build their self -esteem and reach their full potential. This includes improved school attendance with less incidences of negative behaviour, reduced anti-social behaviour in Henley and the surrounding villages, increase in academic achievement, improved mental health and wellbeing.

We also offer practical support to ensure that they are in the best position they can be economically. This may include arranging and attending appointments at the local Citizens Advice Bureau, completing applications for Universal Credit and accompanying them to associated appointments. Where there are physical disabilities and or mental health needs we will help them apply for Personal Independence Payments and Employment Support Allowance where appropriate. NOMAD also work closely with other local third sector organisations to apply for and administer grants for white goods and help with their fuel costs during the winter months.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Although Henley is known as wealthy town there are still pockets of deprivation and many people are disadvantaged by reason of economic need and or complex social needs.

NOMAD works closely with families and young people to address these needs and to empower them to make positive informed choices.

We work with service users to ensure that they are receiving their full benefit entitlement. This work is done with close collaboration with the local Citizens Advice Bureau and also by having a member of staff who has expertise in these areas.

We will also work with them on ensuring that they are ready for paid employment or accessing further education. Many of the young people we work with are either already not in employment or education or at risk of becoming so. We offer a tailored programme for these people based on their individual need as part of our schools mentoring work and our 16+ support work. This can take many forms and may include one to one tutoring at our site, CV support, confidence building activities such as residential trips to climb mountains.

With many of our service users already living chaotic lives pre covid, the pandemic has exacerbated their situations causing some (young people) to become isolated and lonely. This has led to poor mental health and anxiety around socialising, fear of contracting the virus and the impact for them and their families. With people on low income affected by further financial hardship and others suddenly finding themselves with reduced finances; the confusion and isolation was further compounded by the rural nature of the area we live in.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

All Nomad workers are expected to act in accordance with the NOMAD Equalities and Diversity Policy and their willingness to do so will be a part of the selection criteria.

In addition, the Nomad Advisory Board, (which is made up of representatives from statutory and local bodies and organisations), will also adhere to these guidelines and seek to implement an Equal Opportunities stance in based on its own membership criteria.
The Nomad Trustees will also ensure the implementation of this policy in any recruitment process of staff or volunteers.
Annual reviews of this policy and its implementation will be undertaken. The persons responsible for implementing the Equalities and Diversity Policy within Nomad is the Project Manager and Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

NOMAD has a strong track record in seeking and applying for funding and have met our targets over the last three years consistently. There is a funding strategy in place which enables the completion and submission of regular grant applications, and supports and develops other funding initiatives. By having a dedicated fundraiser who is responsible for researching and processing applications and all of the activities described above, we also have a local business man who volunteers his time to help us. With these combined, we are confident that we will meet our targets. The role of the fundraiser is also to build links and raise the profile of NOMAD in the local in the community which will in turn increase our funding pool.

Our successful fundraising initiatives last year means that we can cover costs for a new worker in year 1 and to sustain that in year 2.
However,costs are ever increasing, therefore we have requested the same amount for each year. Whilst costs increase the demand, our work also increases and we would like to continue to expand and support more young people and families.

Oxfordshire South & Vale Citizens Advice Bureau		Ref	SRev22-24/ 11
Project name Overall running costs for the advice service: advisor training, manager and supervisor salaries, IT running costs and advice centre rent and service charges.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents We are a local charity and member of the national Citizens Advice network. Our service is free and confidential.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund; -full advice service across the whole district for 5 days a week from the 3 main advice centres: Didcot, Henley and Thame and from outreach projects in RAF Benson and Wallingford. - continue to work with key organisations in the district so we can provide a better service to clients. - a second fundraising officer and administrator in January 2022, and create a broader fundraising team involving trustees, staff and volunteers
District reach District-wide reach
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£119,222	£119,222
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£13,539	£13,539
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£238,444
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£632,750
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£210,895	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant Award (2017-2022) £756,432 South Capital Grant Award (2018/2019) £3,158 Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent 2019/2020, £3,606 South Emergency Assistance Grant Award (2020) £4,084

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams..	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 Balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income, and officers note a growth in unrestricted reserves.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders and Substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service which includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents. Providing services that compliment council services indirectly, will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Full district-wide reach with clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	5/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious but still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable, and an increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting in 2023/2024.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded, for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents and training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented with service users. Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users, whilst delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	40/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The need for our service is demonstrated by:
- the number of people in the district who seek advice from us each year. Last year (2020/21), 4,562 South Oxfordshire residents sought our advice, bringing to us a total of 11,184 separate issues /problems for us to help them resolve.
- the increasing complexity of the problems residents bring to us, some needing several hours to resolve.
- the range of issues they bring to us. The top six are benefits, tax credits, debt, employment, housing and family / relationships. There are many others.
- the stories clients tell our advisers and the comments they make about their need in our client feedback process.
- the increase in demand across the district since December 2020
- the fact that there is demand for advice from all parts of the district.
- we have maps that show the top 25 / 50 parishes our clients come from and the precise number from each parish.
- the need in South Oxfordshire is greatest in Didcot, Thame, Henley, Wallingford, Chinnor, Berinsfield and Wheatley.
- SOHA have asked us to run a Money Management / Budgeting course for their tenants troubled by debt and at risk of eviction.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

Local people - our clients, they complete a feedback form after their advice session, and a sample is consulted several weeks after advice and invited to make free text comments and recommendations. We always refer to client feedback when planning our services. We aim to target those communities where need is greatest and when circumstances allow, involve them in shaping our service, starting with a series of focus groups.

Our 140 trustees, staff and volunteers are all drawn from our local communities.

Parish and Town councillors – we attend Town Council meetings once or twice a year and parish councils when invited. Town and Parish councils also make a valuable financial contribution to our service.

District councils – we meet regularly with council officers

County Council –through links with local county councillors, contact with social care officers and our close work with the other three Oxfordshire local Citizens Advice organisations in the county.

Housing Associations – we advise about 2,000 Housing Association tenants each year. We have spoken to the two main Associations about how best to meet the needs of their tenants.

Local charities and community organisations. We have regular contact with a number of local organisations (such as Foodbanks) whose views help shape our service.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We have a strong and long term relationship with many local organisations in South Oxfordshire. In about 10% of cases, we refer people to more specialist providers with whom we are in contact (Age UK, for example, for advice on care homes or attendance allowance).

We will work with many of these organisations to better serve those clients affected by higher energy charges, the loss of the Universal Credit uplift and increasing debt. For example, we are working with local Foodbanks to encourage those seeking food to access advice that may improve their overall financial situation. In January 2022, as already noted, we will be starting a new project with SOHA to provide budgeting and money management advice to those tenants that are struggling and maybe at risk of eviction.

In addition, we have working relationships with the following:
•           The local council Housing Needs Team (with whom we work to prevent homelessness)
•           Tenancy support officers in the 2 main housing associations, Sovereign and SOHA
•           Children’s and Family Centres who are in touch with families who may need support
•           Town and larger Parish Councils
•           Local charities such as Connexions, Turning Point, Sharing Life Trust, Nomad and others.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

4500

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Although we are here for everyone and this is a key principle of the service, Citizens Advice supports people from predominantly low income households. Compared to the district average, the data in our client and community profile shows that our clients are significantly

- more disabled
- more likely to be in poor mental or physical health
- more likely to be non white
- more likely to be renting their home or at risk of homelessness, or homeless.
- more likely to be in serious financial difficulty.

Top 5 issues clients bring to us. During 2020/21, Citizens Advice in Oxfordshire South and Vale helped clients deal with;

- 6,000 benefit issues
- 2,575 debt issues
- 2,000 employment issues
- 1,660 housing issues
- 1,206 family and relationship issues
We know from feedback and client surveys that in addition to helping them resolve their problem in 80% of cases, to find a way forward in a further 10% of cases; our advice and support also has a measurable impact on their physical and mental health.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We are able to help about 80% of clients resolve their problems 'completely, mostly or partly'. We help 90% to 'find a way forward'. Survey evidence shows that four in every five clients who come to us feeling depressed, stressed or anxious report that their mental and physical health has improved in the period following our advice. We think this is an important and under-reported aspect of our work. Our ability to help resolve a high proportion of people's problems means they are less likely to need support from the council (and other public agencies), though sometimes - such as in preventing homelessness - we often need to engage with the council's housing needs team as part of the process of supporting the client and finding more sustainable solution to their problems.

Using Treasury approved methodology, in 2020/21, for every pound invested in OSAV CA, there was £8.89 in savings to Government such as reductions in demand on NHS, homelessness and out of work benefits

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

- We will serve 4,000-5,000 South Oxfordshire residents each year.

- People in South Oxfordshire are able to access Citizens Advice relatively easily when they need to seek advice - we will know if this has been achieved by an independent phone / text survey conducted 13-18 weeks after advice.

- Clients' problems are resolved 'completely, mostly or partly' and the remainder are helped 'to find a way forward'. This particularly applies to problems with benefits, debt, employment, housing and family relationships. We will know if this has been achieved by an independent phone / text survey conducted 13-18 weeks after advice.

- Clients in South Oxfordshire will recommend Citizens Advice to others - we will know if this has been achieved by an independent phone / text survey conducted 13-18 weeks after advice.

- Helping our clients with debt and benefit problems manage or pay off their debts and increase their income - we know the total amount of financial benefit to clients at the end of each year from analysis of our client data.

- Clients' mental and physical health is improved - we will know if this has been achieved from national surveys of Citizens Advice clients.

The main outcomes from this strengthening of our fundraising / income generation capacity are as follows:

- a significant increase in the proportion of our income secured from fundraising, donations and sponsorship.

- new contracts to provide specialist advice on energy, debt or benefits via national Citizens Advice.

- restarting our major donor fundraising project, suspended as a result of Covid and to secure 3 large donations (£5K-20K).

- raising £30K from a micro-funding / crowd funding initiative in South Oxfordshire.

- raising £50k from 3-5 major trusts / foundations for funding to cover our main costs.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Helping people to help themselves by resolving problems with money management, debt, employment, housing and family relationships that limit their independence and ability to play an active role in the community. Success will be measured by % of clients who report that we have helped them resolve their problems.

- Helping people to reduce their demand on public agencies with all the associated costs - Success will be measured via our Treasury-approved value for money methodology using client data on our Casebook CRM system. In 2020/2021, for every £1 invested in OSAV CA, we achieved £8.89 in savings to Government such as reductions in demand on NHS, homelessness and out of work benefits.

- Improving the mental health and physical well being of clients whose problems made them feel depressed, stressed or anxious before seeking advice. Success can be measured by surveying clients before and after they have received advice. In 2014, Citizens Advice surveyed 2,700 clients 3-5 months after advice. Before advice, 66% said they felt depressed, stressed or anxious due to their problems. After advice, 8!% of them felt less depressed or anxious. Similar, though lower findings, applied to these clients' physical health. This will clearly have a bearing on their overall sense of well being and ability to participate in their local community.

- regular training for our staff and volunteer adviser workforce on mental health issues. In 2021/22, we arranged training on supporting clients with autism.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

1. Our projects, policies, strategies, services and communication take account of all users.

2.. We aim to increase understanding of the communities we serve, through consultation and engagement.

3. We work towards delivering better outcomes for disadvantaged groups, & encourage community cohesion.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

(a) increase our fundraising by re-starting our major donors scheme, developing a community crowd funding / micro funding scheme and applying to the Lottery and major trusts and foundations. As already noted, we are increasing the size of our fundraising team to help us do this.

(b) seeking any new contracts negotiated on our behalf by national Citizens Advice.

(c) identifying expenditure reductions that do not affect the front line service. This may involve

- moving to cheaper buildings where there is a significant saving to be made although this only applies to one of our four buildings.
- rationalising our Supervisor:Advisor ratios so our paid supervisors are supervising the optimum number of advisers in any one session.
- halting extra hours claims by staff.
- reducing the cost of our financial administration.
- reviewing working hours of all paid staff.

In this context, the grant from South Oxfordshire District Council is very important to us. Although we have reduced the proportion of our income from district council grants from 75% to 44% over the past 5 years, the SODC grant remains one of the two main financial building blocks upon which our service relies.

Millstream Day Centre		Ref	SRev22-24/ 12
Project name Benson Millstream Centre Development Plan
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Benson Millstream Centre is a volunteer led charity called Millstream Day Centre and provides relief to elderly and disabled people and in particular those living in and around Benson, Ewelme, Berrick Salome, Roke and Preston Crowmarsh by providing day care services and such other services as the trustees may decide from time to time.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Over the next two years the centre hopes to extend and refurbish its facilities and general running costs to provide services for the elderly.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield and Wallingford
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£15,000	£10,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification (included in the above figure)	£9,200	£6,310
Total grant amount requested by the applicant over the two years	£25,000 (fundraising and income diversification cost not included)
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£43,170 (in financial accounts) although applicant stated £69,829
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£14,389	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2021/2022) £1,000 Emergency Assistance Grant Award (2020/2021) £4,400 Capital Grant Award (2017/2018) £17,950

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan, no evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Whilst a very small deficit in 2019/2020 it is a balanced budget overall, officers note there is an increase in services/activities.	Score	4/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents benefit from the service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	2/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with some measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awardedfor evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided including testimonal from partner.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation works towards combating loneliness and isolation.	Score	3/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of increasing awareness of the service provision, lacks clarity on implementing consultation feedback.	Score	3/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note some of the project costs are not eligible and this will be reflected in any subsequent award offer, terms and conditions or legal agreement, ensuring the applicant is clear on the conditions of the award. Officers note the applicant has not included the fundraising and income diversification cost in the total grant amount requested. Officers note whilst the applicant is delivering services which complement the statutory services that are the public sector’s responsibility for delivering, there is no indication that the organisation is providing a service on behalf of a statutory body. Equally, the applicant is not one of the Oxfordshire County Council Community Support Centres.	Total score	26/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The Centre has 40 vulnerable adults who attend regular sessions at the Centre and a further 6 who are supported by the @Home service. On a daily basis we support 25% more customers than we did before "lockdown".

Our Customer Needs Assessment shows that increasing levels of support are required with over 40% of our customers displaying cognitive issues and 50% requiring some form of walking aid.

Whilst the Charity is established to support residents of Benson and the surrounding villages we regularly receive referrals from Age UK for individuals outside our area which are accomodated where possible (transport and space being main restrictions). During Lockdown the Centre’s volunteers supported families from a wider area notably Wallingford and Berinsfield with delivery of food parcels etc.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

The Centre's Development Plan was produced in May 2018, it was produced following consultation with customers, staff, local Councillors, Evergreens Group, local GP's and Age UK. Although now three years old,the direction of travel is largely the same with the exception of the @Home service which emerged from the lockdown support operation.

The Centre's Liaison Committee provides a regular means of communication for stakeholders.

Within the Centre, the Managers "Listening Group" is well attended by Customers on a monthly basis and provides Trustees with valuable feedback.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

Regular contact with Age UK which results in referrals.

Liaison Committee established with regular meetings with local Councillors, Charities, GP Patients Panel and Church reps which help formulate Centres approach.

Collaboration with local secondary schools over DoE volunteering and placements for Health & Social Care students.

When safe to local Childminder groups attend for cross generational experience.

Local Primary School uses Centre to "rehearse" school performances with our customer as the audience.

The Centre used by a number of community groups such as Evergreens, RBL, Art Club etc.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

500

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Customers of the Centre
Carers of Customers
Members of Community Groups who hire Centre, RBL, Evergreens, Trefoil etc
Patients from adjoining Surgery who will have access to Rehab classes
Individuals carers and families supported by Daybreak, a Dementia Care Group

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Generally the Trustees objective is helping customers live independently, ensuring they are well nourished. Trustees were horrified, when researching the Development Plan, to learn that a third of older people are malnourished when they enter hospital.

Keeping our customers out of the care system for as long as possible is better for them and cheaper for the welfare state.

Training opportunities for volunteers who might go into care sector and students on Health & Social Care course placements.

The cross generational work with local schools is important aspect of the Centres work.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

A financially stable operation, less reliant on individual volunteers.

An operation that supports an increasing number of customers, in Centre or @Home, in response to an ageing population in an expanding village.

Increased trained resource to support needs of customers - paid staff would have additional training themselves and an additional resource would also free up the Manager to train volunteers.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Impact on local economy - the Centre enables family members who are carers for our customers to work (often from home) whilst the Centre is in operation.

Addressing Isolation - we know that 40% of our +75 population live alone, the proportion of our customers who attend alone is much higher than that, indicating a high proportion living alone.

Training - opportunities provided for local students on Health & Social Care Courses and DoE placements.

Support for and from South Oxfordforedshire Food and Edication Allance (SOFEA)

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

Work of our two consultative groups external "Liaison Committee" and internal "Listening Group" ensure that Centre Management is aware of needs of both customers and the local community.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

The Centre has had some success in the last few years in attracting grants. It is very difficult to know how to budget for grants in such a competitive environment, but that is an area which will need focus in order to achieve, and exceed, figures shown in our three year plan.

The Centre has raised significant sums for the extension project, whilst some of these sums were specific grants, other monies set aside were from general fundraising. It would be possible to delay or even cancel the refurbishment, return monies raised specifically for the project and use the balance to subsidise the Centres operation. This would be difficult for customers and volunteers given the effort put in to date and the expectations raised.

Ultimately the Centre could call on its Founders Capital which can be used in extremes. This would be a drastic measure because using capital might present a short term fix, it would result in reduced investment income in the medium to long term, further exacerbating the problem.

Oxfordshire Play Association		Ref	SRev22-24/ 14
Project name Wheatley Junior Youth Club, Didcot / Vauxhall Barracks Playday, Wallingford / RAF Benson Playday, Berinsfield Playday, Wheatley Playday.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Oxfordshire Play Association delivers a service across the whole of Oxfordshire including South Oxfordshire, and delivers a number of different projects such as play & activity days.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Wheatley Junior Youth Club, Didcot / Vauxhall Barracks Play and Activity Day, Wallingford / RAF Benson Play and Activity Day, Berinsfield Play and Activity Day,Wheatley Play and Activity Day. Diversifying Income Streams - upgrade IT systems, update our website to be more ‘interactional’ additional staff and trustees training.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Wheatley.
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£19,340	£21,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£2,660	£1,000
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£44,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£67,847
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£22,613	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2021-2022) £3,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising, and for diversifying income streams. The funding forecast suggests a reliance on grant funding but no gaps have been identified.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/19 and 2019/2020 show balanced budgets, however the 2020/2021 budget has been negatively affected by COVID19, leading to an overall reduction in services. Whilst there appears to be some depletion of their reserves due to the pandemic, with little explanation in the application, officers can see it is still within the organisation’s reserves parameters.	Score	2/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need; consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents.	Score	4/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Outcomes in the target monitoring form are based on delivering the playdays and youth club, rather than the outcomes they will help to achieve. There is no fundraising target (other than to ensure the events happen).	Score	2/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Extensive evidence provided including testimonal from partner organisation.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate the well-being benefits physically and mentally in their activities, including use of outdoor space and works towards combating loneliness and isolation.	Score	3/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? An equality policy or statement in place, the applicant gives some evidence to affirm that the organisation follows the key equality objectives by offering free entrance and free activities for all with no restrictions on access.	Score	1/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Whilst we do not ask Oxfordshire wide organisations to pro rata annual operational costs across the five Oxfordshire districts; the panel may wish to take this into consideration when approving the amount to award.	Total score	25/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

After consulting with our community partners and Wheatley Parish Council we have identified that there is currently no provision for an Open Access, Junior Youth Club offered in Wheatley.

For our ‘Play & Activity Day’ project / events we have conducted evaluations with both service users, local organisations and local Councils over the 12 years since we started to deliver the project.The need and benefit for this project has always come through strongly in these evaluations.

For our Berinsfield event in 2021 a team from SODC attended and commented on how positive the event was and how successful their local consultation at the event had been.

There are no other organisations delivering large scale Community Play Day events which offer both FREE entrance and FREE activities which ensure an inclusion for ALL.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

For Wheatley Junior Youth Club we have identified possible locations after consulting with our local partners; Merry Bells, United Reformed Church, Rugby Club, New Club, Wheatley Park School or the Maple Tree Centre.Should funding be confirmed we will immediately undertake a consultation with the children & young people via the local schools to finalise / confirm project details including location, timings and the type of activities to be offered.

For our ‘Play & Activity Day’ project we always work closely with local partners in both the planning and delivery of each event to ensure we are meeting local need with local people.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

For Wheatley Junior Youth Club we will work in close partnership with Wheatley Parish Council and also the early years network in Southern Oxon which includes staff from SODC in both the delivery and planning of this project.
Local PCSO's will be an integral part of the project as will other groups in Wheatley such as Wheatley Rugby Club, Wheatley Karate, Wheatley Youth Football Club and the Maple Tree Centre.

For our ‘Play & Activity Day’ project we will work in close partnership with SODC, local Town & Parish Councils, armed forces bases, housing associations and other local groups who work with children, young people and their families.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

4250

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Our main target group for these projects will be children, young people and their families.

All of our projects are offered FREE of charge to service users thus ensuring an inclusion for all. We do not have any restrictions on access and so all our projects are universally accessable for all.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Our projects will look to encourage the following 'Life Skills' / 'Life Choices' which will see less pressure on services in the future, on an 'Invest to Save' basis;

Increased participation = Sense of belonging to their community, communication between young people and adults, the ability to influence others, and on behalf of others, or takes on a representative role.

Active citizenship = volunteering, awareness of local & global issues, social action, employment, education and training.

All of our projects will offer and promote positive activities and behaviours to children & young people and increase their social interaction with others (this will be particularly relevant to Year six children as they prepare to make the transition to secondary school, and the older children as they transition to life as a teenager).

We will also promote healthy lifestyles, increased levels of physical activity and promote healthy weight management which will all contribute to improved levels of physical and mental wellbeing for the children & young people in attendance.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Wheatley Junior Youth Club - Delivery of a 2 hour Junior Youth Club for 48 weeks of the year over 2 years.

Play & Activity Days - delivery of 4, large scale, FREE community events each year for 2 years.

For children & young people

1)         Promote positive behaviours & activities (reduce anti-social behaviour)
2)         Promote increased levels of physical activity
3)         Promote a healthy lifestyle (healthy choices)
4)         Promote healthy weight management (obesity reduction)
5)         Provide information on services and activities to promote a sense of wellbeing and Inclusion

For parents / carers

1)         Provide an event / project offering both FREE entrance & FREE activities to ensure an inclusion for ALL
2)         Demonstrate how play & quality family time can be achieved on a zero / minimal budget using natural & recycled materials
3)         provide information on services and activities available in the local and wider area

For communities

1)         Encourage a greater sense of belonging to promote active & engaged communities – ‘Love Where You Live’
2)         Promote local clubs, groups and societies
3)         Involve local groups, communities and children & young people in the planning and delivery of each event / project.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

All of our Playday projects are delivered using local outdoor spaces which the vast majority of local residents can access on foot. Key themes running through each event will include the promotion and provision of improved physical activity, promotion and provision of positive activities and behaviours, promotion of healthier lifestyles (including diet) and encouraging community building.

We invite local clubs, groups and organisations to be part of the events to promote and support the local community / economy and we encourage and promote local clubs, groups and organisation to ensure that the event is relevant to the community in which we are working.

Our project has been running for 12 years now and each year we have more requests for project delivery / events than we can deliver. Local communities see the project as an excellent way to build stronger communities whilst promoting both physical and mental wellbeing.

Our Junior Youth Club project will mirror the aims above and will be held outside wherever possible, this is a 12 month service, and so there are occasions where delivery will be inside, but the key fact is that we are giving young people a safe space to meet.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

ALL of our projects and events offer both FREE entrance and FREE activities to ensure an Inclusion for all.
There are no restrictions on access and we welcome everybody to our projects / events equally

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

The shortfall will be raised from other sources such as Oxfordshire County Council / Councillor Priority Fund, Town and Parish Councils, Housing Associations, Armed Forces Funding and other Grants and Trusts.

Style Acre		Ref	SRev22-24/ 15
Project name Ways to Wellness : Inspire
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Style Acre empowers 270 adults with learning disabilities and autism to live life to the full through; Supported living care teams in 35 homes throughout Oxfordshire (62% in South Oxfordshire) Three community hubs in Wallingford, Didcot and Banbury Outreach services providing community support in Wallingford, Didcot, Thame and Banbury Gardening sessions at a market garden in Wantage, at our hubs or at home. Work Programme to support work placements in our social enterprises or at local companies Ways to Wellness project so people can develop their health and wellbeing.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund To continue with and expand the Ways to Wellness project and support adults with learning disabilities and autism to do more things that will improve their physical and mental health. The project will provide information and opportunities to participate in activities that will help health and wellbeing. The project will promote activities that help people feel good. Sports and physical activity will be championed further, the project has created accessible tennis and football sessions this year. Promoting mental wellbeing will remain a key focus through new activities and consolidating mental health first aid training and awareness. To expand the wellbeing activities available locally and wherever possible open them up to adults with learning disabilities who are not supported by Style Acre. The project extends beyond people we support to volunteers and employees who will also participate in training and wellbeing activities. We will work with professional film makers to enable the people we support to make a promotional film about Style Acre and a film about how people can benefit from wellbeing activities. As well as helping Style Acre to generate new income and opportunities, people we support will grow through learning new film related skills and being involved in the creative process. Newly acquired film skills can then be used for future projects and activities, enabling us to create accessible, visual content which will help us to promote our appeals, events, social enterprises and good news stories.
District reach District-wide
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£19,250	£20,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£4,000	£1,000
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£44,250
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/202	£8,949,522
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£2,982.875	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £76,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. It is unclear what is restricted and unrestricted funds.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets, officers note an increase in services/activities with a clear explanation for depletion of reserves.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents benefit from the service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Whilst district wide reach no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provied provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents, improves community wellbeing and training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented with service users and evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users, delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	33/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The beneficiaries of the project we are seeking funding for are adults with learning disabilities and autism who have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, and who often need support to improve their physical health and mental wellbeing and to access wellbeing opportunities. The pandemic has meant many people we support are feeling anxious and less motivated than they normally would be. Longer term effects on the mental and physical wellbeing of the people we support were starting to become apparent. We have been doing everything we can to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on both the physical and mental wellbeing of the people we support, including developing our Ways to Wellness Programme which encourages people to work towards goals to improve their mental health and activity levels. We expanded our Ways to Wellness programme in 2021 thanks to a grant from Oxfordshire County Council Public Health so that adults with learning disabilities and autism can access extra support, activities and advice to improve their mental wellbeing. Our support teams identified the need for wellbeing activities through their daily observations and interactions with people we support and the positive results from earlier projects.

Style Acre has been supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism in Oxfordshire since 1995. We are rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission. Our Ways to Wellness programme is best suited to meeting the health and wellbeing needs of adults with learning disabilities as we can demonstrate a successful track record of developing partnership projects that result in successful, accessible well-being opportunities for people we support, volunteers and employees.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

People we support have shaped the development of the programme through the Ways to Wellness Stars group. As Stars, people gave their views as to what the programme should offer, what the projects monthly activity packs should contain and the design of the wellbeing journals that were produced and which have been distributed across the charity. Our Stars acted as advocates for our wellbeing projects, featuring their participation on social media and telling their peers what they were doing and how it was helping them, to encourage others to join in.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We have worked in partnership to develop several Ways to Wellness activities to date, partners include Blewbury Tennis Club with whom we have established a weekly accessible tennis session and Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust with whom we have delivered wildlife workshops and Falcon Canoe Club with whom we have just delivered a taster canoeing session. We recognise the value of working with other organisations and have established some productive partnerships through our Ways to Wellness project. As well as continuing our work with Active Oxfordshire and the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, we aim to work with other local learning disability providers to promote and open up our sessions to a wider audience. We anticipate that the majority of the wellbeing activities we create will involve joint working. There is also potential for us to share resources such as our activity packs with other organisations such as schools and care homes.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

350

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

The main beneficiaries of the activities will be adults with learning disabilities and autism, social care employees and volunteers. We currently support 270 adults with learning disabilities and autism across Oxfordshire and over half live in South Oxfordshire. Our person-centred support ranges from 24-hour care for those with complex learning, health and /or physical disabilities to a few hours support per week for those who live more independently.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

By promoting and delivering mental and physical wellbeing activities for adults with learning disabilities and autism, our project complements the work of the District Council's Active Communities team by providing safe, supported opportunities for people to get active. Similarly, our work complements the Move Together initiative which provides personalised support for vulnerable adults to get active.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

The outcomes include that people will report increased wellbeing, we will know if we have achieved this through our regular feedback surveys and through requesting feedback about specific activities. This outcome is based on 90% of the 350 people who benefit reporting increased wellbeing.

A full time Ways to Wellness Co-ordinator post will result in increased opportunities for adults with learning disabilities and autism to participate in both physical activity sessions and mental wellbeing activities. We are also planning a Wellness Festival for 2022 to promote wellbeing amongst people we support, employees and families. A full time Co-ordinator will enable us to develop a significant number of new wellbeing sessions over the next two years and to support the existing activities. As well as providing direct support for some sessions, the Co-ordinator will recruit volunteers and work with our support teams and partner organisations to ensure all activities are risk assessed and appropriately managed and delivered.

To date our Ways to Wellness programme has resulted in some wonderful new community partnerships that enable people we support to be involved in their community and benefit from the expertise of partner organisations. We look forward to developing more partnerships that will result in more targeted, accessible wellbeing opportunities for people we support and the wider learning disability community.

Creating a new promotional film will help us attract supporters and partners, it will help us to show people what we do and the different ways that people can benefit from our support. We do not currently have a film showing our work and it will be a great way of engaging new supporters, partners and those who may want to receive support. We can share it on our website and social media and will monitor views and shares.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

The Ways to Wellness project has been expanded and structured to combat the negative effects of the pandemic on people's wellbeing. It is focussed on promoting wellbeing for adults with learning disabilities who are a community that need additional support to access services. People tell us that our support makes them feel happier, less isolated and more involved in their community.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

This project will directly contribute to the equality objectives to 'support communities to deliver better outcomes for disadvantaged groups and encourage community cohesion'. The primary aim of these wellbeing activities is to deliver better outcomes for adults with learning disabilities and autism and to increase people's involvement in their community. Adults with learning disabilities and autism often need support to access the opportunities that most of us take for granted. Our Ways to Wellness projects will create accessible opportunities based in the community that are designed to lead to healthier, happier lives for vulnerable adults. We will know that we have been successful through feedback forms and case studies from specific activities and from our annual feedback surveys which reports back on things like how people feel our support is helping them to feel more independent, to learn skills and to be involved in their local community.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We will fundraise to cover the shortfall in funding. We will primarily approach charitable trusts, local groups and individual donors to request support for Ways to Wellness: Inspire. We are fortunate to have a small number of regular trust and individual donors who may agree to support this project, if they do this could meet the majority of the shortfall. The project has been met with great positivity and appreciation from employees, people we support and their families, so an online fundraising appeal is another option to meet any shortfall.

South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA)		Ref	SRev22-24/ 16
Project name Nourish & Flourish
What the organisation does and how it supports residents SOFEA is an innovative education and training charity with a strong track record in enabling disadvantaged young people to (re)engage with learning, skills development and work. Each week SOFEA provides 0.7 tonnes of food to 8 CFMs and 2.9 tonnes through 3 Community Larders.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Using the convening power of food, the Nourish & Flourish programme provides practical skills development, education and information for children, parents and staff about nutrition, cooking skills and lifestyle, helping to reduce the rates of obesity and the financial, social and emotional costs of Type-2 diabetes and other long-term diseases. Bringing together social prescribing and the value of community cooking, the programme will engage parents through the Community Larders, providing advice and guidance for preparing nutritious meals and improving the health and wellbeing of their children and themselves Nourish & Flourish is a health and wellbeing programme that helps pupils and parents to: 1.Improve knowledge of healthy food groups and diets. 2.Understand what constitutes unhealthy eating habits. 3.Learn practical cooking skills and prepare affordable, accessible healthy meals. 4. Appreciate the benefits of eating as a family/eating together in the home. 5. Engage children with local health professionals.
District reach To launch in Didcot and then progress into Berinsfield, Henley-on-Thames, Thame and Wallingford.
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£100,936	£86,042
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£24,064	£38,958
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£250,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£1,070,256 evidenced in accounts (although applicant stated £2,088,594)
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£365,716	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £105,000 Containing Outbreak Management Fund Grant Award (2021) £15,000 Containing Outbreak Management Fund Grant Award, (2021) £5,478 Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2021/2022) £9,620 DEFRA Grant (2020) £4,850

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Whilst an ambitious and detailed three-year plan with no gaps in funding predicted, currently a significant portion of annual income is unsecured and it is not clear how income is divided between restricted and unrestricted.	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/19 - 2019/2020 balanced budgets, 2020/2021 budget affected by COVID 19 or other factors, overall a significant increase in services/activities. It has a reserves policy, the organisation has required further use of reserves, and a clear explanation has been provided.	Score	4/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ resident and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and ambitious with measurable outcomes for residents and an increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting from this new initiative.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Extensive evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. Alongside, improving physical health and mental wellbeing.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users and evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note, should the panel wish to, consideration could be given the funding the first tranche of the scheme in the Didcot area only. Officers note the applicant has applied to the SODC Capital grant scheme 2021-2022 ‘Refurbishing of commercial kitchen’ Project which will support the Nourish and Flourish project by offering on onsite facility for a cookery school in addition to outreach in community venues.	Total score	35/43

Applicant responses
Community Need and Consultation
Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.	Nourish & Flourish meets Oxfordshire’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2018-23): - Addressing inequalities: targeting groups with worse outcomes including childhood obesity. - Preventing childhood obesity – one of four focal areas for the Health Improvement Board. - Providing a delivery mechanism working on obesity, physical activity and mental health. - Preventing type-2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. In response to the Oxfordshire Health Inequality Commission report (October 2016), Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group published a series of further observations and recommendations including: - 25% of people with type-2 diabetes are undiagnosed. - Fewer people living in deprived areas attend health checks. - Rising rates of childhood obesity in some areas. - Poor educational attainment amongst children with free school meal status. - There are known strong links between obesity, smoking, teenage pregnancy and socioeconomic deprivation.
How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?	Having designed and delivered a number of food programmes for children, individual adults and families from vulnerable and disadvantaged communities (“holiday hunger”, Covid emergency provisions, Community Larders), we have regular conversations with those receiving food and “wrap around” services, as well as our partners throughout the supply system. These help us to evaluate the effectiveness and value of each programme and identify where we can improve the services. We are working with Dr Hart and Partners of the 3 Didcot GP practices to co-design the modular contents of Nourish & Flourish. Our partnership with Good Food Oxfordshire (GFO) stems from SOFEA’s provision of over 60% of the Covid emergency food supplies across Oxfordshire between March and August 2020 (GFO research, Sept 2020) and our key role with the regional Community Food Networks. As an independent organisation, GFO campaigns for sustainable food systems and the health benefits of consuming locally-produced, responsibly-grown food.
Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.	In addition to our strategic partnership with FareShare UK and our programme partnership with Didcot Primary Care Network, Good Food Oxfordshire and Alex Mackay we will look to collaborate with the 52 primary schools across South Oxfordshire and the 1,574 Year-5 pupils as well as local community groups across South Oxfordshire in areas where health inequality is evident. As a founding Trustee of the Didcot Community Partnership (DCP), SOFEA will support DCP initiatives that engage vulnerable individuals and families. Our research highlights the particular need for supporting young parents during the early years of a child’s life. Whilst a healthy diet and exercise is essential for the health and wellbeing of the mother, both parents, babies and growing children, the Nourish & Flourish programme will be adopted as part of the wider DCP services for local people. We will also work with our 6 Community Larder Partners across South Oxfordshire and broader community group networks supporting residents within deprived communities. SOFEA’s Community Larder toolkit includes a ‘Little Larder Club’ which engages the children of members with weekly activities and quizzes based around food and nutrition. The Nourish & Flourish programme will incorporate the ‘Little Larder Club’ activities when delivered in Community Larder settings.
Community Benefit and Inclusion
How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?	2888
Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?	We estimate 2,888 beneficiaries as detailed below: 472 – 30% of the 1,574 year 5 pupils (2021/22 cohort) 1,576 – 100% of the 1,574 year 5 pupils (assumed 2022/23 cohort) 600 – 100% of the planned 600 Community Larder members 240 – children associated with the Family members Other beneficiaries will include those engaged through the Didcot Community Partnership and local parent and community groups as well as VCS partners. Whilst we expect the exponential growth of beneficiaries through these third-party partnerships, we cannot estimate the number of beneficiaries at this stage.
Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council	Nourish & Flourish will engage local children, adults and families, helping to improve their health and wellbeing through a series of shared experiences and life-long learning. By helping people to help themselves, the programme will reduce demands on local statutory health and wellbeing services. By reducing levels of obesity, Type-2 diabetes and associated chronic diseases, SODC would expect to see a reduction in sickness and disability benefits claims. Furthermore, with improved levels of health and fitness, the local economy would expect to benefit from greater productivity. The physical fitness element of Nourish & Flourish aligns with SODC’s “Active Communities” agenda.
Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation
What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?	Programme outcomes The Nourish & Flourish initiative will strengthen community engagement, acting as a catalyst for promoting health and wellbeing across age groups, whilst reducing health inequalities. Expected benefits including: - high levels of engagement with the programme; - improved cooking skills; - improved diet for the individual and their family; - increased levels of physical activity; - feeling generally fitter; - reduction of previous excess weight and therefore BMI score; - lowering of blood glucose levels and a reduction of diabetes risk; - reduced loneliness and isolation; - reduced anxiety and depression. For year-5 pupils, expected benefits include: - improved knowledge of nutrition and healthy food groups; - cooking self-efficacy; - recognition and knowledge of different fruits and vegetables; - willingness to try and regularly eat more varied and healthy foods; - a reduction in the consumption of fizzy drinks. For families, expected benefits include: - increase in family discussions about healthy diets; - participation in exercise; - having “purposeful” mealtimes together (not in front of the TV or eating separately). - improved cooking skills and preparation of homecooked meals (instead of take-aways and ready meals). Fundraising outcomes Over the last five years, SOFEA has increased its year-on-year income by an average of 47% (£400,000). Income typically comprises one-third each of grants, contracts and revenue. Success of our fundraising and income generation activities, supported by Salesforce, will be seen by an increase of more than £400,000 per year. We expect to see even increases across all three income types.
How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?	Allied to SOFEA’s mission statement, the Nourish & Flourish programme addresses key health and wellbeing concerns facing of vulnerable groups, many of whom we support through the Community Larders and our education and employability programmes, as well as through our partnerships with other VCS organisations.
How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?	Every new service that we introduce is created in conjunction with the individuals and communities that will benefit from the service. We appreciate that service users only fully engage when they feel “invested”, either through consultation about the service or as a result of their physical involvement in the delivery of the service (often as a volunteer or peer support worker). The best example of this is the Community Larder programme that has grown from one larder in 2018 to a network of over 20 across the Thames Valley and South Midlands supporting over 2000 members. The Larder growth has been driven by local community groups requesting our support for vulnerable individuals and families. By working closely with local partners and allowing them to launch and run their own Larder, the local membership grows around well-connected and trusted figureheads. SOFEA holds these relationships lightly to allow each local community to build the model that is right for them – providing food as well as a range of “wrap around” services that help members to address health and wellbeing, financial advice and money management, connection to social tariffs, etc.
Financial Sustainability
If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?	We anticipate that any shortfall will be met through other grant funding secured through local and national trusts and foundations. SOFEA’s ongoing fundraising activities includes strategic multi-year applications to the National Lottery Community Fund, Magnox (the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s socio-economic fund) and Youth Futures Foundation. Having been supported by 62 donors last year, we are developing campaigns to build on their previous commitment and engage them with our future plans. Similarly, whilst we plan to develop a social enterprise from our commercial kitchen, we will also reinvest any surplus income from this venture into the Nourish & Flourish programme.

My Life My Choice (MLMC)		Ref	SRev22-24/ 17
Project name MLMC in South Oxfordshire
What the organisation does and how it supports residents We are an independent, multi-award winning user-led charity (including the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2017) with all 15 of our trustees having a learning disability. As well as promoting choice, empowerment and participation, we provide volunteering, training, social and paid work opportunities that combat loneliness & isolation and lead to more fulfilling lives.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund · A contribution towards our overall running costs. · To develop and implement a legacy fundraising scheme. Our South Oxfordshire membership is steadily growing and becoming more and more engaged. We want to continue this trend and a grant from SODC will be of significant help towards this.
District reach Chalgrove, Chinnor, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Sonning Common, Thame, Wallingford, Wheatley.
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£13,774	£14,274
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£2,000	£1,500
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£31,548
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£322,496
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£107,487	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £21,176


Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Some over reliance on certain income streams. Doesn't appear to be a plan to reduce budget deficits.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Whilst a deficit in 2018/2019 a balanced budget overall, increase in services/activities and officers note some growth in balance carried forward.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need and substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents will benefit from the service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Very good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. Alongside improving health and physical wellbeing, with some beneficiaries accessing volunteer and paid work through the charity.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users and evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	34/43

Applicant responses
Community Need and Consultation
Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.	Through our membership base, inclusive model of working, extensive networks, and 23 years of organisational experience MLMC is well placed to understand the needs of people with a learning disabilty locally. MLMC serves on many focus groups, consultations and forums e.g Thames Valley Police Advisory Group, the local NHS's Integrated Care System (ICS), and Oxfordshire County Council, which helps to inform our plans and activities. At the core of how we identify need is our ongoing engagement (through self-advocacy groups, daily contact, surveys etc.) with our membership base and then by having the ultimate decision making body (the trustees) being of, and being annually elected by, the membership. Above all, we believe that our services/activities are the right ones for our membership because they are choosen by the membership themselves.
How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?	Lived experience informs our work and is embedded both within the organisation’s governance and operations. Every MLMC project has beneficiaries leading the way, supported by staff. The Board of 15 Trustees (all of whom have a learning disability) make the key decisions for the charity and are annually elected by the 600+ strong charity membership whom they represent. Four lead trustees meet weekly with the Charity Coordinator to ensure regular and direct control over charity direction and HR. Our values and model of governance means that the charity’s beneficiaries are in the driving seat at all times, either as democratic voters, project leads, campaigners or as trustees. Members know what they need, and they have power in deciding upon how to address that need. Views and experiences of the members, whilst engaging with our activities, inform the trustees, providing a regular check on whether need is being met. Furthermore, for example, we conducted a telephone survey of 150 members prior to deciding upon our Covid response, and receive regular input from trustees, Champions, members using services (e.g. Travel Buddy), and via our self-advocacy groups (including self-advocacy group members in Henley and Didcot). Formal reviews, focus groups, personal development plans, and 1-to-1 interviews also check on whether individual need is being met.
Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.	MLMC has a considerable record of collaboration and partnership working. Presently we work with organisations such as NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Learning Disability England, Mencap (who have commissioned £25K of consultancy supprt from us), National Development Team for Inclusion, British Association of Social Workers, Universities (local and national), and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. In South Oxfordshire we have strong relationships with support providers Style Acre and Mencap who also make referrals as do local occupational therapists, social workers, GPs, family carers, and community nurses. Local Trusts and Foundations in South Oxfordshire that support our work include Invesco Cares Foundation, Lions Club of Henley, and John Hodges Charitable Trust.
Community Benefit and Inclusion
How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?	81
Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?	People with a learning disability will be the direct and main beneficiaries of our services. The services additionally provide respite for family carers and/or support workers. For example, a two hour self-advocacy group meeting means two hours where a family carer and/or support worker has 'free' time, a three hour social event through our Gig Buddies project does likewise, whereas an individual who receives travel training/support may reach a level of travel independence that frees up considerable time for a family carer and/or support worker.
Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council	The range of activities and support that MLMC offers helps to reduce loneliness and isolation, builds skills and confidence, educates, empowers individuals, and gives purpose. It is often challenging to establish a direct link but this work undoubtedly helps to reduce demand on such provision as day services, mental & physical health services, police time, and formal advocacy services commissioned by the local authority (e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau), for example. MLMC works closely with Oxfordshire's public sector helping to develop services and keep public sector officers aware of how things "are on the ground" for people with a learning disability. Our members serve on boards and advisory groups for Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council and local NHS bodies, for example. Staff from the public sector (e.g. Community Police Officers) visit our self-advocacy groups to give and receive information. We engage with local councillors and MPs also, helping to keep them abreast of the needs of their constituents with a learning disability.
Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation
What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?	Outcomes for our members from South Oxfordshire will be as follows: The Foundation for Social Improvement’s (FSI) independent Impact Review of MLMC’s work in 2016/17 highlighted the following outcomes for beneficiaries, which remain true today and are what we monitor: • Increased independence, confidence, knowledge, skills and employability • Paid work opportunities • Improved health and physical wellbeing • Reduced loneliness and isolation • Increased respite for family carers and support workers • Increased understanding of needs amongst professionals, public sector and the wider public leading to improved attitudes and services, and a reduction in stigma. Fundraising generation: Over the two year period we aim to have an established and embedded Legacy Fundraising programme in place. The programme will have been promoted and we would expect at least 2 pledges.
How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?	By supporting our members to have a 'voice' we contribute towards broader engagement and increased public participation. Action on Climate Emergency: Encouraging staf fthrough, for example, Cycle to work Scheme to avoid private car use. Our travel buddy scheme supports people to travel by walking, cycling, and public transport. Improved economic and community well being: By operating in South Oxfordshire we spend money there e.g. rent for group meetings. Our work strengthens community cohesion, reduces social isolation and supports some of the most deprived citizens in the area. Some beneficiaries will access volunteer and paid work through the charity.
How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?	"Our projects, policies, strategies, services and communication take account of all users": People with a learning disability are some of the most disadvantaged in society. MLMC works to ensure that their voice is heard and their needs are met e.g. providing accessible Easy Read information for Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire CCG, and Thames Valley Police. Our members take part in focus groups, consultations, surveys etc. to help develop policies, strategies and services.
Financial Sustainability
If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?	The shortfall would be covered by income from the charities general income and, if need be, from reserves.

Didcot Train Inspiring Young People		Ref	SRev22-24/ 18
Project name Support for the safe and positive development of the Young People of Didcot and its immediate surroundings for the benefit of themselves, their families, our community residents and society.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Didcot TRAIN inspiring young people provides Didcot and the immediate surrrounding’s young people (YP) with support with addressing the multiple challenges they face, which in post pandemic era is increasingly focused upon mental health and resilience, building self-esteem, providing opportunities to gainfully and positively use their time constructively, avoid being drawn into dangerous and risky undertaking's and helping them to recognise and access the full range of choices they have for how they lead their lives.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund We will continue to provide a broad spread of in person and digital services and activities. Our core services include detached, outreach and planned and focused youth work activities. Core services and activities we provide include half term and full term holiday activities where we plan a daily schedule and have a main event per week; Dinner & Debate, LBGT revamped, ‘Participation Pathways’ programme, detached and outreach, the established ‘Head Start’ programme for year 6 , group & 1:1 mentoring. New activities we are offering include open access sports sessions, Art Therapy Programmes namely ‘Art in Mind’ at TRAIN now we are co-creating ‘Mind The Gap’ in secondary schools for Yr 8 and 9 (13-15). We will develop a new Yr 5 programme along the lines of ‘Head Start.’ The hire of a professional fundraiser to help us raise our local profile and better exploit social media channels by organising community fundraising events, in order to increase our funding from local corporates and individual donors.
District reach Didcot South, Didcot West, Didcot North East
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£31,800	£31,505
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£5,700	£5,871
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£74,876
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£112,314
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£37,434	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes, adjusted to less than 33.33% of operating costs. Adjusted to £74,868 - total grant amount over the two-year period
Previous funding awarded: 5-year Revenue Grant Award (2017–2022) £92,396 Councillor Grant Award (2020/2021) £750

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Overall a balanced detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets, officers note some growth in reserves.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents will benefit from this service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services, or indirectly, will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	2/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable, officer notes an increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting, in 2023/2024.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/a - No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents and training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users and evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	36/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

We have a proven track record of contributing to the reduction of crime and the fear of crime in the community of Didcot. Our close working relationship with the Police and local agencies, and long experience working in and for Didcot, means TRAIN is extremely well-placed to target the kinds of ASB that particularly concern the local community.

TRAIN has been helping young people for a whole generation and employs staff and volunteers who were helped when they were in need of TRAIN's activities. We are recognised and trusted as the go-to organisation for YP by all of the Secondary schools and are advancing our relationships further. This includes working with Primary schools in the area and our links are wide and deep.

The Police and Children’s Services have identified several situations in Didcot where young people are at risk. The Community Safety Partnership has given TRAIN a grant for every year since 2016/17 to provide part of the support provision to young people at risk. We are building upon the results of that recently enhanced initiative as a Violence Reduction Hub active member.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

Our Chairman is a Trustee of Didcot Community Partnership and a co-opted Board representative of Didcot First and so regularly engages with other key community stakeholders and keeps proactively engaged in the affairs of the community.

Our direct service users, our young people, have a great say in our service delivery and activities. As well as post activity in person informal and formal feedback, in session evaluations and individual evaluation forms such as self awareness & self esteem, parental and YP testimonies and case studies. We also use Warwick and Edinburgh scale surveys a great deal. We also use instagram polls in particular, and all forms of social media communication channels that our service users will use to capture comments and feedback. They will also vote with their feet if they have not enjoyed or been interested by a service we have provided!

Our service users have also been heavily involved for some years in recruitment exercises/assimilations for new Youth Workers and on interview panels.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

Our working relationship with The Abingdon Bridge is going from strength to strength thanks largely to their excellent CEO and their open desire to work together. We have successfully co-designed and delivered the Mental Health and Wellbeing pilot programme called ‘‘Art in Mind’’ in St Birinus Secondary School. It consisted of six weeks of workshops with year eight & nine students. Its aim is to support young people and their understanding of self-management and awareness of their mental health and wellbeing.

Damascus undertake similar work to us on an adjacent geography and we have strengthened our working together at Youth Worker level. Presently we are sharing intelligence about YP who traverse across our geographic boundaries in order that we can ensure that they are not "going below the radar" and getting involved in things with a degree of camouflage/invisibility. We have entered discussions with Princes Trust where Alex, our Youth Work Manager, was previously employed, and are exploring the viability of co-running their Achieve programme. This is a 20 unit training module which is specifically for those young people who will not gain GCSE qualifications or those who will not have been excluded from attending school. We are also in discussions with Oxford United Youth and Community Team amongst others to pilot new ventures.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

500

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

The different groups of people in our community who benefit from the service/activities we provide include:

-Vulnerable young persons and those persons or organisations not particularly or obviously recognised as vulnerable.

-Beneficiaries are such as those exposed to D&A pushing, misuse/abuse, isolated single parents, economically disadvantaged families, brothers and sisters of those we directly support who will be influenced by sibling behaviour, members of the community who will benefit from community projects, educationally disadvantaged such as those expelled from mainstream educational activities and those close to being excluded.

-Those who cannot for whatever reason fit into traditional mainstream school disciplines, young people who practice truancy and are then at risk of being criminally exploited.

-Those who are displaying boredom because they have nothing meaningful to do, would typically hang around town and cause anti-social nuisance and worse.

-Secondary and Primary Schools through our range of activities from 1:1 Mentoring to Group Mentoring to Art Therapy programmes or Head Start programmes for those being prepared to move up to Secondary Schools.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Our services complement council services as we provide many activities which can be categorized as proactive and "early intervention". Historically prior to 2015, services would have been provided by the council, and since that time period we have advanced, enhanced and expanded those young people services that we provide

We are also collaborating with SODC resources on aligned goals and we are creating a sports based activity to maximise the benefit our young people and capture sustainable benefits.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

All indications are that the pandemic has had a major impact on our young people and the key area that has been affected is Mental Health.

We will teach our young people all aspects of how to build resilience, how to create physical and mental balance, understanding of factors that trigger anxieties, how to be in control and manage their emotional and physical responses and those of others.

We will partner with other like minded organisations as appropriate and increase our competent volunteer capacity to expand our effectiveness.

We will continue to penetrate deeper and have a greater impact working in our schools, who remain a major outlet for our essential work and also a referral source.

We are also committed to reducing the ASB incidents as part of our membership in the new Thames Valley Police Violence Reduction Hub and to becoming a key player in that Hub. Issues are being discussed holistically across the wider area and we are focusing on the needs of specific young people, seeking to predict and intercept problems before they happen, sharing best practices, and collaborating; all for the benefit of the young peoples needs by proactive avoidance.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We will help our young people in the community to strengthen cohesion, reduce social isolation and tackle areas of deprivation by the work we do in relation to Mental Health. We will deliver increases in self esteem, reduced incidents of ASB and improved well being as a direct result of the project activities.

We will contribute to the council equality objectives by seeking out those who are isolated and suffering from loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. We mandated Mental Health First Aid training for our staff and they are competent in Mental Health. That capability will be passed onto our young people through awareness raising and training sessions.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

All of our services are free which makes them highly inclusive and accessible with the single exception of our Youth Club/Hangout which is 50p entry fee. Our work is focussed on young people who are vulnerable. We are totally inclusive and practise equality on every level. The only sessions which are not open access, are those where there is a programme selection criteria. In terms of minority we have a BAME group and we have a regular number of young people who identify as LBGTQ+. We also have young men’s and young women’s groups as well to allow certain topics to be raised which could be done in a safe and confidential environment without members of the other sex present.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We track successful bids against our budget and re-forecast as necessary depending upon the overall success of fundraising against budget and examination of other predicted costs and income. If the underperformance is thought to be significant, we look to increase targeted funding applications. As a last resort we would make operational changes, as illustrated at the start of the pandemic when we furloughed one youth worker and deferred the replacement of our Youth Worker Delivery Manager.

Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB)		Ref	SRev22-24/ 19
Project name Community Engagement Project
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB) was established in 1877 to provide support and services for blind and partially sighted people living in the county. Our services include: information and advice, equipment demonstration and loan, technology training, counselling, befriending (telephone and in person), social groups and sports, children's activities, awareness raising and campaigning.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Our services and support for blind and visually impaired people include: information and advice, equipment demonstration, technology training, counselling, befriending, social groups and sporting activities. It will fund a dedicated Community Engagement Worker working in the South Oxfordshire district. This person would provide advice, information and guidance specific to sight loss, within the community and in individuals homes. The service would include: Creating dedicated information days at local libraries and community centres across the district, once a month. Setting up and supporting social gatherings in local coffee shops and community centres, providing peer-to-peer support. Visiting clients within their home, for those who cannot attend a local information day. Setting up befriending partnerships locally with the support of the volunteer coordinator. Providing Visual Impairment Awareness Training to local community groups and organisations. Working with other organisations to ensure joined up support is provided. To ensure we can sustain this project after the two-year funding period we would recruit a Community Fundraiser to work specifically in the district to maximise income.
District reach District-wide
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£26,571	£26,799
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£13,235	£13,602
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£80,207
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£223,783
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£74,587	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £27,500

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Each financial year appears to show significant gaps in balancing the budget, officers note some growth in reserves, no indication that services either reduced or increased.	Score	2/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from this service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Whilst full district-wide reach, however, no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable. Officer notes a potential increase in client base in 2023/2024.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents, training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people, at the heart of the improving service design and delivery. Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Whilst we do not ask Oxfordshire wide organisations to pro rata annual operational costs across the five Oxfordshire districts, the panel may wish to take this into consideration when approving the amount to award.	Total score	36/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

According to RNIB data toolkit 2021 there are 23,400 people in Oxfordshire living with sight loss. Approximately 5,380 of these people are living within South Oxfordshire; this equates to 4% of the general population. In South Oxfordshire we currently have 555 visually impaired clients and 106 carers/family members on our database. We regularly support around 50% of these people each year (this data is taken from our CRM, Charitylog). Although some of our services can be provided over the telephone, we still need to provide face-to-face support when demonstrating equipment, setting up tech, and to ensure we are providing a personal, local service.

Transport is a major issue for blind and partially sighted people, meaning there is a greater need for our vital work to be within the local community. A study conducted by RNIB found that four out of every 10 blind and partially sighted people were not able to make all the journeys that they wanted or needed to make, and around half required support to get out of the house, (My Voice 2015 RNIB). The same study went on to say: Four out every 10 blind and partially sighted people felt moderately or completely cut off from people and things around them. This was of particular concern for those over 75 years of age, with over half of this group living alone.

Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB) have been providing services in the county since 1877, originally this was a home teaching service, so we have a long history in the county providing local community-based support.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

In January 2021, we conducted a stakeholder survey consulting our clients, volunteers, staff, professionals and supporters. It showed us that 40% of our clients were aware of our equipment demonstration service and only 29% were aware of our technology training service. We believe this is because these services are predominantly provided at our centre and not in the wider community.

One of our key objectives in our five year plan is to ensure we have a greater community presence, based on these results. The survey clearly showed that there was a distinct difference in how people perceived OAB from within Oxford to those elsewhere in Oxfordshire. Gathering data is important for us to develop our services. Having a community presence will enable us to listen to people within their communities and to understand the needs in different areas. We are constantly learning and developing the best way to do this, but it is and will continue to be at the core of what we do.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We currently collaborate with the following organisations:
Oxfordshire County Council Visual Impairment Team
Oxford Eye Hospital
RNIB
Guide Dogs
Macular Society
Blind Veterans UK
DAWN Talking News
Wallingford Talking News
Henley Talking News
Oxtalk – Talking News
Age UK Oxfordshire
Carers’ Oxfordshire
For our Community Engagement Project we will look to work more closely with Age UK Oxfordshire’s Community Link Workers and hold some joint activities and information sessions.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

1076

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Our project is for anyone with a visual impairment living in South Oxfordshire. Visual Impairment is defined as an inability to see well even with glasses or contact lenses. This can range from mild to severe visual impairment. The latest RNIB figures suggest there are 5,380 people in South Oxfordshire living with some form of visual impairment, from mild to severe. We would estimate with a more local presence we would be able to provide services to one fifth of these people. Many of those aged over 75 will also be living with other disabilities and conditions. Visual impairment can affect anyone, regardless of gender, race, sexuality or background. We aim to create a fully inclusive service that is open to all.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We work very closely with the County Council Visual Impairment Team. Providing a joined-up approach that ensures visually impaired people receive a good service. This can include working together to find the best solution for clients, joint team training and events. For instance, the statutory service does not provide equipment demonstration or technology assistance, or befriending, they look more at mobility and safety within the home. None of our services are duplicated by the local authority.

It is estimated that visual impairment costs the local economy (Oxfordshire) £291,300,000; this includes direct and indirect costs. With only 1 in 4 blind or partially sighted people of working age in employment, there is a large cost to our economy. We want to see more people working who can; and our support, training, advice and encouragement goes a long way in doing this. We also aim to engage visually impaired people with other voluntary activities in the community, helping them to feel they are contributing to the local community and enabling them to feel empowered. This can help improve overall wellbeing and mental health thus relying less on local authority services.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Service outcomes:
1. At least 75% of the people we have worked with feel more independent as a direct result
2. At least 75% of the people we have worked with feel the support they have received has positively affected their mental health and wellbeing
3. At least 75% of he people we have worked with feel more connected to their community
4. More South Oxfordshire organisations know of our services and support available to visually impaired people
5. 12 information drop in days are held in local libraries and community centres

Fundraising outcomes:
1. 50% of those we support donate to OAB
2. 25% of those we support donate on a regular basis
3. 10 new businesses each year take on a collection tin
4. 4 street and store collections are held each year
5. 100 people sign up to become a member of OAB
6. 2 businesses raise funds for us

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Our focus is to improve economic and community wellbeing.
This will be achieved in the following ways, and we will know we've been successful when we record:
1. A greater level of independence amongst visually impaired people.
2. A greater level of wellbeing and good mental health amongst visually impaired people.
3. An increased sense of connection with the community.

Being visually impaired can be isolating, but with the right adaptations and support to access services, people can be included in all sorts of local activities and social groups. This not only provides great connections for the visually impaired person, but it creates better awareness and understanding of visual impairment amongst the wider community.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

OAB is committed to ensuring everyone can access our services. We recognise that disability is a protected characteristic under the equality act and we work hard to fight for equality for visually impaired people. We also recognise that visual impairment can affect anyone and means we will have a diverse client base. We want to ensure our services reflect the diversity of the community around us. In order to know if we have been successful we endeavour to continue building on the feedback we receive from our clients and service users. Our survey in January 2021 has shaped much of the development of our work this year, and will continue to do so. Lived experience is also at the heart of everything we do.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

N/A

Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre		Ref	SRev22-24/ 20
Project name Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre will continue to provide services to Berinsfield and surrounding area aneact to any new issues that arise.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre offers help and advice to residents in Berinsfield and surrounding areas.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund To continue to deliver current support/advice services.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Didcot South, Wallingford.
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£16,000	£16,800
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£800	£840
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£34,440
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£32,474
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£10,824	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes, adjusted to less than 33.33% of operating costs. Adjusted to £21,648 - total grant amount over the two-year period
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £67,452.

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Whilst a realistic three-year plan, it does not include evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams, with no narrative on how the allocated money will be spent and a year-on-year increasing deficit.	Score	1/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/19, 2019/2020 show deficit budgets, but 2020/21 shows an uplift in grants received, some depletion over the last three years with an explanation provided.	Score	2/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need with evidence of regular consultation with service users.	Score	3/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets mainly focused around tracking number of people helped for different services rather than direct outcomes as a result of those services, and no fundraising or internal capacity building targets. Targets do include an increase in the number of potential clients benefiting.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Evidence provided, testimonials provided do not provide information around collaboration or co-production.	Score	1/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation works towards combating loneliness and isolation, with some evidence of improving community wellbeing through organised events and ensuring residents are aware of activities in the village via distribution of village voice magazine.	Score	3/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Equality policy in place and implemented. Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users	Score	4/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	25/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

We work in an area which has pockets of deprivation. Clients with a range of issues, contact us in person, on the phone or via social media. We work closely with doctors, housing associations and other services on Berinsfield to identify the problems our clients face. We work with clients face to face or on the phone.

BIVC identifies new issues by liaising with other Berinsfield services, outside agencies, word of mouth or via our feedback sheets.
Our need is quite high due to low literacy skills and understanding, isolation and a general lack of confidence in dealing with everyday issues.This covers all ages, sexes and race.

We are the only advice centre on the village and surrounding rural areas. Our clients find it difficult to access other services in Wallingford and Oxford, as they have no means of transport and no money for the bus services.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We consult our clients on a face-to-face basis or ask them to complete a satisfaction survey. We work closely with the Berin Centre to identify specific needs and develop a strategy to help our clients. BIVC also works with the doctors, school, church and Parish Council and SODC to address issues such as during the pandemic. SODC uses us to coordinate services such as the voucher scheme, and we provide food and other items to the Aspire homes.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

BIVC works with Berin Centre, Health Centre, Cchurch, School, Youth Club, Wallingford Food Bank, Riverside Counselling, Sainsburys (who provide food for our emergency larder), Parish Council (who replace our emergency gas and electric reserve when used) and other services on the village when required. Our aim is to ensure our clients have a service they can rely on when they get into difficulties with housing, benefits or anything they may need. BIVC and the Berin Centre have developed a leaflet showing the services we both offer. We work with SODC when required, as evidenced during the pandemic and the new voucher scheme. BIVC also manages events on the Village such as the fete to help with isolation and provide a means of inclusion for everyone.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

3000

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

The elderly and isolated people; people within the deprived percentile; one-parent families; low income families; the homeless; ethnic minorities and people with language difficulties, or literacy problems, those with mental or physical disabilities, ex-prisoners and the general population. We offer an inclusive service to all ethnicities, sexual orientation or people who are in difficulty. We do not turn anyone away.

BIVC works with the elderly to help with any problems they may have with understanding forms, online help, arranging appointments, providing a means of inclusion by means of coffee mornings and other events, and generally being a resource when they are in need.

We work closely with SOHA to help with possible homelessness, arrange payment plans and act as a mediator. Some of our clients are illiterate and we read their correspondence and explain when they do not understand.

We work with the Wallingford Food Bank to supply food when required to economically disadvantaged families, and provide emergency supplies from our own stocks when the food bank is closed, our stocks are kindly donated to us from Sainsburys Didcot, and local Churches.

BIVC works with the recently bereaved to help with any paperwork involved or any other issue. We help our clients with Universal Credit problems and as some of them do not have access to a computer we help them to access their work log etc.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

A great many of our clients have difficulty in understanding the forms and requirements necessary when interacting with SODC. BIVC works with them to resolve any issues that may arise due their misunderstanding of what is required. We help them to collate the necessary documents which are needed and if necessary speak to SODC on the phone or face to face on their behalf. BIVC acts as a distribution point for SODC activities such as voucher schemes and the Household Support Fund. During the pandemic, BIVC was part of the SODC COVID-19 Community Hub.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

We aim to be able to provide and improve the service we currently give to our clients and deal with any new issues that may arise, particularly as a result of the Pandemic. Should plans to develop housing on the Village come about, we anticipate that the demand for our services will increase. We will monitor our achievements by use of our database which will provide statistics; we will continue liaising with other services to ensure that any new issues are covered and we will consult our clients by use of feedback forms and face to face discussion.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We work with other bodies and organisations within our community to provide cohesion and positive development to play our part in the decision making for the District by identifying the needs of the local community to put investment into the right areas. We collaborate with SOHA to identify the housing needs of single young people in this area.

We use electronically collected statistics on every client that we have, anecdotal evidence, client surveys, statements from local services to determine residents' needs. We also work with other organisations to assess needs and to plan services that we provide.

We anticipate becoming involved with the Berinsfield Garden Village Scheme in order to contribute to its development.

We can offer leaflet distribution via the Village Voice magazine. Also we make use of social media by uploading information on our BIVC Facebook Page and the Village Spotted Page.

We are also involved with a fairly new, resident run, The Berry Nature of It, which is looking at the local environment.

We also offer recycling of clothes, school uniform, household goods via our coffee mornings and also prevent food going to waste via our emergency supply of food bank and involvement with the Wallingford Food Bank.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We have an equality policy which ensures non-discrimination due to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sexual orientation. Our statistics provide evidence that we are completely inclusive and no-one is turned away. Many of our clients come from vulnerable/priority groups and we encourage community cohesion by means of coffee mornings, the Village fete and other activities that occur throughout the year.

Some residents feel isolated due to the lack of literacy or understanding of computers/benefits so our service will continue to help with these needs.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We intend to cover the shortfall by seeking other grants and continuing with our fundraising activities. We intend to run a musical event, Village fete as well as other activities including a BIVC bingo which is very popular.

The Maple Tree		Ref	SRev22-24/ 21
Project name Contribution to staff costs to enable us to continue to support children and young families in our community through running high quality play and learning sessions, workshops, outreach activities and one to one support for individual families.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The Maple Tree is a community charity providing play-based early learning activities for the under 5s and their parents and carers. We aim to give every local child and family the best start in life and we run sessions for babies and young children with their parents, parenting workshops and courses such as First Aid, one to one advice and support, whole family learning activities and Health Visitor clinics. We currently run sessions every weekday from premises in Wheatley, a weekly outreach session in Forest Hill, and a monthly family fun session on Saturdays. We also offer an online programme of songs, stories and activities for people who may find it challenging to attend in person.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund The funding will enable us to continue to promote early learning through a range of play-based activities and parent support, both at our premises in Wheatley and at other nearby villages. The funding will contribute to staff salaries to support income generation and promotion of the centre to strengthen our income streams. The funding will enable us to provide administrative support for our fundraising and to promote fundraising events in our village and in the wider community. We would also like to make a short video to promote the Centre to a wider audience, with a tour of the centre and testimonies from families, to encourage new supporters to the ‘Friends of The Maple Tree’ scheme. This will also be used to inform potential funders.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Chinnor, Forest Hill and Holton, Garsington and Horspath, Henley-on-Thames, Sandford and The Wittenhams, Thame, Wallingford, Wheatley
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community well being

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£10,000	£10,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£2,850	£2,910
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£25,760
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£59,265
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£19,753	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: Remobilisation Grant Award (2021) £3,975 Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2020/2021) £1,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets, 2020/2021 increase in income, due to Covid-19 a reduction in services in 2020/2021.	Score	4/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents.	Score	4/5
District reach Very good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focussed which includes some measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	2/5
An additional one pointcan be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation works towards combating loneliness and isolation.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people (at the heart of the improving service design and delivery). Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note whilst the applicant is delivering services which complement the statutory services that are the public sector’s responsibility for delivering, there is no indication that the organisation is providing a service on behalf of a statutory body. Equally, the applicant is not one of the Oxfordshire County Council children and family centres.	Total score	33/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

There is a huge amount of publicly available research showing that providing children with an early start to physical, cognitive and emotional development by supporting them and their families during their formative years is vital for their future growth and development. Our area is served well with good primary and secondary schools and attracts a large number of families with babies and pre-school children. We sometimes use external reports to identify need. Our reach area also includes small, rural villages which are in the top 20% nationally for geographical isolation (Loneliness and isolation report, OCF, 2021) and in which families are often isolated by lack of public transport and opportunities to meet other parents. The area that we serve contains two of the LSOAs among the most disadvantaged in South Oxfordshire (Oxfordshire Insight IMD), Haseley Brook and Forest Hill with Holton. Both have areas with a high proportion of families who are income deprived and have difficulty accessing services.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We routinely ask for and receive feedback from the families who use the Centre and our staff compile evaluation forms for the sessions they run, based on the numbers of families attending and comments they make during the sessions. As well as informal discussions, we also periodically conduct more formal surveys. Recently, we conducted surveys about how we might improve our outdoor space and whether families would attend sessions on a Saturday, and these have influenced the plans we are making. For example, as a result, we now run a Family Fun session once a month on a Saturday, with specific themes, such as "space" and "community helpers" and these are very popular every month.

We have also just set up a parent liaison group, consisting of a group of staff, trustees and parents who regularly attend the Centre. The parent liaison group will meet quarterly to discuss and share ideas.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

One of our trustees has set up and leads a networking group with representatives from other early years settings in our village, including two nurseries and a primary school. The aim is to identify ways of working together to support local families and children as they transition from to nursery and school. We work with our local Health Visitors, who provide a weekly clinic on our premises, where parents can have their babies weighed and ask for support or advice on parenting matters and babies' development. We have a connection with the NHS Social Prescribers who are based in our GP surgery.

Our Centre manager attends regular meetings with representatives from other children's centres in Oxfordshire. We exchange feedback and suggestions about best practice and how we can improve. During the Covid-19 lockdowns we partnered with two other local centres to run an online zoom group for new parents of babies born during lockdown, who had not had normal access to vital statutory services. We offered advice and an opportunity for the families to begin to build social networks. The group drew families from across Oxfordshire.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

501

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Our main beneficiaries are families with children under 5 in Wheatley and surrounding villages. Although we deliver our services mainly from premises in the wards of Wheatley and Forest Hill & Holton, we run one off sessions in other areas and we also serve residents from other wards, who are able to travel to our premises, and also through our online services. We are open to all families with children in the 0-5 age group and their parents and carers, and also offer activities for older siblings during school holidays. We are able to provide individual support for children with educational and developmental needs who attend our open access sessions.

There are also economically disadvantaged and educationally disadvantaged families within our area and we are use our relationships with Health Visitors and other professionals to identify and support these families.

While they make up a minority of the people we support, we are happy to welcome children or parents with disabilities and we would work together with other professionals as necessary, to provide appropriate support or signpost families to particular organisations or sources of advice.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We are providing a service that SODC does not provide itself at the moment. However, the work that we do complements the council services in the ways that we contribute to the Corporate Plan, as set out in this application by improving quality of life for residents and strengthening the wellbeing of the community. We are very mindful of the council's initiatives regarding tackling climate change and our responsibility to protect the environment is one of the objectives on our strategic plan.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

The funding will contribute towards staff salaries, to enable our staff to continue to run high quality, focussed play and learning experiences for young families. This will help young parents feel supported and able to support their children's learning and developmental needs as they grow, whilst also making connections, contributing significantly to confidence, resilience and mental health and wellbeing. Participating in our sessions will help babies and young children to be better equipped to manage in daily life and to be ready for nursery and school. Being able to attend a group locally will help parents in rural locations to meet other parents, make friends and build support networks and help them feel part of their community. All the above will act as a preventative safety net, intervening early and reducing the risks to children's safety, health and wellbeing.

We will aim to increase our reach to neighbouring villages by delivering events in at least three other villages each year, in addition to our Forest Hill outreach session, increasing the numbers of families who regularly attend Maple Tree sessions, and also strengthening the sense of community and quality of life for residents of rural villages.

So far as fundraising and income generation is concerned, the funding will help us to secure target income through grants and fundraising, as our staff will be able to offer more support in the organisation and delivery of fundraising events. This will increase our sustainability as a small charity.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We support the health and wellbeing of families through our general programme and also through one to one and group support and offering opportunities for online and face to face consultations, information sharing, guidance and the mutual support of parents and carers. We believe that the Centre provides an invaluable service to the whole community, giving children a foundation for future physical and emotional development at the earliest possible age, by supporting them and their families during their first, formative year, when families can be vulnerable.

We believe that our collaborations with early years professionals helps to improve life chances and reduce the risk of children and families becoming at risk. Stronger, more confident families are more resilient and the community will develop greater social cohesion as they connect and develop support networks.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

Our sessions are open to anyone with children aged 0-5 and we make every effort to be inclusive and to encourage less confident and socially isolated families to attend. We evaluate our programme of activities on an ongoing basis, both with numbers of people regularly attending and feedback and comments from families and we use this to take account of particular needs amongst our users.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

Over the past four years since the charity was incorporated, we have developed a broad range of funding streams as the most prudent way to achieve our target income and we will continue to raise funds from all of these.

Chiltern Centre Ltd		Ref	SRev22-24/ 22
Project name Salary funding
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The Chiltern Centre is a disability centre in Henley-on-Thames offering a range of service, including respite care to young people (aged 16 – 30) with learning disabilities (often alongside physical disabilities and/or complex medical needs) and their families across South Oxfordshire.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund To support service delivery, contribute towards the costs of a team leader salary and fund a part time community fundraiser.
District reach Henley-on-Thames, Wallingford, Sonning Common
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£11,520	£14,787
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£11,480	£12,433
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£50,220
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£582,648
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts.	£194,196	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £122,000 Councillor Grant Award (2020/2021) £400 Capital Grant Award (2018/2019) £7,967

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Whilst a three-year plan has been submitted and includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams, it is noted that the SODC grant being applied for is not included in their financial forecast, which unfortunately leaves gaps in funding for all three years, reducing by Year 3.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Two of the last three years have seen a financial impact due to COVID and the irregularity of voluntary income. Officers note there is a clear reserves policy,with no depletion in reserves over the last three years in spite of the difficulties faced.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation There is a strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion Service/activity is directly supporting up to 50 vulnerable residents and / or priority groups.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	2/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided.	Score	1/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents and improves physical and mental wellbeing amongst young people with disabilities and their families.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users. Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/A	Total score	27/43

Applicant responses

Community Ned and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Cross referencing South Oxfordshire population (Office for National Statistcis) of 143,782 with the prevalence of adults with learning disabilities of 3.46% and 16/30 year olds accounting for 18.53% of the population (Statistcal data) suggests a population of young adults with learning disabilities of 922 within South Oxfordshire.

Demand is increasing because of:
• improved diagnosis, reduced stigma in reporting disability, and better survival rates for pre-term infants
• the significant increase of children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder – the Chiltern Centre is able to cater for the high degree of structure that these children need, including those who require behavioural support.

As young people with disabilities reach adulthood they transition from child to adult services – a challenging time with changes in education and access to social opportunities, new systems to navigate and new social work teams to work with.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

The Chiltern Centre works in close partnership with all agencies responsible for health and wellbeing including social service, education providers (e.g. Henley College and ASDAN) and healthcare in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. Services are planned and delivered in liaison and discussion with them.

The work of The Chiltern Centre is planned and developed taking into account the views of young people using the services and their families. Consultation allows us to ascertain demand and forecast future support requirements. We encourage on-going open dialogue with parents through an annual quality assurance questionnaire and invite parents to regular reviews and coffee mornings.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

The Chiltern Centre works in partnership with a number of other charities to provide specialist services:
South Oxfordshire Mencap (joint events with young adults attending Mencap events & receiving short break care at The Chiltern Centre, shared fundraising activities)
Henley Youth Centre (specialist youth group is funded on their behalf)
Fare Share - The Chiltern Centre linked with Fare Share after an SODC networking event, which helps improve food wste within the area.
Oxfordshire Association of Care Providers (OACP)
OXSRAD - The Integrated Sports & Leisure Centre - provide adapted gym sessions for young people with disabilities
Chiltern Music Therapy - provide individual and group sessions for young people using the Chiltern Centre

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

The Chiltern Centre supports young people (aged 16 – 30) and their families. All these young people have learning disabilities with associated communication and behavioural difficulties. Many have additional complex medical needs including: sensory impairments, mobility issues, epilepsy, complex feeing needs, continence and long-term health issues such as cerebral palsy. Many of the young people require at least 1:1 care, some 2:1 and some even 3:1. The physical and emotional demands of caring for a disabled child can be very challenging, often putting significant strain on family life. Our specialist short break services, helps reduce the pressures that can cause significant stress within the family and, in some cases cause family breakdown.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

The Chiltern Centre provides short break and day support to young adults with disabilities and complex health needs. Without our support they would require significant alternative support from the local authority. We often work in partnership with other providers within Oxfordshire as part of bespoke packages of care. Our provision enables the people we support to continue to live at home with their families and therefore not require alternative provision e.g. supported living.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Care provision outcomes:
•           Build confidence and the ability to make informed choices by supporting them to develop independence.
•           Build life skills including such things as meal planning, shopping, cooking, laundry and using public transport.
•           Socialise, build friendships and enjoy themselves with a broad range of leisure activities including art and crafts, sporting and leisure activities.
•           Make informed choices, do things for themselves, try new activities and experience different environments.
•           Improve their communication skills enabling them to express their needs and desires, reducing frustration and anxiety.
•           Encourage an active lifestyle.
•           Feel and be supported practically and emotionally as they meet the significant challenges of transitioning to adulthood.
•           Have a say in the service, the way they access it and the activities they get involved in.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

The Chiltern Centre supports the priority of improved economic and community wellbeing. The support offered by the Chiltern centre focused on both the physical and mental wellbeing of all the young people with disabilities for whom care is provided.

In addition by providing opportunities for social interaction with their peer group e.g. through Buddies youth group the Chiltern Centre combats loneliness and isolation.

The Chiltern Centre monitors the impact of care through oberservations at sessions and consutation with young people, their families and the professionals and organisations we work in partnership with.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

The Chiltern Centre has an equality policy and the ethos of the centre is built around providing opportunities where young people (aged 16 – 30) with learning disabilities (often alongside physical disabilities and/or complex medical needs) can flourish. At the heart of care is ensuring the promotion of choice and control of their lives enabling young people to be part of the wider community and encouraging personal development. Respect for everyone is at the heart of our values and our approach is inclusive to ensure everyone feels valued and empowered to reach their potential. This approach extends not only to the young people we support, but to those who work at the centre and those with whom we work in partnership with.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

Applications to alternative funding providers will be made to ensure a shortfall is covered.

As restrictions have lifted there is also more potential for running face to face events and encouraging community based support.

Riverside Counselling Service		Ref	SRev22-24/ 24
Project name Community Well-Being in South Oxfordshire and Income diversification.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Riverside supports adults and young people from the age of 12 years across South Oxfordshire who face challenges with their mental health and emotional well-being. We provide counselling on a one-to-one basis alongside a variety of therapeutic groups, workshops, community training and courses for professionals.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Funding will support Clinical Management expenditure including the appointment of a Young Persons Clinical Lead. Cover on-going running costs such as room hire, IT costs, office costs and administration support. Expand mental health training to both professionals, community groups and the wider public, through the appointment of a Clinical Training Co-ordinator. Offer more therapeutic groups and support to community organisations. Fund a Digital Fundraising and Engagements Officer to work alongside the existing fundraising manager to develop and implement a digital fundraising plan and engage directly with the community to build relationships. Many digital tools and platforms are in place, including the website, Just Giving, Facebook, Instagram and Linked In. These now need to be enhanced and developed and we would like to explore digital communication and will investigate CRM systems.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Cholsey, Didcot West, Didcot North East, Didcot South, Haseley Brook, Henley-On-Thames, Kidmore End and Whitchurch, Sonning Common, Wallingford, Watlington, Woodcote and Rotherfield.
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£64,905	£66,805
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£23,000	£23,300
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£131,710 (fundraising and income diversification cost not included)
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£263,714
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£87,895	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £78,000
Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2020/2021) £9,645 Additional Restrictions Grant Award (2020) £2,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income and officers note some growth in reserves.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, officers can see evidence of regular consultation with service users.	Score	3/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Very good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable, an increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting, in 2023/2024.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/a - No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonials.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents, training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people) at the heart of the improving service design and delivery, evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note the applicant has not included the fundraising and income diversification cost in the total grant amount requested. Officers recommend including as a condition of any grant award some interaction with and partnership working with The Abingdon Bridge who are offering similar services in the same geographical area as Riverside Counselling Service.	Total score	38/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

We saw our highest ever number of monthly enquires in May 2021 following the 3rd lockdown. A total of 60 people contacted the service (43 adults and 17 young people). The average number of monthly enquires pre-pandemic was 38 (28 adults and 10 young people). In the first two weeks of November the numbers show that enquiries are again reaching even higher levels. We are working with more returning clients – issues that would have been manageable have become overwhelming again.

We have seen an increase in the number of young people who self-harm and eating issues seem more prevalent. For many the return to school has been difficult. This is reflected by the high numbers of enquires from young people when schools returned after lockdown in September 2020 and again this year.

People from deprived areas are at a real disadvantage and are still struggling the most. Being in close proximity for extended periods of time in cramped conditions has affected family relationships. There has been a rise in the number of women who have suffered mental and physical abuse approaching Riverside. Many individuals are seeing exacerbations in chronic physical health conditions and the resultant impact upon mental health when usual sources of support stopped.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

As a service we involve clients to ensure the design and delivery of our activities meet their needs. The nature of 1:1 counselling and the guidelines of the BCAP means that there are some limitations to this.
People choose whether they receive counselling on-line, phone or face to face. We discuss different approaches at their initial meeting so they can decide the best type of counselling to suit their needs. Young people and adults work through the session at their own pace. We hold regular reviews with clients within the clinical setting, and separate reviews with parents (where appropriate). At the end of therapy everyone is asked to complete a client experience questionnaire enabling them to comment on their counselling experience, and the overall service. Comments and suggestions are discussed with clinical leads and trustees.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We will continue to work particularly closely with local GPs and other community-based health professionals. In March 2020 we informed them of changes to our service delivery during Covid and continue to liaise with them on a regular basis. We have led on-line talks in conjunction with local GP surgeries. We recognise there is potential to offer more talks on a wide range of mental health issues.

Riverside has provided mental health training to volunteers from the Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre (BIVC) and are currently supporting Turning Point in Didcot. We are currently in discussions with Greener Henley to facilitate a discussion group that focuses on eco-anxiety. We recognise the need to develop this aspect and one of the key roles of the Community Support Co-ordinator is to liaise with community groups, offer support and develop new partnerships and explore joint working opportunities.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

520

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

We are currently supporting clients from the age of 12 to 84. Most clients are female and between the ages of 25 and 44 years. Latest data shows 27% of clients are under the age of 25 (including 17% between 12-18 years).

However, Riverside operates in very different areas with very different needs. Whilst Henley and Wallingford are affluent areas, there are parts of the community where people are struggling financially and are dealing with a range of mental health issues.

Riverside works with people from Didcot and Berinsfield who face different challenges and needs with higher levels of socio-economic deprivation and inter-generational difficulties making them more vulnerable to mental health issues. We work with families from these areas who have experienced domestic violence, and suicide which has a huge impact on their mental health, psychological and emotional well-being. Despite these significant mental health needs there has often been a reluctance to seek support. In response we set up our Drop In Clinic in Berinsfield.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Good mental health is a key influence on employability.
Our work complements the aims of Community Safety Partnership (CSP). By supporting people’s mental health before it spirals into crises or working with those who have diagnosed mental health conditions, we can help to prevent the likelihood of people turning to alcohol or drugs and reduce the risk of them participating in or being a victim of crime or violence.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Counselling sessions, Drop In Services, Support Groups,
Community Based Workshops and Training, Professional Training CPD Events, Training Courses.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Riversides’ services and activities supported by this funding will help to improve community wellbeing. Our extensive monitoring through CORE Scores, surveys, client feedback and case studies will demonstrate the impact of our work. Funding will support the provision of therapy groups. Evidence shows that group therapy is clinically effective in improving mental health in many ways. Groups not only help to ease the sense of isolation but also gives the opportunity to re-engage with people and develop social skills. This grant will enable us to reach further into the community through training both professional counsellors, those working in other community organisations and the wider public. The professional training this grant will support is important for the long-term benefit of the community as it ensures therapists are delivering the highest quality support whether in an NHS, private or community organisation.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

Riverside supports adults and young people across South Oxfordshire and have an Equal Opportunities Policy that is reviewed annually by the management committee and trustees. We record age, gender, relationship status, religion, sexuality, disabilities, ethnicity and postcodes. The data is constantly reviewed and we adapt our services to meet the different needs of different groups and communities, especially in those vulnerable groups from areas such as Berinsfield.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We will review our fundraising plan and grant funding pipeline and ensure that we have reached out and engaged with existing and previous funders across the community and from charitable trusts and foundations. We will research additional grants to support our work. It will take time to generate this additional income which will impact on service capacity. Reserves can be used to cover some of the shortfall.

The Berin Centre		Ref	SRev22-24/ 28
Project name Core costs
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The Berin Centre offers drop-in sessions, parenting programmes, healthy cooking workshops, employment support, targeted courses such as First Aid and Food Hygiene, and provide a weekly base for the Health Visitor clinic. Riverside Counselling use the premises to deliver counselling and we’re partners in the Growing Minds school-readiness project. We also run a weekly Community Larder.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Funding towards core costs, developing new provision and additional staff. Contribute to the costs of exploring the feasibility of establishing a Community Cafe social enterprise in Berinsfield. We would like to hire a Community Outreach Worker to identify and connect with other groups in the community and to encourage more cohesion and inclusion of faith and cultural groups by celebrating different festivals. We’re exploring the possibility of developing provision for children aged over 5 years old as we’ve identified a gap in this area in the village.
District reach Berinsfield
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£14,870	£20,870
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£10,633	£4,633
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£51,006
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£67,346 evidenced in accounts (although applicant stated £76,510)
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£22,446	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes, adjusted to less than 33.33% of operating costs. Adjusted to £44,892 - total grant amount over the two-year period
Previous funding awarded: Councillor Grant Scheme Award (2021/2022) £1,000 Emergency Assistance Grant Award (2020-2021) £2,025

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? The three-year plan includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. However, no year-on-year growth is predicted, nor information for how income streams are broken down.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Overall balanced budgets over three years (with small deficit in 2018/19), with an increase in activities during the pandemic. Officers note some increase in balance carried forward.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation There is a strong and clear indication of community need and substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents benefit from this service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups (low-income families and economically disadvantaged households).	Score	3/5
District reach Limited reach across the district - Berinsfield only.	Score	1/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focussed and mainly focused around tracking attendance for different services rather than direct outcomes. It is noted targets do include an increase in the number of potential clients benefiting.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided including testimonials from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. Strengthening community cohesion wellbeing through planning and attending events and activities. Alongside hosting courses to improve mental health needs in the village	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of implementation of policy/statement through provision of the services via multiple channels. The policy is implemented, with service users at the heart of the improving service design and delivery. Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	31/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Berinsfield is home to a thriving and close-knit community, but also an area of significant deprivation. Generally, income is limited within the Village, usually due to low-paying jobs as opposed to unemployment, with 26% of children living in low income households; this compares to 12% county-wide. This combines with very low levels of academic achievement, with just 50% of adults in the Village having attained one GCSE or more. Overall, Berinsfield sits in the most deprived 10% in the country. In our work with parents and early years, we see patterns of low aspiration and poverty play out over generations of families, but we also see a real willingness to engage and an incredibly strong sense of community. We draw upon local Insight data and other local and national reports such as the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. We then check the data trends against what we're seeing first hand; - we monitor the number of families referred to us by social services or health visitors, the number of families accessing our Community Larder, and of those, how many are using our discretionary membership as they can't afford the membership fee. We are regularly engaging our beneficiaries directly to find out more about their needs and circumstances, and we share anonymous information with local partners to identify local trends. We work hard to involve beneficiaries in identifying their own needs, and co-producing with us the solutions, as we believe that they are the experts in their own experience.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

- Surveys on facebook and on paper to inform needs analysis about service gaps.
- Polls taken at events, such as the village fete, on key topics.
- Informal discussion at regular groups and sessions about needs, wants and ideas.
- Voting on opportunities to be brought to the centre, eg: deciding which Oxfordshire Recovery College courses they would like at the centre in the Autumn term.
- Having local resident representatives on our board of trustees.
- Inviting all stakeholders and beneficiaries (including local partners, sponsors, families etc) to at least 2 events at The Berin Centre each year, and using this opportunity to consult together on upcoming plans or developments.
- Attending regular partner meetings to share prospective developments and seek feedback.
- Where possible we evaluate and review each strand of our service annually, and seek input from beneficiaries (previously done at an in-person event) to help us do this.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

- Working with multiple partners to secure funding for, plan, and deliver the Active Reach physical activity project.
- Working with local schools, through donors, to coordinate significant donations of children's books. Working with the library to plan a literacy intervention using those books at The Berin Centre that can dovetail into library services.
- Initiating partnership working between the school and local charity, One-Eighty, to provide behaviour support services.
- Delivering the Growing Minds project in partnership with Homestart, People, and Oxfordshire Community Foundation.
- Delivering our weekly community larder service in partnership with local charity, SOFEA.
- Our intention is that we would be able to expand this partnership with SOFEA to partially resource any future Community Cafe service with food surplus from SOFEA.
- Working closely with the two local primary schools, local nursery and local preschool to maintain consistency and share information across our family provision.
- Working in partnership with Riverside Counselling Service, Oxfordshire Recovery College, Health Visiting Team, HENRY and Family Links to extend their opportunities to the residents of Berinsfield.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

300

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Isolated young families, economically disadvantaged/low income families/children in poverty, educationally discdvantaged, ollder people, people with mental health problems, Children with SEN, geographically isolated.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We work closely with the local food bank to help vulnerable families to progress out of food bank reliance and into Community Larder membership. We offer a discretionary (free) membership for those who are unable to cover the £3.50 weekly fee for the larder, and we use this to help members transition into sustainable food access.
We work alongside SODC in delivering the Active Reach project, working closely with the Active Communities team and scheduling our activities to be easily accessible alongside established council activities such as the weekly Health Walk.
We work closely with statutory services including education and Social Services, and our early years provision helps to smooth families' navigation of various statutory support including Early Help, Child Protection, Speech & Language, SEN and Health Visitors. Our work with families and very young children also helps us to intervene early, preventing problems from escalating, often avoiding the need for support from more specialist council services entirely.
Our services help to keep people safe in the community, developing individual and community resilience and reducing strain on other services.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

- The relaunch of at least 2 of our groups/activities (eg: Little Green Fingers and Themed Thursdays), increasing our reach and impact with local families.
- Increased overall visitors to the centre accessing a range of services and support.
- Increased number of families accessing affordable food through the Community Larder.
- Additional families benefiting from the Growing Minds school readiness project which will in turn result in improved Ages and Stages scores for children participating in in the project, and greater confidence in parenting skills from participating parents.
- Through the appointment of a Community Outreach post we will have worked with the community to identify 3 priority areas where we could be doing more and to develop our provision in response.
- Begin working with children aged over 5 years old through holiday activities, improving their access to food and play during the holiday period.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Berinsfield experiences high levels of deprivation, but also sits in an area of affluence from some of the surrounding villages. This can create a difficult dynamic between villages in this rural area. We also have large numbers of older people who live alone, and families and residents without access to their own vehicle, making transport and isolation real challenges.

We support vulnerable families to access our services when it might otherwise be difficult for them to do so - working closely with other agencies to identify people who have high levels of need, arranging to meet them at their home and accompany them to groups, establishing 'buddy' relationships to people who are new to the community or are lonely, and supporting them in a tailored and paced way.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We have a robust Equality Policy in place and we take our responsibilities around this area seriously. This runs through from advertising to staff to direct delivery of our services. We've worked hard to make sure our building is accessible and this has enabled us to host a group for children with profound disabilities and sensory needs, as well as a range of mobility at our Community Larder.
We're proactive in reaching a broad group of people, and our commitment to this is demonstrated by our aspiration to hire a Community Outreach Worker who can further go out to engage with people elsewhere in the Village or in their homes to make them aware of our services and to take time to understand their particular needs and wants.

We're therefore passionate about helping residents to feel a sense of ownership over the organisation, and are working towards them feeling able to be active participants, rather than just recipients. We work closely with community members to understand their perceptions of our service, and are responsive to feedback and input.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We have a proven track record of successful fundraising activities, combining a balance of grants from Trusts and Foundations and developing positive relationships with donors providing multi-year pledges. We're looking to further diversify our income, in part through a potential social enterprise as previously stated. We're currently drafting a new fundraising strategy which looks to balance further our range of income streams.

Makespace Oxford		Ref	SRev22-24/ 32
Project name Increasing inclusive employment in South Oxfordshire MiO
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Makespace Oxford repurposes Oxfordshire's once empty and underused buildings. We revive and transform them into affordable, community-driven workspaces for local purpose-led organisations to thrive.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund · Core costs to offer business development support for social enterprises, makers and community groups starting out in new spaces. Helping with set up costs, responding to their unique needs and circumstances, and setting them up for financial independence, to include subsidised rent. · Investment in business and peer support to foster a sense of community in their spaces, enable skill-sharing, inclusion, connection through Community and Business Development Co-ordinators.
District reach Cholsey, Didcot West and Didcot North East
Corporate Plan priority Improving economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs (2022/2023, 2023/2024)	£60,000	£30,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification (2022/2023, 2023/2024)	£1,000	£1,000
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£92,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£287,707
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021	£95,893	Has the grant amount adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: n/a

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Applicant has used their own template (rather than the one provided) which covers the required three-year period with balanced budgets and narrative. There is a nominal amount allocated to fundraising as a contribution to salaries for developing and managing fundraising bids. Only one income line for years two and three under 'Meanwhile In Oxfordshire rent and other income'	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Applicants company accounts only show movement in assets rather than clear income and expenditure lines. Overall over the three years it appears that budgets are balanced. They have not yet developed a reserves policy. Applicant states they were heavily impacted by COVID-19, when their buildings closed and residents struggled to pay their rents.	Score	2/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need with some consultation. More detail needed to expand on how regular consultation would be carried out and future community engagement, there is a commitment to do this. Officers would like to see further research or data to back up the statement of need, and of the 51 organisations, how many are private businesses (if any) and not-for-profit organisations. Evidence has been provided including a number of partner organisations, showing collaboration in the development of their plans.	Score	3/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council by offering targeted business development.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	2/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Not all submitted targets are specific and some duplication in targets, such as the number of 'purpose-led' organisations.	Score	2/5
Add an additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded, in addition to the above score banding, for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Clear evidence provided with testimonials from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation has submitted a detailed budget but no market research to support this plan.	Score	2/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Clear statement of intent but evidence needed of implementation of policy/statement and further detail on how the applicant will promote and encourage access for underrepresented organisations to prioritise those who support disadvantaged communities.	Score	1/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note concern that the organisation does not currently hold the lease for one of the properties referenced in the application. Alongside concerns that profit based businesses who are not eligible for this grant scheme may also benefit from subsidised rent. To mitigate against this risk, officers recommend three specific conditions are attached on any grant award: · only VCS organisations benefit from the subsidised rent scheme · award to be released following confirmation of lease agreements and /or ownership of three South Oxfordshire based properties · evidence is provided for any subsequent lease agreements.	Total score	20/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Whilst the buildings themselves are in two areas of the district the organisations, the customers and clients they would serve would come from across all districts in South Oxfordshire.

There are over 51 organisations within South Oxfordshire that have applied for space through the ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire’ programme. This evidences the need for affordable workspace in the area. It also supports the statement that without organisations like Makespace Oxford businesses are at risk of being made homeless through precarious lease agreements with landlords, rising rates in rent in the area and suitable workspaces being converted into residential accommodation.

This approach offers a similar service to Meanwhile Space CIC (in London), however ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire’ has a county-wide reach working in partnership with all five district councils to turn wasted, dilapidated, and often difficult to renovate buildings into easy-access space for charities, local businesses, and community groups, reducing the financial burden for organisations and businesses who are often financially excluded from affording space.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

Initial consultations were held with a small group of residents in the Didcot area in July. However, within the next few months, Makespace Oxford will be carrying out a public engagement briefing (delivered by Transition by Design) to understand how the building serves both the occupiers' needs and can play a part in the fabric of the local town and community-connecting buildings, which are just out of the town centre, with the residents of Didcot as well as the social housing which backs on to the property.
Within Cholsey, Makespace has reached out to local businesses (such as The Oxshed) in the local proximity to the Chapel and the Cholsey Residents Community Association to understand and explain the interest both parties have in activating the disused and dilapidating chapel in the heart of the community.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

Makespace Oxford works in partnership and collaborates with many other organisations under MiO including Oxford City Council, OxLEP, and the five district councils, but also many others.

Key partners include:
Aspire Oxfordshire, Wild Property Management, SOHA Housing Association, Fusion Arts, Transition by Design,
The Cholsey Community Development Trust, Oxfordshire Youth, Sustainable Didcot and The Didcot Community Partnership.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

500

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Please note: 500 is an estimate of those most directly benefiting and doesn't include indirect beneficiaries (eg customers, clients, wider community)

Potential occupiers who seemed to support this need: The Cholsey Community Development Trust, Aspire, Oxfordshire Youth, Sustainable Didcot and The Didcot Community Partnership.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

'Meanwhile in Oxfordshire', delivered by Makespace, is a county wide programme. South Oxfordshire District Council is a key partner in the delivery of this programme. One of the limitations of the MiO programme is that, due to the nature of restricted capital spend funding, none of it is available to support the many community groups, not-for-profit organisations, and charities who struggle to afford rent, even when that rent is already heavily subsidised by Makespace (below 40-80% market value). Through the revenue grant, Makespace would be able to support more of these local purpose-led organisations, while also being able to connect organisations to local communities and offer targeted business development.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Revenue support would allow multiple occupancy buildings to fund a total of 16-20 organisations at any one time to enable more purpose-led businesses to be able to afford rent. This could be tiered over the two years to allow for a more gradual decline in revenue support, increasing the orgnaisations rental projections over two years.

The successful outcome of this funding would be three fully occupied buildings in South Oxfordshire, with all organisations feeling fully supported and able to sustain themselves financially and with the excess rental income generated over the initial two years supporting further reduced rent kickstarts for new tenants over the subsequent period.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Makespace aims to fill empty buildings with thriving communities and tackle economic inequalities in South Oxfordshire by prioritising under served organisations, building community cohesion and mutual support.

We have submitted a detailed business plan and budget using our experience gained from previous work in refurbishing, repurposing and managing similar projects in Aristotle Lane and Park End St in Oxford City. This would support the work that South Oxfordshire is already engaged in through Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, where Makespace have strong established partnerships with Soha, Aspire and other organisations working in South Oxfordshire already. We have undertaken community consultations and research and are already committed to further consultations on the design and community use of the three buildings we have secured/are securing.There are a significant number of potential jobs and income that will derive from this work as well as community cohesion.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We want to enable more marginalised communities and organisations to be included and to access space by expanding our offer to ensure meanwhile spaces are as financially and socially inclusive as possible, for both resident organisations and the beneficiaries and public they serve.

We work almost exclusively with and support purpose-led, socially responsible organisations. These organisations span different sectors, but are unified by a commitment to positive, cultural, social or environmental impact. They help to build more resilient local communities and stronger local economies. The ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire’ programme serves to trigger a multiplier effect of social impact; Makespace Oxford supports existing organisations in the sector to grow and deliver their services, whilst also supporting and incubating new and fledgling socially responsible enterprises as they find their way.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We would have to offer spaces to those that could afford to pay the below market rents, business rates and service charges from the outset i.e. established businesses and organisations that are not from underserved communities.

The Chinnor Village Centre		Ref	SRev22-24/ 33
Project name Create a centre of excellence; re-establishing and growing day care attendance capacity and room hire fill-rate.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Established in 1993, the Chinnor Village Centre offers a place and space for the use of the local community; focused on the provision of care, company, security and friendship. The centre provides a day care service, a stroke club and a dementia café.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund We offer day care services for the elderly, disabled and vulnerable in our community through the provision of Stroke, Friendship and Dementia clubs. We cannot cover the cost of our day care services and cafe without substantial additional funding either through fundraising or grants. Our website/social media will see the introduction of new functionality to facilitate room hire booking, membership subscriptions/donations and general marketing. New efforts are needed to drive membership subscriptions (depleted during the pandemic), to re-establish a 200 club (a lottery draw) and to grow and develop new/additional fundraising activities.
District reach Chinnor
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£60,917	£64,190
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£3,990	£3,990
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£125,000 (fundraising and income diversification cost not included)
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£115,104 evidenced in accounts (although applicant stated £182,687)
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£38,365	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes, adjusted to less than 33.33% of operating costs. Adjusted to £25,768 - total grant amount over the two-year period
Previous funding awarded: Councillor Grant Scheme Award (2021/2022) £5,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A three-year plan, not balanced, that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Some over reliance on certain income streams which might impact service delivery.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/19, 2019/2020 balanced budgets 2020/2021 budget negatively affected by COVID 19 or other factors, leading to an overall reduction in services. Reserves currently healthy.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need with consultation limited to existing service users only.	Score	2/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion Service/activity is directly supporting up to 50 vulnerable residents and / or priority groups.	Score	3/5
District reach Limited reach across the district - one ward.	Score	1/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focussed and lack detail.	Score	2/5
An additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. N/A – no evidence provided – though suggests a desire to work with partners	Score	0/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation works towards reducing isolation and combating loneliness.	Score	3/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of implementation of policy/statement through provision of the services via multiple channels and evidence of increasing awareness of the service provision provision of services through multiple channels.	Score	3/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note the applicant has not included the fundraising and income diversification cost in the total grant amount requested. Officers note some of the project costs are not eligible and this will be reflected in any award offer, terms and conditions or legal agreement, ensuring the applicant is clear on the conditions of the award. Officers note whilst the applicant is delivering services which complement the statutory services that are the public sector’s responsibility for delivering, there is no indication that the organisation is providing a service on behalf of a statutory body. Equally, the applicant is not one of the Oxfordshire County Council Community Support Centres.	Total score	19/43

Applicant responses
Community Need and Consultation
Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.	The day care we provide is the only day care service available in Chinnor. There is a growing population in the area which will place a further strain on the services and the investment needed to keep the Day Care services running. With the Friendship Club run by the centre, there is an opportunity for clients to get out during the day and meet with likeminded people. They also receive a delicious hot meal and have the advantage of being picked up by a minibus, which includes the provision for wheelchairs if they live in the local area. Entertainment is laid on and all this adds to providing a package that provides stimulation, companionship and fun in a familiar and comfortable environment.
How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?	Ongoing consultation is gained from our clients who are encouraged to provide regular feedback and our constitution demands a number of public meetings each year; one every four months and an annual AGM.
Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.	The charity's investment in social care staff includes the management skills and experience to work with organisations in the local/regional community. The brief is to search out likeminded organisations (social and health care) sharing and promoting our services ensuring that organisations are made aware that the Chinnor Village Centre as a place to go for elderly and vulnerable people and in so doing contribute to reducing loneliness and isolation.
Community Benefit and Inclusion
How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?	250
Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?	The Chinnor Village Centre typically receives: - Stroke survivors - Dementia sufferers - Parkinson's sufferers - the elderly - the vulnerable - the general public
Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council	The services and activities provided contribute to a reduction in individual and community loneliness and isolation.
Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation
What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?	-Over the period of the plan: - grow Day Care attendance at the Chinnor Village Centre. - grow Room Hire fill-rate (promoting education, culture, the arts). - cover the investment in new Day Care staff (higher salaries, more hours) = progress towards self-sustainability. - contribute to reduction in proportion of people suffering loneliness/Isolation (follow SODC corporate plan). By the end of the plan: -be considered as a 'Centre of Excellence' (by likeminded organisations, associated agencies, clients). - significant increase in fundraising income. - decrease level of trading deficit.
How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?	The Chinnor Village Centre provides a space and a place; somewhere for the local community to go. The Coffee Shop, Room Hire (local business or vocational) and the various clubs for the elderly and vulnerable contribute significantly to reducing isolation and loneliness in the local community, and as a result the general and economic wellbeing of people in the area.
How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?	We are committed to: - knowing more about the elderly and vulnerable people that use our services and the quality and relevance of the information we hold. - knowing what are clients think about the services we provide to improve the provision. - improving our website so that the local community needs are more easily met.
Financial Sustainability
If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?	Promote donations, more fundraising activities and grant funding via non-local authority sources.

Community First Oxfordshire		Ref	SRev22-24/ 37
Project name Community development actions and training with SODC communities on climate action and community infrastructure activities.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Community First Oxfordshire (CFO) is a community development charity working with communities across the county to strengthen community infrastructure and resilience.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Helping parish/ town councils to take steps to create a holistic climate action plan including an initial mapping exercise to map out current activity. Core development services, especially advice and guidance service for community halls, shops and community transport including additional climate action work. Community development training particularly the asset based community development workshops, which will have a bolt on climate action theme. Diversifying our income has been a major focus for CFO for the last few years. We plan to continue this through partnership working with parishes on Neighbourhood Plans and town planning support, plus community development consultancy. Proactively promoting membership to CFO over the next two years.
District reach District – wide
Corporate Plan priority Action on the climate emergency

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£21,000	£18,500
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£1,000	£1,500
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£42,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£334,106
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£111,357	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £92,250

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams.	Score	4/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Overall a balanced budget over the last three financial years but officer note projected deficit in 2021/22.Officer notes a ddepletion in reserves expected in the future with clear explanation provided.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Whilst full district-wide reach, however, no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable.	Score	4/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? More than one Climate Emergency related event, activity or service per year are part of routine work of the organisation.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people, at the heart of the improving service design and delivery)	Score	4/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers note some of the project costs are not eligible and this will be reflected in any subsequent award offer, terms and conditions or legal agreement, ensuring the applicant is clear on the conditions of the award.	Total score	36/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

First, we have listened to our members and volunteers through focus groups and network meetings who have told us that new development affecting their communities, transport and climate change/ the environment are the three top concerns and challenges for living well in Oxfordshire. This was also repeated in the Rural Service Report, which CFO published in August 2020.

Secondly, we have seen an increase in communities contacting us for support on climate change action and how this action can shape community planning, Neighbourhood Plans and other community action. This has been picked up through our work on reconnecting with parish councils (including Berinsfield and Stanton St John) and asking them what the challenges they face are. In 2020-21, we were in discussion to with CAG Oxon and Bioregional to kick-start a project to connect with parishes that had declared a climate emergency or were planning to, as both our organisations recognised a lack of joined up work on climate actions. However, our plans had to pause during the pandemic.

Thirdly,our Community Hall Advisor holds regular online networking meetings where there are approximately 40-50 attendees, many from South Oxfordshire community halls. These volunteers have shone light on the growing number of committees investigating greening their halls through community charging points, solar panels and improving the overall building. This desire to take up the opportunity for change for a greener future is also reflected in the community transport sector as many volunteers look to obtaining electric cars and minibuses.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We regularly consult with stakeholders and members on the services we provide because our services are shaped by communities and with our partners. It is therefore critical that we regularly ask for feedback and proactively seek wider views from the community representatives through our network meetings, online surveys and conversations. The Rural Services Survey and CFO focus groups where other means to engage with community representatives on the things that matter.

In early 2021, we worked with OALC to contact all parish and town councils as a check-in during the end of the lockdown periods to understand better how local councils were managing and find out what needs they might have. We review all our services in the light of evolving community needs. We prefer to hold a mix of focus groups, network meetings and specific surveys rather than an end of year satisfaction survey, which in our experience is no longer an effective way to reach people. We will continue to check-in with our stakeholders and utilise a co-produced method whenever possible.

Our national organisation, ACRE, also carries out consultations on the members behalf, the last of which was with the national network of community halls. The results help us to think about and review the services we offer with partners.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

As mentioned before, we believe the best services and activities are partnership-based ones.

In terms of our community development and infrastructure work, we work closely with OCVA to ensure we are supporting the hundreds of volunteers in a joined-up way. We are currently working with OCVA on a joint project, which supports groups such as Berinsfield Volunteer and Information Centre, Sonning Common Fish, SOFEA and other groups in SO to become more sustainable after the COMF grants. This ‘grant plus’ activity, along with a new and diverse volunteer model, is work that both CFO and OCVA (and Volunteer Link Up - VLU) will be working on in 2022-23. At the same time, many of the VCSE organisations have come together over the pandemic period to create a strategic alliance, now called the VCS Coalition, and this is another route for collaboration in the near future.

We will continue to work collaboratively with SODC to ensure that our services and activities enhance the services offered by SODC.

We have agreed to work in partnership with Friends of the Earth Oxfordshire who will offer training with CFO to parishes in South Oxfordshire to help them work out and follow up with climate action plans.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

1380

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

It is important to note that CFO - like many local infrastructure organisations - support the volunteers who run local services, actions and mutual aid groups to help support all people living in the area. For instance, we support the 40 car schemes and GNS so that they can help the elderly and vulnerable to live independently at home in SO communities. Therefore, we indirectly support many vulnerable people in SO by directly assisting the volunteers who the run the schemes.

1. existing community transport and good neighbour schemes (40 schemes with an average 15 volunteers) = 600 volunteers

2. community building committees (80 community buildings with an average 6 committee members) = 480 volunteers

3. Communities with community shops (there are 6 community shops with an estimated 25 volunteers = 150 volunteers) or those thinking about starting a community enterprise will benefit.

4. Parish and town councils will receive direct support from CFO to help them develop and take forward asset-based climate action plans – we will work with at least 10 parishes each year (10 groups with an average 10 volunteers) = 100 volunteers

5. Community members and individuals attending community development training each year = 50 volunteers.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Via regular updates and discussion with SODC officers, we make sure that the services and activities that we support compliment - and where possible enhance- those of SODC. For instance, many vulnerable, elderly people in SODC rely on community transport schemes and GNS to help them live at home independently. We work with the GNS Hub and SODC to make sure we are supporting the volunteers who run these schemes to be as up to date with safeguarding practices etc so that they can give their time effectively to the people that need the services. This is the same for community halls and shops – the latter of which was an immensely important hub for the vulnerable during COVID lockdowns.

We will work with SODC on complimentary climate action services and activities to ensure that the right kind of effective support is given to the groups and individuals in SO communities without the duplication or wasting of resources. Thus, we will continue to regularly meet with SODC officers to make sure we help one another to help the residents of South Oxfordshire.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

1.         To support parish councils to work in collaboration and develop short and long term climate action plans for the whole community to act on.
2.         To focus all community action and services towards taking steps in climate action and mitigation at a hyper local level.
3.         To support all forms of volunteering in all SO communities to sustain important and ongoing services that are the bedrock to a healthy community: community halls and spaces, community shops and pubs (hubs), community transport and GNS.
4.         To ensure all services and activities are shaped by the community and take an asset-based approach – working with existing good practice and services and building on these.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We are confident that we can help promote the climate emergency activities and information generated from the Council to the hyper-local level. Our aim with SO communities that we work with is to create a collaborative and comprehensive action plan and road map, which includes a minimum of four climate action training events – this feeds into the district work and utilises the existing and exciting sustainable community group examples in the county.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

CFO takes equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion (EEDI) very seriously. We have an EEDI policy and EEDI action plan with short and long term objectives for the organisation, and we also have a EEDI sub-group to regularly monitor the positive changes we are making to the way we work and how we communicate. We regularly review what we are doing with the EEDI trainers that we commissioned in early 2020 to train all of our staff and trustees on unconscious bias.

We work with and share communications with the newly formed BAME Network for Oxfordshire to share learning and to also ensure we are broadening out to as many groups and individuals as possible in both urban and rural settings with communications (both ways).

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

We are confident if we obtain SODC funding that we can source match funding from other funders, and this is what we will be proactively seeking.

Our membership drive and consultancy work does and will help cover shortfall. Any immediate shortfall will be covered by CFO reserves.

Earth Trust		Ref	SRev22-24/ 39
Project name Delivery, management and diversification of our volunteer network; engaging hundreds of residents in and around their communities to access and take part in activities.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Earth Trust supports the residents of South Oxfordshire by providing free access to our greenspaces 365 days/year. We also provide training, education and engagement opportunities for all ages.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund The funding will rebuild, support and expand Earth Trust’s core volunteering offer to residents across the region. Earth Trust is seeking funding to underpin the infrastructure, staffing (a Volunteer Officer, who coordinates and directly mobilises the network) and marketing required to run our Volunteer network and to support the work needed to further train and diversify skill sets for those volunteers who directly support fundraising and income generation activities. This funding will enable us to diversify our Volunteer Network and through the work of volunteers involved in profile-raising, venue hire and fundraising, it will also enable us to increase our fundraising income.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Cholsey, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Wallingford
Corporate Plan priority Increased economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs (2022/2023, 2023/2024)	£31,282	£32,220
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification (2022/2023, 2023/2024)	£9,295	£9,574
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£90,624
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£1,424,040
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021	£474,632	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes Yes, adjusted to total amount requested for year 1 and year 2 Adjusted to £82,371 - total grant amount over the two-year period
Previous funding awarded: Remobilisation Grant Award (2021) £3,975 Restart Grant Award (2021) £9,907.00 Additional Restricted Grant Award (2020) £2,000

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes some evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams with a realistic plan to reduce budget deficits, if planned infrastructure development is successful.	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing an increase in income.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
Add an additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A - No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded, in addition to the above score banding, for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided, no testimonials provided.	Score	1/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents, training is mandatory to support mental wellbeing.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officer’s note the Earth Trust has a contract with the council (until 30/9/2022) at a value £43,836 for the ‘Custodianship and Volunteer Management of Countryside Sites’. Officers are comfortable that in view of the recommended score this application has received which results in a reduction of potential funding, it mitigates against the potential in double funding. In addition, whilst we do not ask Oxfordshire wide organisations to pro rata annual operational costs across the Oxfordshire districts, the panel may wish to take this into consideration when approving the amount to award.	Total score	32/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The extensive public support and engagement with our Volunteer Programme over many years is clear evidence of it meeting a local need. The Trust’s volunteer network has existed for almost 15 years and grown organically from the enthusiasm and dedication of local residents in the Wallingford, Didcot and Abingdon districts. At the end of Summer 2021, we had a waiting list of almost 100 new volunteers, who had registered an interest in getting involved. In discussion with other community groups and voluntary services, we have started to identify opportunities and gaps for engaging more volunteers, from different social groups and backgrounds locally, especially with a more urban base; we are keen to proactively work with these groups to engage them in volunteering at the Trust’s managed community reserves, thus fulfilling an un-tapped need locally that has been notified to us by others.

We are also the largest ‘free to access’ green space in south Oxfordshire, with additional presence in Didcot, Wallingford and Abingdon via the community reserves we manage on behalf of SODC. This combination gives us a significant footprint across the region and capabilities that other local-based organisations are not able to provide. One or two national organisations exist along similar lines, but either aren’t present delivering in this region (e.g. Groundwork) or have a more narrow field of opportunities to get involved (e.g. Wildlife Trusts whose focus is on wildlife, as opposed to the wide range of land-based and multi-faceted skills offered by Earth Trust).

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

Earth Trust works hand in hand with all our volunteers, similar to our staff, whereby a constant feedback loop operates between staff and volunteers to shape what we do, how we deliver it and exchanging knowledge and learning freely. Indeed, in some cases, our volunteers become the driving force and knowledge base for us as an organisation to shape and deliver actions and the make-up of volunteer activities. During the pandemic lockdowns we were prompted to be as imaginative as possible to continue this degree of consultation and feedback, but managed this through online meetings, weekly newsletter communications, personally ringing the majority of volunteers and finding ways to involve and engage them in broader Trust work and development, including acting as our eyes and ears ‘on the ground’. Further to this, we have recently developed a model of ‘lead’ volunteers who directly help to shape and lead the content of the work their groups deliver; we support them to lead and fact-find, then co-develop next steps with them.

More recently, we have established a collaborative approach to sharing feedback and insights with Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action and Aspire Oxfordshire; we jointly wish to clarify the barriers to people connecting with the outdoors and nature and we want to co-design solutions to overcome those barriers.

We have good links with local running groups, Didcot Runners and Harwell Harriers, who have approached us for volunteering opportunities to help rebuild their communities after the pandemic.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We already have well established links with a range of local community groups, District Council teams and corporates who help to refer, shape and deliver the volunteering network with us.
We have an established working relationship with SODC, not just via our management of the community reserves in Wallingford, Didcot and Abingdon, but also with the ‘Active Communities’ and ‘Economic Development’ teams, who we have reached out to support aspects like referral services, shared networking events (including natural netwalking) and local business connections.

We also collaborate and seek joint-working with many local interest groups, as diverse as the Town and Parish Councils, local running/walking clubs and ‘green gyms’, the girl guides and food enthusiast groups. We are currently delivering a funded programme that collaborates with Oxfordshire Mind and links us to local GP surgeries, mental health and other referral services; this is an early exploration for us into green social prescribing models that have a huge local relevance and potential, and can be co-designed and led by our volunteer network.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

300

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Currently, we provide support directly to a network of approximately 120 active volunteers, a significantly larger online community of ‘registered volunteers’ and a waiting list of an additional 100, which this funding would help to unlock; the profile of these volunteers is broad, but many are 60+ years and more than 50% are male. Our aim is to recruit an increasingly diverse range of volunteers by providing a greater range of roles including the elderly, Isolated people, and those living alone, young families, individuals with disabilities, people seeking mental wellbeing.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

The network reaches out to, engages and mobilises hundreds of people across the District, who might otherwise be more sedentary, isolated, disconnected, or engaged with the climate, biodiversity and health crises that face us.
The Council services that especially benefit, without duplication, are:
•           Supporting Communities: through provision of cohesion, networks, content and social infrastructure.
•           Action on Climate and Nature: by managing, improving and restoring excellent quality greenspaces that deliver for carbon, biodiversity and other ecosystem services.
•           Environment and Neighbourhood Issues: through supporting businesses with education and engagement, contributing to air quality via green spaces and delivering outcomes via water, soil, land and trees.
•           Business and Economy: by underpinning private investment, providing workplace engagement opportunities and driving local income into the region via visitors.
•           Sports and Activities: the network will directly contribute to the maintenance of greenspace infrastructure that ensures our spaces remain open and accessible, safe and welcoming.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Outcomes from delivery of the Network
A. Sustained & retained existing network of over 200 volunteer:
B. Unlocking the ‘waiting list’ of volunteers

C. Delivery of up to 14,000 hours of voluntary activity across the financial year.

D. Maintained and improved quality of greenspaces within Earth Trust’s ownership.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Improved Community Wellbeing: Our volunteer network engages several hundred (up to 300 in total) local residents in direct physical action. For the majority of those who deliver land management, this ranges from physical management of grasslands, woodland, gardening and wetland areas, maintenance of our built infrastructure, walking activities such as wardening and litter picking, all of which involve significant cardiovascular and neuromuscular activity. In addition, the broad range of activities we offer enable individuals to choose the degree of social engagement they feel comfortable with; for example lone working volunteers report to us the benefits of physically engaging in outdoor activities within their own area of control and capabilities. Similarly, larger working groups (up to 20) provide regular feedback on the social and mental impacts of coming together to share experiences, delivering action as a community and a sense of purpose in working for the Trust.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

•Internal policies/approaches to equality and diversity
•We provide free access to all residents across South Oxfordshire

•We provide significant alternative engagement tools and opportunities online, to support remote engagement

•We have designed and deliver programmes targeted at engaging and supporting communities including low income households, socially isolated and those with mental health difficulties

•We offer and deliver heavily subsidised ticket prices for additional activities aimed at young families and urban populations (e.g. school holiday activities that are run at cost to the Trust) which was supported through fundraising.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

There is a shortfall of £24,142.02 across the two year period. Earth Trust will endeavour to close this shortfall through some of our core grant fund applications from local long-term supporters. In addition, the resulting uplift in fundraising activity may contribute to closing this gap longer-term.

The Thomley Hall Centre Limited		Ref	SRev22-24/ 40
Project name Core funding for Thomley’s activities and services for South Oxfordshire residents and funding to enable Thomley to further diversify its activities, fundraising channels and income generation programmes.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Thomley provides play, leisure and learning opportunities for people of all abilities and disabilities at our spacious indoor and outdoor facility.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund 1.For disabled early years visitors; play, leisure and physical activities. 2.For disabled children, play, leisure and physical activities and purposeful life skills and group activities. 3.For disabled young people and adults, activities as above and National Open College Network- and Ofsted-accredited life skills training (ACHIEVE). For those whom living independently and/or securing work may not yet be a realistic aspiration, we provide purposeful activities that build upon their learning capabilities such as cooking classes, basic housekeeping and gardening. 4.We help parents, carers and families to better cope with their caring role and support the parents, carers and families of disabled people by offering them short breaks from their caring role whilst visiting Thomley. 5.We deliver practical workshops delivered by experts in the field of autism and hold regular Family Days (where programming is specifically designed for whole-family participation) as well as several special events throughout the year. 6.We provide opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people to come together. 7.Mapping exisiting provision for disabled people, identifying gapsd and encouraging partnership working. 8.We are diversifying our income streams by developing new, revenue-generating programmes that simultaneously increase our impact.
District reach District – wide
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£32,968	£32,999
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£2,032	£2,001
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£70,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£475,263
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£158,405	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5 - Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £120,500

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A detailed three-year plan demonstrating a diverse range of secured income streams; includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. There is a healthy balance of both restricted and unrestricted funds.	Score	5/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Whilst year 2 (YE 31 Dec 2019) had a small operating deficit, the overall financial trend is positive over the period 2018-2020. A clear reserves policy with no depletion of reserves over the last 3 years. Only a marginal reduction in services/activities due to COVID -19.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from this service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council	Score	5/5
District reach Whilst full district-wide reach no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable and an increase in the percentage potential client base benefiting, in 2023/2024.	Score	5/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A - No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents, In addition, this funding will be used to support their ACHIEVE Life Skills programme which helps disabled young people build the skills they need to live more independently and gain employment.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of implementing their equality policy and increasing awareness of the service through a variety of channels. Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users and evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	38/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Evidence: 92% of parents said their children did not have the same opportunities to play as their non-disabled peers; 81% reported difficulties accessing local play opportunities. ‘Making the Case for Play’, Sense.

Evidence: 7 out of 10 families caring for someone with disabilities reported they had reached or come close to a ‘breaking point’ because of a lack of short break opportunities. ‘Learning Disability Statistics: Effects of being a Carer’, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.

Evidence: Non-disabled people with disabled friends consistently report a more positive view of disabled people than non-disabled people without disabled friends. The Disability Perception Gap, Scope.

Evidence: On 25/11/21 the Oxfordshire’s Children and Young People’s forum identified significant gaps in lifelong provision of services for disabled people.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We communicate with our service users on a daily basis in a range of ways e.g. face to face, social media etc. Feedback is gathered by our Activity Coordinators and Play Workers who then review it during end-of-day debrief sessions where the information is used to plan new activities and tailor existing ones to better meet the needs of our disabled and non-disabled visitors. We also conduct annual and seasonal surveys in which we ask our visitors (and their parents, carers and non-disabled siblings) about their past year at Thomley to help us measure the impact we are having and to ask about future developments, programmes and activities they would like to see.

We also regularly participate in Oxfordshire Youth’s events (where we sit on their information sharing panel) and recently completed a survey for and provided additional information to Oxfordshire Health, Education and Social Care Joint Commissioning, who are also (similar to the work being undertaken by Buckinghamshire Council) mapping out existing provision of support for children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health and identifying gaps.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We have a significant partnership with New Meaning. They operate New Meaning Training, a not-for-profit company with years of experience helping disadvantaged and disabled young people (Not in Education, Employment or Training, NEET) build life and work skills leading to employment and independence. In 2019, they began leasing a disused barn at Thomley to use in their Construction Skills and Work Experience programme and in 2020 converted the barn into a Carpentry Workshop.

Through collaboration we learned New Meaning Training also delivered an accredited life skills training programme (ACHIEVE) that could be modified to meet our beneficiaries’ needs. In September of 2021, we began offering the ACHIEVE programme at Thomley in a temporary classroom that New Meaning helped to build. An initial cohort of nine young learners are currently completing a 11-month course of study.

We have a strong working relationship with KIDS, a national charity that supports disabled children. They bring their Oxfordshire-based beneficiaries to Thomley three days per week as a part of their after-school programming. Finally, we have a strong relationship with Oxfordshire’s Additional Needs partnership (OXAP) (a provider of inclusive activities in Oxfordshire).

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

6000

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

For early years visitors, the outcomes we focus on are building confidence, learning new skills and gaining social experiences.

For disabled children, the outcomes we focus on are building confidence, developing basic life and self-care skills, learning soft skills and practical skills, and building new friendships and consolidating existing ones.

For young people and adults who have to potential to live independently and/or work, the outcomes we focus on are building confidence, and developing the practical skills and social skills they require.

For young people and adults who do not yet have the potential to live independently and/or work, the outcomes we focus on are building confidence, healthy living, and maintaining social relationships.

We help parents and carers become more resilient and to be better equipped in their caring roles by providing opportunities for short breaks, ensuring they get practical support and advice that addresses their needs, creating time and space for them to expand and consolidate their support networks, and improving their overall wellbeing.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We are equipped to accommodate most disabilities and as a result we are one of the few places that disabled people from Oxfordshire can come and know they will be welcomed and have their needs met. This reduces the likelihood that our visitors will need support from the Council to access physical activities that are matched to their needs and abilities.

By providing parents and carers with practical workshops, and the ability to enjoy short breaks from their caring role and overnight stays with their families, this reduces the likelihood they will need support from the council because they have less stress, improved overall wellbeing and feel more supported as a result of visiting Thomley, and are less likely to suffer burn out or mental health issues.

By opening Thomley up to the wider community during our community events and Open for All Days, we create opportunities for community cohesion.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Our play and leisure activities are tailored to meet the complex needs of disabled people.

By providing parents and carers with practical workshops, and the ability to enjoy short breaks from their caring role and overnight stays with their families at Thomley, we create opportunities for them to rest, relax, recharge and get support that helps them in their day-to-day role as carers.

By opening Thomley up to the wider community during our community events and Open for All Days, we create opportunities for non-disabled people to share experiences with disabled people and come to a better understanding of their needs.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We are requesting funding for daily physical indoor and outdoor activities for disabled people. These activities are adapted as necessary to ensure that everyone can participate, regardless of their ability or disability. They include sports (such as football, rugby, tennis, archery, hockey, and more); a mini-gym; fitness activities; and active games. Disabled people are also known to be at risk of loneliness and isolation. By providing them with a wide range of play, recreation and learning opportunities, we reduce their risk of isolation and loneliness, and help them get opportunities to develop social skills and from new friendships.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

1. Our projects, policies, strategies, services and communication take account of all users.
2. We aim to increase understanding of the communities we serve, through consultation and engagement.
3. We work towards delivering better outcomes for disadvantaged groups, & encourage community cohesion.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

One of our strategic objectives is to develop our site to its best potential which will include creating new revenue-generating services (both charitable and commercial) that will reduce our dependency on grants. We are confident that we will be successful, but are prepared to act quickly if these new income streams are not established as forecast and/or do not fully realise their projected income.
If the full cost of our existing services and programmes cannot be generated by our current activities in the short term, we would continue to approach grant makers for funding and use our reserves. We would also explore targeted fundraising channels to increase our income from individual donors, major donors and legacies, which are areas of potential growth for the charity.

Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub South Oxfordshire		Ref	SRev22-24/ 45
Project name Hospice at Home in South Oxfordshire
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub South Oxfordshire supports people aged 18 and over who are living with life-limiting conditions such as cancer, heart failure and lung disease. We combine specialist medical care for managing pain and other symptoms, with emotional, practical and spiritual support.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund We are seeking funding towards the salary of a Hospice at Home Registered nurse. In April 2018, in consultation with the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Sue Ryder launched the South Oxfordshire Palliative Care Hub. This created the first Hospice at Home service in the area, providing specialist end of life care to people in their own homes. The service enables people living with an end of life illness in South Oxfordshire to receive the same high quality hospice care, but in their own home. Your support would also help provide a reliable source of income as we develop sustainable sources of funding from statutory and philanthropic partners.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Cholsey, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Kidmore End and Whitchurch, Sonning Common, Wallingford, Watlington, Woodcote and Rotherfield
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£50,000	£50,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£5,000	£5,000
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£110,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£115,316,000
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£38,434,823	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: Additional Restrictions Grant Award (2020) £2,000 Various Councillor Grant Awards, most recent (2021/2022) £4,027

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A three-year plan not balanced that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Whilst some over reliance on certain income streams, these are secured/highly likely income streams.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets– taken over the three years, with reason given for unbalanced budget in 20/21, has a reserves policy.	Score	3/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion Up to 50 residents, which appears to include vulnerable/ priority groups.	Score	3/5
District reach Very good geographical reach, across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focused, no fundraising or income diversification targets. Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- is a national organisation.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided, no testimonials from partners.	Score	1/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people) at the heart of the improving service design and delivery.	Score	4/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	28/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Based on data obtained from the Marie Curie Atlas, we estimate that the number of people in the area in need of home based palliative care is now approaching 1,500 a year. This figure is expected to continue to grow in the coming years due to anticipated growth in the local population, an aging population and advancements in life extending medical treatments.

Thanks to a National Voices survey we know that 81% of people would prefer to die at home and many hospital admissions could be avoided if appropriate care at home was available.

Since its launch in April 2018 our Hospice at Home nurses based at our South Oxfordshire Palliative Care Hub have provided care for an average of 500 patients a year with 97% of these achieving their preferred place of death.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We have designed this service off the back of conversations and consultations with the CCG and NHS Oxfordshire. We wanted to provide care in the most effective way that met both patient need, and filled gaps in local care provision. We carried out a survey that found that 81% of patients would prefer to be cared for at home. Previously we were finding that we were not receiving enough referrals to make an inpatient unit viable, so the decision was made to commit to a fully home based care provision.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We are working in partnership with Oxfordshire CCG as well as local organisations to deliver a cost-effective, streamline service. The Hospice at Home team collaborate very closely with local services to ensure a seamless continuity of patient care. Our aim in all we do is to work in partnership to ensure gaps in care are filled.
These include:
Joint working with District Nursing and Community Teams;
Work with Primary Care teams to identify patients and manage patient care;
Co-ordination of care throughout the night;
Delivering end of life care training and supporting patients referred to South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS NHS 111) out of hours;
Providing crews with advice and a response service where needed (SCAS NHS 999).

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

500

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Palliative Care Hub South Oxfordshire supports people 18 and over who have an end of life diagnosis. Included in this group are the elderly, individuals with disabilities or comorbidities, and those with impairments. However, as our services are available to everyone in the area our patients could come from any of the groups listed.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

One of the key goals of hospice care in the community is ensuring that unplanned hospital admissions or doctor visits are reduced. Our nurses and doctors are able to provide support that means our patients are well cared for and any issues they are having, whether that is pain management or illness progression can be caught and dealt with early. It also means that our patients are able to pick their preferred place of death and plans can be made accordingly, indeed 96% of our patients achieve their preferred place of death.

Overall, this means that council intervention is needed far less often, and there is a reduced cost to provide care across the board.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Increasing the number of people who die in their preferred place of care and reducing the number of people in die in hospital. From April 2018 – March 2019, 93% of Sue Ryder patients achieved their preferred place of death.

Reducing inappropriate or unplanned hospital admissions (those that do not result in any significant benefit for the patient, or which result in benefit that could have been obtained at a lower care level). Based on clinical judgement 108 hospital admissions have been avoided.

Increasing the number of people supported back to pre-covid levels. A total of 310 people were cared for by the Hospice at Home team in its first year (Apr 2018 – Mar 2019), increasing to 494 before dropping during the pandemic. We want to increase the number of people we support back to approximately 500 a year.

Reducing stress and anxiety experienced by patients, carers and families.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

The main way that our service contributes to this aspect of the corporate plan is that it can greatly reduce loneliness and isolation in our patients and their families. Without a dedicated hospice and home service in the area, many people feel trapped in a cycle of hospital or hospice trips in their last weeks and days, while their family may feel like a carer instead of a spending quality time with their loved ones. Feedback we've received from patients and families consistently mentions how much the nurse's visits improve their mental wellbeing, allowing them to focus on spending time doing what they want to do instead of worrying about their illness.

In addition to this, our nurses are trained to recognise the signs of deteriorating mental health, and can then refer them to other support services we provide such as social workers, pre and post bereavement support and befriending, to an ensure a holistic care plan can be offered.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

Sue Ryder has an equality policy in place and all decisions we make as an organisation are influenced by it. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons many groups do not to engage with hospice care as a whole, which can lead to a lack of diversity in our patients. In an effort to address this, Sue Ryder has created a new role in our organisation, the purpose of which will be to engage with communities of all kinds to understand this reticence. The role will be in place for the next 12 months, after this we will begin adapting our services where needed to ensure that we are fully accessible to all.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

Each quarter we invoice NHS Oxfordshire the cost to run the service, and with the shortfall being made up with fundraised income. As this is an ongoing service, fundraising is ongoing. We have a fundraising team based locally who work with the community to secure funding, as well as national teams that secure funding through avenues such as national events, major donors or trusts. Also as part of Sue Ryder's strategy to provide more care for more people, we have plans in place to double our fundraised income over the next five years.

Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire		Ref	SRev22-24/ 46
Project name Home-visiting and Family Support Services throughout the South Oxfordshire District Council Area.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families who have at least one child under the age of five. We provide emotional and practical support to families with our trained home-visiting volunteers, parent and baby groups and expert support, helping them through their most challenging times.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire is well established in the area, and has supported vulnerable familiescontinuously for 32 years. The grant will; 1. Continue home-visiting support and our various family groups including our First Babies Group for first-time parents from birth to 15 months, and expectant parents. 2. Continue to train our volunteers. 3. Diversify funding streams by more co-operative working and joint funding bids
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Chinnor, Cholsey, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Kidmore End and Whitchurch, Sonning Common, Thame, Wallingford, Watlington, Wheatly, Woodcote and Rotherfield
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£31,227	£32,571
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£2,910	£2,968
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£63,798 (fundraising and income diversification cost not included)
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£124,275
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£41,421	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £72,890 Additional Restrictions Grant Award (2021) £3,975 Discretionary Grant Award (2020) £10,000 Councillor Grant Award (2019/2020) £295

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Clear movement towards a more sustainable funding base.	Score	3/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Whilst a deficit in 2019/20 overall balanced accounts. Officers note some growth in reserves for 2020/21 but an anticipated deficit budget for 2021/2022 which will result in depletion of reserves, a clear explanation has been provided.	Score	4/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need and evidence of regular consultation with service users.	Score	3/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents benefit from the service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups. Providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Very good geographical reach, across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Good evidence provided	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. Alongside improving wellbeing and mental health of service users.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of customer satisfaction data implemented, with service users (e.g. including priority group/ vulnerable people,) at the heart of the improving service design and delivery.	Score	4/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers recommend including as a condition of any grant award additional evidence of partnership working and development. Officers note the applicant has not included the fundraising and income diversification cost in the total grant amount requested.	Total score	30/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire is well established in the area, and has supported vulnerable families continuously for 32 years.
Between April 2019 and March 2020 (the last "normal" pre-pandemic year), we supported 318 families and 472 children across all our services. Over 1,274 hours of time were given by our amazing team of volunteers.

Families are referred to us by other professional bodies (with the family’s consent) or they may self-refer in order to receive support from one of our trained home-visiting volunteers, Family Support Worker or at one of our groups.

This system of self-referral means that any family who thinks they need help, can approach us to request support.

We’ve developed strong relationships with Health Visitors, Social Sorkers, Mental Health Services and Educational Professionals across the area, who provide a stream of referred cases.More recently, Social Prescribers have been referring families for our support.

Our volunteer home-visiting support is unique in the area, with no other local or national organisation providing this type of service for families.

Closure of many Childrens' Centres, and reduced funding for the remainder, has meant they ended their home-visiting services.
Another local group, offering family support - the Balsam Family Project - closed through lack of funding.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

The families we support are consulted both prior to support being provided, regularly through the service provision and through feedback, via SurveyMonkey questionnaires.

The volunteers complete weekly diary sheets, recording detailed information about each visit made.

Support is reviewed and the family's progress assessed at regular intervals, which allows us to track improvement.

Our strong relationships with Health Visitors, Social Workers, Mental Health Services, Educational Professionals and social providers across the area mean that we have a positive 2-way relationship with them.

We can keep them notified of the services that we are able to provide at any time - this was particularly important during the pandemic - and they can refer the most appropriate families to meet our availability.
Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings enable us to work closely with other professionals, where a family has complex needs and multi-agencies are involved, ensuring the best outcome for the family.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

We collaborate, continuously, in service provision with our referrers - Health Visitors, Social Workers, Mental Health Services, Educational Professionals and Social Prescribers. There is constant 2-way feedback, to provide the best possible services to the families in the area.

Oxfordshire Community Foundation’s Growing Minds project is an innovative and ground-breaking initiative to improve school readiness in Oxfordshire. Alongside other local and specialist Early Years organisations, Home-Start will provide in-home support by skilled volunteers and practitioners to families with young children.

We have worked with military support groups, through the MOD covenant, to provide services to military families in the area at MOD Didcot and RAF Benson.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

400

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Our work is designed to support vulnerable families who have at least one child under the age of five.

In the year to February 2021, despite the pandemic, we 48 volunteers supporting 69 families in the area with either home-visiting, phone call, video calls and text support.

Needs identified at referral showed:
78.6% of families were facing mental health and physical wellbeing issues
 75% of families felt isolated
 60.7% of families were struggling with parenting
 82.1% of families needed advice and help accessing local support service

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Increasingly, the resources of statutory services are focused on the most ‘high risk’ families and we work closely with them to provide as much support as we can. Although our work does not replace that of Health Visitors, Social Workers or other statutory services, we are able to complement what they do, and provide support for families who fall below thresholds for their intervention.

Any support we can give will help reduce the need for the families to contact other services - volunteers can help with signposting to the most appropriate services which they are having difficulty in reaching or engaging with, such as Health, Community, Services, Housing and Education.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Recruiting the maximum volunteers possible to support families in the District.
Maintaining sufficient volunteers to support as many families as possible.
Provision of support groups to provide a range of support services to families where home-visiting might not be the most appropriate method.
We will recruit a fundraising assistant to identify new fund raising and income generating opportunities.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We have a wealth of experience in offering support to parents to help develop improved support networks and family relationships, and ultimately help improve the outcomes for their children.

Families are referred to us by other professional bodies (with the family’s consent) or they may self-refer in order to receive support from one of our trained home-visiting volunteers, Family Support Worker or at one of our groups. This system of self-referral means that any family who thinks they need help, can approach us to request support.

We’ve developed strong relationships with Health Visitors, Social Workers, Mental Health Services and Educational Professionals and Social Subscribers.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We have an Equality, Fairness and Diversity Policy & Procedure.
Our services offer equality to all users, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, political opinion, sex and sexual orientation.

We aim to give access to our services to of all possible users by appropriate advertising of our services, through different media, and receiving multi-agency referrals.We also encourage self-referrals.

We recruit volunteers from as broad a range of backgrounds as possible.

Our internal systems monitor family needs and we welcome feedback from the families, volunteers, referrals and other community groups so that we can tailor our services to the local need.

Multi-agency working allows us to deliver better outcomes for disadvantaged groups and encourages community cohesion.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

If we are unsuccessful in any of out funding bids, and in order to increase our services to meet unmet demand:

We will aim to cover shortfalls in funding by seeking alternative funding with partners - such as other Home-Start schemes.

We will also manage our Free Reserves to maintain the highest possible level of service to the vulnerable families that we support.

Be Free Young Carers		Ref	SRev22-24/ 47
Project name Brighter Future for Young Carers
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Be Free Young Carers is a local Oxfordshire charity, based in Didcot, that works with young carers aged 8 to 17 across te South Oxfordshire and Vale area.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Core services of respite activities, bespoke 121 emotional support, training in first aid, nutrition and cookery and volunteer befriending service. These funds would be used to allow our South Oxfordshire Support Worker to liaise with the schools and local GP’s to support and identify young carers. Part of the funds would be used to fund our Befriender and Volunteer Coordinator to recruit and train new volunteers for our most vulnerable young carers, giving them access to a trained befriender programme for up to six months. It will help increase our fundraising streams, building on our corporate support, while also demonstrating the impact of our work to funders and supporters through the development of a promotional and impact video.
District reach District-wide
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£17,084	£17,432
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£1,500	£1,500
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£37,516
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£167,806
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£55,929	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: 5-Year Revenue Grant Award (2017 – 2022) £101,983

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? Whilst the narrative does identify how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams, the organisation has provided a limited plan which doesn’t cover the required three-year period (only 2022/23 income forecast is included). The organisational budget gives a two year breakdown which provides more detail, this does not cover 2024/2025.	Score	1/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income and officers note some growth in reserves.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Whilst the organisation has provided strong and clear indication of community need, there is limited evidence provided on the regularity of consultation with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	3/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from this service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents. Whilst the organisation takes referrals from the council, more detail is needed on how their services complement council services with clear examples.	Score	4/5
District reach Whilst full district-wide reach no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with some measurable outcomes for residents but more benchmarked data required to score more for officers to be convinced that the three targets are ambitious. An increase in clients benefiting in 2023/24 is acknowledged.	Score	3/5
An additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided. A further point could have been scored with the addition of partner testimonials.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. The mental wellbeing of young carers is a key element of the organisation’s programmes.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? An equality policy or statement is in place. The applicant has not answered the question as required but has ticked the box to confirm they have an equality policy.	Score	1/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	27/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

We know from the 2011 Census, that there are at least 12,000 young carers in Oxfordshire and 1,400 in the South and Vale area. This has increased and the pandemic has helped young carers become more identifiable due to homeschooling. The digital poverty highlighted during the pandemic has seen more young carers become identified by Schools, Social Services and GPs. Our referrals have increased drastically and we are currently having to put our referrals on hold to deal with the back log. We are having more and more referrals come from outside our area, and from under eight years old. We are the only specialist charity in Oxfordshire that support young carers and advocate for them.

Due to the pandemic we have seen a huge increase in mental health needs for our young carers, with waiting lists for CAHMs becoming increasingly long, based on feedback from parents, schools and young carers, we have focused our services on providing mental health preventative support and ongoing support for young carers with mental health concerns.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We are a user led service, young carers are at the heart of everything we do. Our service is split in two age categorise 8-12 for our younger young carers and 13-17 year old for our old youths. This is in response to feedback from our older young carers who, when they reach secondary school age, they require a different service. With our young carers aged 8-12 years old, we are dependent on feedback via their parents and at any event we put on, be it 121 emotional support or a respite activity. We also capture their own feedback at these events, whether they have enjoyed them, what do they want or need in the future.

With our 13+ groups, the programme of events and activities is 100% controlled by them. We meet yearly for a focus group and set out what they would like and need from us. This is also discussed at every monthly hangout with them so that we are able to adapt activities based on their feedback.
This has led us to form a Youth Panel, which is in it’s early stages, this consists of young carers who will meet up to give us feedback, discuss concerns in their lives and how we can help as a charity.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

Our activities in South Oxfordshie are carried out by The Space Store in Didcot, Mrs Bun the Baker, Yoga with Emma based in Harwell, The Earth Trust. We also encourage our 13+ groups to meet for their ‘hangouts’ locally at venues such as Casper’s and Costa in Didcot. We are also involved with a collaboration with Oxford Playhouse in a young carers theatre production that will tour schools in March next year, this will also include St Birinus, DGS and Aureus.
Throughout the pandemic, we liaised with other local charities such as Didcot Food Bank, to collect food parcels for our young carers. We also have existing collaboration with SOFEA in Didcot, who provide some of our young carers with counselling via their schools. SOFEA have also helped us with our laptop campaign, ensuring our young carers all have a laptop when they start secondary school, so that they aren’t digitally disadvantaged.

We liaise with the local community, through referrals from South Oxon: - Oxfordshire County Young Carers service - Spurgeons – Oxfordshire Commissioned Young Carers Service - Carers Oxfordshire – Oxfordshire Commissioned Adult Carers Service - South Oxfordshire local primary and secondary schools - Oxfordshire Child and Adult Mental Health Service - Local GP surgeries (e.g. Goring Health Centre; Ladygrove and Woodlands, Didcot) - Didcot and Henley Citizens Advice Bureau

Our liaison with schools have become critical in the last 18 months and we continue to build on this success.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

600

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Young carers aged between 8-17 years old, their families will benefit from their time spent with us. These families are often from economically disadvantaged background, they have either a parent or sibling with a disability, mental health concerns, illness, drug or alcohol abuse. Young carers are isolated and their mental health is often low, both of these have been exacerbated with the pandemic. 33% of Young Carers have special needs themselves and are less likely to gain good grades at school due to their caring responsibilities. Young Cares age 16-18 are twice as likely to become NEET.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

We work with the council and often take referrals from them, as although young carers can get access to their support, we offer more in depth approach for our young carers. Our services go beyond what is currently being offered by the council and we compliment the services. Our services very much deal with the stresses of being a young carer, however we promote preventative activities to allow the young carers to cope with their caring role.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Funding our Support Worker and partially our befriending service will result in less referrals of young carers to council services. It will also enable young carers to get the respite and support that they need. We expect by working with our young carers and schools, to see improvement in the attendance, for young carers to be able to manage the school work load. This takes the stress off young carers, parents and school teachers, we all work together in the best interest of the young carer. Due to the strain on council waiting lists for mental health services, we will be relieving some of this pressure through our mental wellbeing services.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

We strongly believe that our project will improve the economic and community wellbeing. All our activities will benefit the local economy. We invest our funds through activities that are run by local businesses, supporting the local business community is part of our ethos. Knowing that we are there for the community's local young carers, supporting them and helping them with the effects of the pandemic on their mental health, has already had an impact on the community's wellbeing and we will build on this ripple effect. We have built resilience during the pandemic and an increase in our registrations have seen the number of our client base increase - we will continue to build on this momentum and whilst the target we set will be challenging, we know we are capable of achieving this. With these funds we will have a positive impact on the community, the families and young carers.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We work hard to reduce the isolation and loneliness of our young carers, that occurs due to their role. Our activities encourage them to make friends and engage with their peers. Our ‘Young Carer’ buddy system, pairs our young carers up with similar families so that they are able to build a network of support. Engaging with our young carers via virtual events, especially during lockdown, has helped relieve the loneliness felt by our young carers. Our laptop campaign further enhanced their ability to keep in touch with friends and family, while also giving them the same technology as their school peers. Our ‘Mindfulness Movement’ programme sees us support their mental wellbeing, alongside the befriending service.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

If there is a shortfall in funding and we look to fill this gap by approaching our funders from Trusts and other grant providers to gain their support in covering these costs. Over the last 18 months we have built great relationships with funders such as The National Lottery, Uk Youth, and we are confident that funders like these, will continue to support our work in Oxfordshire. We have a robust Fundraising Strategy in place for the next five years, we are also looking to take on a new fundraiser in January to develop our corporate partnerships further.

River Thame Conservation Trust		Ref	SRev22-24/ 49
Project name Getting to the bottom of the problem with the Thame: A collaboration between researchers and citizen scientists to understand pollution in the catchments rivers and tributaries.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The River Thame Conservation Trust is a grassroots charity that operates in Oxfordshire. We aim to work with local people in rural and urban parts of our catchment – volunteers, farmers and landowners – to improve biodiversity of the River Thame and its tributaries, to improve public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the river catchment and its wildlife.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund The project aims to empower a network of over 100 citizen scientists to help build a defensible characterisation of point and diffuse pollution on the River Thame network (geographically located in a large area of SODC), and enable focused action to improve the situation. This in turn will not only increase knowledge amongst the citizen scientists and their communities, but ultimately lead improvements in water quality, biodiversity and water management in the region, and improve connection with nature and recreation opportunities which will impact the health and wellbeing of the wider community. Citizen scientists will be trained by River Thame Conservation Trust (RTCT) and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in sampling and flow measurement at 20 locations strategically located on each of the 20 Thame water bodies or sub catchments, on a monthly basis, plus additional sampling during rainfall events. Alongside this water quality network, the Thame Riverfly network will be doubled across the Thame catchment, by targeted engagement and training. Coordinated by the River Thame Conservation Trust as part of the Riverfly Partnership, citizen scientist data can act as an early warning system for pollution events and is an important programme for public engagement and education.
District reach Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Chinnor, Forest Hill and Holton, Garsington and Horspath, Haseley Brook, Sandford and The Wittenhams, Thame, Watlington, Wheatley
Corporate Plan priority To protect and restore our natural world

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£71,174	£58,994
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£1	£1
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£125,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£354,798
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£118,254	Has the grant amount been adjusted? Yes, pro rata adjustment as service delivery beyond South Oxfordshire. Adjusted to £76,224 over the two-year period.
Previous funding awarded: Councillor Grant Award (2020/2021) £2,013

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. However, this lacks detail and does not appear to support fundraising costs as stated in the application of £1 per year. Some over reliance on certain income streams, deficits in funding each year with no clear movement to reduce.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Each financial year appears to show significant gaps in balancing the budget.	Score	0/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need with consultation limited to existing service users only.	Score	2/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	5/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focussed with includes some measurable outcomes for residents but no fundraising or income diversification targets.	Score	2/5
An additional one point if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Evidence provided, no testimonals from partners supplied.	Score	1/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? Evidence of large-scale, district wide, clearly evidence how they are contributing to County or national targets for restoring the natural world.	Score	4/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Whilst the organisation has an equal opportunities policy - officers are unable to ascertain evidence of implementation beyond the narrative that they select their volunteers fairly, encouraging opportunities for vulnerable/priority groups.	Score	2/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officer note, as per the grant scheme policy statutory services that are the responsibility of the council or another public sector’s responsibility for delivering are not eligible to the scheme. Whilst water quality is the responsibility of the Environment Agency, the Environment Agency does not have a statutory duty to the water monitoring level proposed in the project. Officer note, submitted project costs not pro rata, the grant amount has been revised accordingly. Officer note, only £1 per year income and diversification, this is concerning, officers recommend a condition of any grant offer would be to agree a percentage of the overall award be allocated to accordingly in line with the scheme requirements.	Total score	21/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The project covers the whole of the River Thame catchment and its 20 water bodies, all of which are classified as ‘Fail’ under the Water Framework Directive for chemical status. The Thame catchment is a small sub-catchment in the Thames River Basin and has 32 Sewage Treatment Work (STW) inputs, an unknown number of private septic tanks, point sources from other industries and a broad distribution of diffuse sources of pollution throughout the catchment (e.g. agriculture, road runoff).

Across the Thame catchment, citizen scientists have already carried out water quality surveys over the last three years using simple nitrate (NO3) and phosphate (PO4) test kits. While this work has been valuable in helping to identify localised areas of nutrient-impacted water, more comprehensive data gathering is required to understand the nature, source and frequency of point source and diffuse pollution occurring throughout the catchment. The characterisation of how and where pollution occurs would be greatly improved by regular data gathering of lab-verified concentrations of a more comprehensive range of parameters, which can be used as indicators for different pollution sources.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

TW and select volunteer groups (Wheatley) have being consulted in planning of this activity / service. TW and the EA will be informed of all planning activities on the project and results will be shared with TW and EA, plus relevant landowners / farmers in the region. Consents will be applied for from the EA for gauge installation, but this has already been discussed with the catchment coordinator.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

RTCT will use existing networks of volunteers and expand this reach to a wider geographic area using social media and other lines of communication with partners including Wild Oxfordshire and TVERC. We are already collaborating on the planning of the project with CEH and Thames Water, as well as local environment groups and landowners.

Training, planning materials, and results will be provided to all citizen scientists, and stakeholders (envisaged to be at least threee individuals at each of the 20 flow and sampling sites, plus at least two at each of the 20 riverfly monitoring sites, in total at least 100 across the catchment, plus a further group identified for sampling during rainfall events). These individuals will be provided with materials and encouraged to convey the findings and the planned actions to their wider communities.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

6000

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Approximately 120 citizen scientists will directly benefit from the project. The material and information which they will convey to the wider communities can be estimated to be of positive benefit to at least 50 people per citizen scientist, reaching up to an estimated total of 6000 people. This is only the knowledge share information, which will lead to health and wellbeing benefits relating to knowledge of detrimental water quality and sources of pollution in the catchment, and identification of cleaner green and blue spaces for local residents to enjoy.

Once pollution sources are identified and those responsible are engaged to improve water quality across the catchment, this will bring benefits to the entire River Thame catchment, with a population of approximately 183,000, an estimated 40-50 % of whom live within the South Oxfordshire district.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Improvements to biodiversity and water quality complements council services by means of improving wellbeing and connection with nature in the district. The project will support decision making for communities in their day to day lives, provides capacity building around environmental knowledge, which informs the action on climate and nature. It will improve knowledge around how local residents themselves as well as key industries and stakeholders can affect water quality and therefore contribute to the sustainability of existing sewerage infrastructure. It will inform local people of the impact the waste management, wastewater management and land management can have on the water environment and improve knowledge of safe recreational spaces. It will also set a path for improvement of water quality for the benefit of all for recreation, including swimming, kayaking, paddling, dog walking.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

•           Benefits to water environment: This will enable better targeted habitat interventions and use of resources to benefit the water environment.
•           Benefits to Biodiversity: Creating a network of engaged and knowledgeable citizen scientists will have knock-on effects with local communities better motivated, and more equipped to protect and enhance their local freshwater habitats.
•           Benefits to Partnerships: Data will be freely shared across the partnership, and regular updates will take place when the data is interpreted and fed-back to non-scientists involved with the monitoring network.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

The project will support the councils objective of restoring our natural world in both biodiverse and bio-depleted areas (i.e. the River Thame and its sub catchments, as already demonstrated) through nature recovery networks and other means (through monitoring, understanding and developing improvement strategies). We will provide an opportunity for large numbers of the communities, including urban communities, to their local green spaces and help target where nature can be restored to urban environments.

Citizen science activities, increased understanding of the challenges and the potential solutions will help our community groups to strengthen cohesion, reduce social isolation and tackle areas of deprivation.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

The fundamental objective of the project is to improve water quality across the catchment. It is a fundamental right for all (i.e. equal opportunities) for all residents to be able to access and enjoy green and blue spaces across the district. In addition, RTCT operates in line with its equal opportunities policy and selection of volunteers will be on an equal opportunities basis, including and encouraging opportunities for vulnerable/ priority groups.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

In parallel with this application, we are applying for funding from Thames Water and from community grant funds in the local area.

Please note, that our costs do not include volunteer time.

The Abingdon Bridge		Ref	SRev22-24/ 50
Project name The South Oxfordshire (SO) Counselling and Wellbing Hub - Counselling and Mental Health support for 13-25 year olds living in South Oxfordshire.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents The Abingdon Bridge is an Oxfordshire registered charity (CIO) which supports young people aged 13-25 in challenging circumstances. Our services are free for young people to access. We offer; 1 to 1 counselling, healthy lifestyles support groups, 1 to 1 wellbeing support, educational workshops (in the community and local schools).
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Our aim is to have a small professional counselling team based in Didcot supporting young people from across South Oxfordshire offering a professional counselling service, followed by an appropriate timely intervention.This will be a free service for young people to use. We do however appreciate that we need to diversify and generate further support over the next two years to ensure that our offer is sustainable. We aim to do this by demonstrating the impact and outcomes our service will have on the lives of young people living in SO. We will create an impact report and present this to the local business community to see if they would subsidise and sponsor local young people to get the counselling support that they so desperately need. We will invest in developing our website to make it more simple for people to make a donations via your homepage or to set up a direct debit. Our Ambassadors are also planning to make another short film to shwcase our work and send to potential funders. Seeking and sourcing other potential funders.
District reach Benson and Crowmarsh, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Cholsey, Didcot West, Didcot South, Didcot North East, Goring, Thame, Wallingford
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£58,501	£58,501
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£1,499	£1,499
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£120,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£223,220
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£74,332	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: N/A

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A three-year plan, not balanced, does not include evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Officer notes this is addressed in the project breakdown costs and the narrative. Some over-reliance on certain income streams.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Whilst a deficit in 2018/19, overall balanced accounts, an increase in services/activities and income.	Score	4/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, substantial consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders, including priority groups if the service/activities impact them.	Score	5/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents will benefit from this service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets ambitious whilst still feel achievable. Outcomes for residents are specific and measurable.	Score	4/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities Significant evidence of partnership working collaboration and co-production.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation can demonstrate that it reduces loneliness and isolation amongst our most vulnerable residents. Training is offered to support mental wellbeing through the provision of wellbeing packs and 1:1 counselling.	Score	5/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence that the service is designed to meets the needs of all users and delivering better outcomes for vulnerable/priority groups and/ or improving areas of deprivation and/or encouraging community cohesion.	Score	5/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officers recommend including as a condition of any grant award some interaction with and partnership working with Riverside Counselling Service who are offering similar services in the same geographical area as The Abingdon Bridge.	Total score	33/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

We currently receive around six referrals per week from young people living in South Oxfordshire (SO). This is in addition to the 41 young people from the SO who are currently on our waiting list for support. It is very clear there is a huge need for further mental health support to be based in the SO.

We are working in conjunction with our client advisory group (made up of local young people) who are helping us understand what the needs are. They have listed four areas they feel has had the greatest impact on their wellbeing:

1. Anxiety about the implications of missing school, examination results, returning to school.
2. Domestic stress within the family because of unemployment, decline of income, unmanageable debts, and parental mental wellbeing.

3. Young people learning to be witnessed again – they have spent a year on social media or locked on their phones, many have forgotten how to communicate, many have increased anxiety about leaving the house and being seen by peers again.

4. Risky behaviours – we have seen a huge increase in referrals in young people who have been self-harming by cutting, or misusing drugs and alcohol to “cope”.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

We are very much client led. Part of our ethos is to hear the voices of local young people. We have a regular client focus meetings to look at client feedback, data and statistics.

We realised this year that we needed meaningful involvement from young people themselves on how we deliver our services. This led to us creating a youth led committee, the Client Advisory Group (CAG). This is made up of past and current clients and other young people from the local area. They support the clinical team in the development, design and delivery of our activities.

We have consulted with the local schools, SOHA and our partners through the CSP. Its evident there is a huge need for more additional mental health support across SO. This project will enhance the work of our partners offer and avoid duplication as we will be the only charity delivering counselling and tier 2/3 support. We have also have several exploratory sessions with Didcot TRAIN to ensure we can work together to provide an holistic model. We have also consulted with CAMHS and the local primary care network where both have highlighted a huge need for increased provision across SO for more mental health support.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

To increase impact and relevance TAB continually works to build and maintain effective partnerships with the organisations most likely to be engaging with vulnerable and struggling young people; schools (especially in target areas), charities, police, social services/youth offending teams, CAMHS, GP surgeries, CSP, youth clubs and churches. We are often approached by these services when they are seeking advice or support with young people in regards to their wellbeing. We have regular meetings with our local partners to ensure there is no duplication and explore opportunities to work in partnerships.

TAB continues to grow in stature; we continue to work in partnership with the following organisations:

•Oxfordshire Youth (Oxfordshire)
•Oxfordshire Mind
•CAMHS
•YOCO (Youth challenge Oxfordshire)
•Most Schools across the South
•TRAIN (Didcot detached youth project)
•Berinsfield youth project
•National Citizen Service
•SOHA

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

360

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

TAB will support the most vulnerable disengaged young people, those who cannot access private counselling or mental health support. Our current clients who are waiting for support from SO suffer from a range of disadvantages. Commonly one or more of: -
• Poor mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Anxiety (general and specific e.g. social, academic)
• Alcohol & drug abuse
• Long term unemployment
• Children and young people affected by bereavement
• Criminal behaviour including gangs
• Physical, emotional or sexual abuse
• Self-harm
• Depression
• Poverty and deprivation
• At risk or affected by child criminal exploitation e.g. County Lines
• Children and young people who identify as LGBTQ+.

SO has pockets of deprivation amidst affluence. However, we also know that young people from affluent and stable homes can also present with some of these issues. We are known for our work with the hardest to reach young people.

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

Our main aim is to improve individual and community wellbeing. We know that improved well-being raises confidence, self-esteem, and self -worth. We want to equip young people with the emotional resilience to overcome life challenges. We want them to have the skills to regulate themselves so they’re better able to manage their emotions and any external factors that might challenge them in life. We have worked with many young people who were involved in risky behaviours, at risk of criminality, involved with antisocial behaviour, and not being able to hold down a job. We have seen the difference that counselling can have on their emotional well-being. We know that when a young person is able to manage their own regulation they are then able to positively contribute to their community.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Outcome (1) Young people show increased resilience and are less likely to participate in risky behaviours.
Outcome (2) Young people will have improved aspirations and report to be more confident about their futures.
Outcome (3) Young people will have a greater sense of their emotional wellbeing leading to less anxiety and stress.

Subsidiary outcomes will include:
An increase in confidence to contribute positively to the local community
A greater understanding of their own emotions and feelings
A tool kit to manage emotions and behaviours before they become problematic
More resilient in making informed life choices
Greater confidence to take up training; employment; education or voluntary opportunities.
Knowledge and expertise that they are willing to share with other members of the community

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Our work addresses the “Improve Economic and CommunityWellbeing priority”. We will be providing a service for young people which does not exist in South Oxfordshire on this scale. We shall work in partnership with Didcot Train, local GP surgeries and local schools.

We also offer training to support mental wellbeing amongst young people through our provision of wellbeing packs and 1:1 counselling.
This leads to a significant improvement in the self worth; self esteem; self awareness and self confidence of the young people we see. This, in turn, leads to greater economic potential. The evidence from our client satisfaction data is very clear on this.

Greater community cohesion is achieved by young people feeling less anxious; less isolated; less stressed, less depressed and less suicidal. The impact is enormous – not only on the individual but also on family life.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We ensure all staff are trained and promote equality for all. You will see that our policy reflects deep thinking and consideration when it comes to equality for all.

As a charity we are constantly reviewing social attitudes towards vulnerable young people. This is influenced by our client focus group who have, for example, been proactive in highlighting the needs of young women who feel sexually threatened as well as other young people who need to are explore their sexuality and gender identity in a safe environment.

We regularly train staff and provide clinical supervision focusing on difference and diversity such as racial identity and how to work with this in a non-judgmental and safe environment.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

Any shortfall would be met from other unrestricted donations.

Thame Players Theatre Company		Ref	SRev22-24/ 51
Project name Increasing skills capability via training and technical recruitment and increasing marketing to develop additional audiences.
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Thame Players is an amateur theatre group that aims to provide a high-quality, wide-ranging and accessible entertainment programme for the people of Thame and local area.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund Increasing skills capability via training and technical recruitment and increasing marketing to develop additional audiences; 1.Recruiting an external contractor to manage and run technical operations, and train others to become proficient in the technical skills required to put on shows. 2.increase the marketing of shows by producing promotional leaflets (to include design, origination and print costs) delivered to an estimated 7,000 households and reach a potential 20,000 people. 3.Build up a training programme using professional trainers and/ or training courses which would increase the theatre’s volunteer skill base in all aspects of running the theatre.
District reach Chalgrove, Chinnor, Forest Hill and Holton, Garsington and Horspath, Haseley Brook, Thame, Watlington, and Wheatley
Corporate Plan priority Improved economic and community wellbeing

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£10,000	£8,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£9,000	£9,000
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£36,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£57,260
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£19,084	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: Various Councillor Grant Awards - most recent (2020/2021) £3,000 Volunteering Grant Award (2018/2019) £736

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising through the production and distribution of publicity materials. Some over reliance on certain income streams and small gaps in funding. No clear movement towards a more sustainable and balanced funding base as year three expenditure exceeds income.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) Each financial year appears to show significant gaps in balancing the budget. Officers note due to the Pandemic the Players Theatre was closed from March 2020 unitl July 2021.	Score	0/5
Community need and consultation Some indication of community need with consultation limited to existing service users only. Feedback is received from audiences but not demonstrated through a formal, regular process.	Score	2/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 501 residents benefit from the service and includes a large proportion of ‘vulnerable’ residents.	Score	4/5
District reach Good geographical reach across the district as defined by the number of wards represented against similar population size.	Score	3/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are mostly internally focussed.	Score	2/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Evidence of partnership working with Thame organisations. Testimonials from partners audience members and other customers who have hired the venue or benefitted from their productions.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? The organisation has contributes to residents' well-being through promotion of the arts, and brings together audiences to help combat loneliness and isolation through shared experiences.	Score	2/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Thame Players has demonstrated that their performances are available/accessible to all, and are aiming to widen access through increased promotion and shows. No further score possible with limited evidence.	Score	2/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS N/a	Total score	19/43

Applicant responses

Community Need and Consultation

Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.

The Players Theatre is the only dedicated live performing theatre serving residents of Thame and neighbouring areas within a radius of 10 miles (the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury is the nearest alternative), and specifically residents within the OX9, OX44, OX39 and OX49 postcode areas. New house - building in the area in recent years has increased the catchment to around 20,000 residents.

The geographical reach of the Players Theatre extends predominantly to Thame and to other areas within a ten-mile radius of Thame. There is no other live entertainment venue in this area, the nearest being the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, with other theatres farther away in central Oxford and in High Wycombe. Although these theatres offer a broad range of entertainment, their ticket prices are all higher than the more affordably priced shows at the Players Theatre (typically between £8-£18), and they involve travelling greater distances with associated parking issues. The theatre in Thame is therefore more accessible, especially for low-income groups, the retired and elderly who do not wish or are unable to travel far, and to those who live in rural locations. Therefore, it makes sense to be able to increase the availability and variety of shows to more fully embrace the local demographic and catchment area.

How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?

Audience surveys have been undertaken over the last 10 years which show that there is a need for affordable live entertainment in the local area, and we have received feedback from audience members which indicate how well our shows are received (uploaded with this document). In addition, we maintain liaison with stakeholders and partners within the local community, including local councils, charities, business users and others who wish to support and/ or hire the theatre for their own activities.

Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.

Collaboration with other service providers is essential in order for us to be able to deliver the activities we are requesting funding for and we have developed or are developing such connections. These include businesses such as design and marketing companies: awemous is a local business who have been assisting us with a rebranding exercise that will drive our continuing appeal to audiences today and tomorrow, and their report will be considered at the next committee meeting. They have also designed a new leaflet which focuses on attracting volunteers to the theatre. We have links with a local door-to-door delivery specialist who can help us with marketing to households in our ten-mile catchment area. We are also developing contacts with theatre-related organisations (including suppliers of technical equipment) who might help us with recruitment of a technical manager, and with training bodies/ specialist trainers who could provide training in various skills required to run the theatre. We are working with Thame Town Council, 21st Century Thame and thame.net, who are jointly spearheading a campaign with events aimed at generating volunteers for local groups, and have already had some expressions of interest. We also work with Thame Museum and have held a joint Open Day with them, and continue to look at ways of cooperating to our mutual advantage, especially in gaining volunteer recruits.

Community Benefit and Inclusion

How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?

7000

Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?

Families (our pantomime is looked forward to every year and generally sells out)
Retired and elderly (who do not wish to travel far to enjoy live entertainment and may have restricted budgets)
Individuals with disabilities (we have seating for wheelchair users, a disabled toilet, and a hearing loop for the hard of hearing)
Young professionals (our regular comedy events attract those in their 20s and 30s particularly)
Low-income groups (our ticket prices are more affordable than those at other theatres in our area)
Rural communities (we offer live entertainment which is more easily accessible to those living in villages in our catchment area than going to larger towns and cities)
LGBT groups – Oxford Pride have hired our theatre in preference to theatres in Oxford
Students – we seek to involve students before they start their careers

Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council

SODC has provided valuable infrastructure support via grant-funding over time, which has enabled the theatre to be more resilient as a building and to keep up to date with changing technology. Enhancing the building and its facilities is very important and creates the foundation for the cultural services that the theatre provides to the community. However, the funding we are currently seeking enables us to complement this support by boosting the theatre’s offering in a different way – this is through enhancing people resources. With the grant assistance we hope to be awarded, we anticipate that the theatre will become more robust as an organisation and, as a result of this, be able to deliver more shows that meet a greater requirement for cultural events. The grant will also help us attract new audiences by undertaking targeted marketing activities.

Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation

What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?

Technical skill base – we will have recruited a contract-based technical manager who will drive our management of the technical operations that underpin every show the theatre puts on. He or she will coordinate the operation of all the technical support shows need and will ensure volunteers are suitably trained so that they can manage technical operations, at the same time growing our technical capability so that shows are not in jeopardy due to the lack of sufficiently skilled personnel.
Training – our volunteers will be better skilled in key areas required to run the theatre, including technical abilities and facilities management, as well as people-facing skills such as front of house management, and production-related skills such as stage management, acting, directing and production.
Marketing – our enhanced marketing initiatives will mean that we achieve higher audience numbers: on average, current shows achieve audiences of about 70 (seating capacity 129), but with the enhanced marketing, we will have audiences of 80, again taking an average. Having achieved an increased number of shows – up to 15 more shows per annum – the overall increase in audience numbers will be in the order of 15% - from 7,000 to 8,000.

How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?

Positive outcomes will include improved community wellbeing, following a period of lockdown, during which communities had no access to live entertainment, and isolation, particularly amongst the elderly, had serious effects in wellbeing and mental health. With the additional resources, we are seeking to increase our visiting shows by 50%, and to increase audience numbers by 15%. All of these initiatives will contribute to the wellbeing of SODC residents and to the wellbeing of our society from an economic perspective.

How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?

We believe that our proposals will take account of the needs of all theatre users – existing and future – as well as the needs of those seeking to support their community through arts-related activities.
We believe that our understanding of the communities we serve, through consultation and the provision of appropriate cultural activities, and the recruitment of specialist managers and volunteers, will enhance our decision-making processes and outcomes.
We believe that our activities will encourage community cohesion and deliver better outcomes for disadvantaged groups.

Financial Sustainability

If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?

If there is a shortfall in funding these activities, we would seek to meet these in three ways; by drawing on our own funds; by applying to other grant-funding organisations, e.g. The Theatres Trust, Foyle Foundation and others, with whom we have been successful in the past; and by obtaining funding from sponsors (a new potential sponsorship arrangement is currently under discussion). Depending on the success and sums raised from our grant applications and the sponsorship arrangement (if agreed), we would look to contribute around 10% of our own funds towards the new activities.

Wild Oxfordshire		Ref	SRev22-24/ 52
Project name Community Ecology Project
What the organisation does and how it supports residents Wild Oxfordshire is a local charity which provides a co-ordinated and strategic approach to nature conservation in Oxfordshire. Through providing support and encouraging individuals, communities and organisations to work together, Wild Oxfordshire is the catalyst for solutions that benefit people and wildlife within our rich and vibrant county.
Brief description the service/activities this grant will fund We will inspire and empower communities to connect with their natural spaces, foster local understanding of biodiversity and natural capital, and train volunteers on how to protect and enhance their green and blue infrastructure for future generations. Our Community Ecologist will be able to: - Provide bespoke and detailed advice to 10 parish councils and 15 volunteer led community groups - Give 10 presentations on Making Space for Oxfordshire’s People & Wildlife: What Can Be Done & What Is Being Done - Attend five community events - Give two radio interviews and write threee parish newsletter articles - Organise an annual Community Groups Conference Wild Oxfordshire will redesign and restructure our website so that the resources are easier to use for communities, and more appealing for potential funders.
District reach District–wide
Corporate Plan priority To protect and restore our natural world

	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for service/activities costs	£10,000	£10,000
	2022/2023	2023/2024
Amount requested for fundraising and income diversification	£10,000	£1
Total grant amount requested over the two years	£30,000
Total operating costs over the most recent complete financial year 2020/2021	£361,145
Percentage of annual operational costs based on 2020/2021 accounts	£120,369	Has the grant amount been adjusted? No
Previous funding awarded: N/A

Scoring
Do they have a balanced three-year financial/fundraising plan covering 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 with evidence of a diverse funding base? A realistic three-year plan that includes evidence of how a proportion of the revenue grant award will be ringfenced for fundraising and for diversifying income streams. Some over reliance on certain income streams and small gaps in funding, this is unlikely to impact service delivery.	Score	2/5
Has the organisation achieved a balanced budget over the last three financial years AND a level of reserves that is sufficient to meet the needs of the organisation? (2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021) 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021 balanced budgets showing both an increase in services/activities and income and officers note some growth in reserves.	Score	5/5
Community need and consultation Strong and clear indication of community need, consultation is regularly carried out with the community/other stakeholders.	Score	4/5
Direct community benefit and inclusion More than 51 and up to 500 residents benefit from the service and it is clear this includes some vulnerable/ priority groups, providing services that compliment council services or indirectly will reduce the likelihood of needing support from the council.	Score	3/5
District reach Whilst full district-wide reach, however, no clear evidence submitted to support statement of reach.	Score	4/5
Are the targets reasonable and outcome driven? Targets are specific and achievable with measurable outcomes for residents, no clear fundraising or income diversification targets.	Score	3/5
An additional one point can be added if a local organisation is delivering the same service/activities as a national organisation. N/A- No national organisation has applied.	Score	0/1
An additional one/ two discretionary points can be awarded, for evidence of relevant partnership working, collaboration in and co-production of the service/activities. Strong evidence provided including testimonals from partners.	Score	2/2
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of our Corporate Plan priorities? Evidence of aiming to restore nature over a wide area, Parish wide, collaborative working with relevant NGO’s and partners where others are contributing to success.	Score	3/5
How will the organisation/ service help us to meet one or more of the council’s equality objectives? Evidence of increasing awareness of the service provision, to those in need through a variety of channels.	Score	3/5
DEDUCTIONS, CONCERNS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Officer note only £1-year 2 fundraising and income generation. As the overall request for this element of funding is a third, officers recommend a specific condition relating to the organisation advising how the fund would be split across the two years, before the first payment is released.	Total score	29/43

Applicant responses
Community Need and Consultation
Tell us about the local need for the service/activities and how you identified this need.	Oxfordshire’s environmental assets are under huge pressure - we need our environment to help us combat climate change and to nurture our health and wellbeing. Decades of agricultural intensification and the expansion of towns and infrastructure has impacted the county particularly hard. Despite this, Oxfordshire it is still one of the most rural counties in southern England and a major stronghold for threatened species, including Curlews, Snipe, Water Voles and Black Hairstreaks. There are many special landscapes – river valleys with marshes and hay meadows, limestone and chalk hills with expanses of flower-rich grassland and expansive ancient woodlands, and rolling farmland dotted with Villages. Natural capital has deteriorated throughout these treasured landscapes and we need to enable them to recover.
How have you consulted in service/activity planning and are service users involved in ongoing delivery?	Wild Oxfordshire have 20 years experience working with a now well-established and thriving network of community groups and volunteers across the county that are motivated to plan and deliver nature conservation at grassroots level. Wild Oxfordshire has been co-leading the set up of the Local Nature Partnership and stakeholder engagement in preparation for the forthcoming Nature Recovery Strategy.
Let us know how you will work in partnership /collaborate with others.	We are trusted by and have a strong relationship with our partner organisations, as well as all our local authorities, statutory bodies and charities. This enables us to work in a very collaborative and inclusive way. Wild Oxfordshire also specialises in communications for nature conservation, so are uniquely well-placed to share learning from this project through our network and beyond.
Community Benefit and Inclusion
How many people will benefit from the service/activities on average per year?	200
Tell us who will directly benefit from your service/activities?	We support and encourage environmental organisations, volunteers, and landowners to work together, by sharing information and good practice, influencing decision-makers and initiating new projects. We work in partnership with over 60 organisations and constantly build new partnerships with other sectors to broaden the diversity of our engagement and community support. Our beneficiaries include the general public, community groups and parishes, landowners, nature conservation organisations, and other groups with an interest in Oxfordshire’s natural environment. Our work and our partnerships all benefit wildlife diversity in the county and beyond. The Community Ecology Project will directly benefit all residents who benefit from the work of their local voluntary conservation group.
Tell us how the service/activities that you are requesting funding for complements council services, and/or indirectly reduces the likelihood of needing support from the council	By enabling local voluntary groups to better conserve and enhance their local environment, we are improving the local environment across Oxfordshire. Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of an improved natural environment on people's health and wellbeing.
Outcomes, Targets, Monitoring and Evaluation
What outcomes are you expecting as a direct result of the service/activities?	1) More people positively engaged in effectively conserving and enhancing nature. 2) More people interested in, accessing and supported by nature. 3) Better carbon capture through better managed habitats. 4) Provide a wide range of people the ability to volunteer in a positive and healthy manner near their own place of living. This gives them a sense of place, belonging and well being, and can battle loneliness. Wild Oxfordshire has seen increased or sustained interest from local parish groups and landowners in the South Oxfordshire area, keen to increase the biodiversity in the areas that they manage and live in, but often lacking the confidence and means to make a difference. If we receive support from SODC, we will be able to meet the demand by providing help and expert wildlife advice, enabling residents to become positively and actively involved in conserving and enhancing nature.
How will the service/activities positively contribute to our corporate plan priorities?	Our activities will help the Council meet its commitment to protect and restore the natural world. Our activities enable communities to take positive action to mitigate the impacts of climate change and protect and restore nature in their local area.
How will your service/activities contribute to our equality objectives?	Funding from local authorities enables us to provide our services free of charge and open to all residents. Our guidance is available in a variety of formats, from resources on our website in writing, pictures and videos, to in-person site visits, training and knowledge-exchange events, to online training events which are available to view 'live' or recorded so available any time. This enables people to access our advice in whatever format and at whatever time best suits them.
Financial Sustainability
If there is a shortfall in funding how will you cover the service/activities costs?	If we do not succeed in raising sufficient funds then we will reduce services and costs by reducing staff.

SCORING MATRIX
	PRIORITY LEVEL	AWARDS (all awards are subject to sufficient budget)
	High priority 40 to 43 points	Award full amount requested - (capped at 33.33 per cent of total organisational cost). We would expect applications to perform strongly across all eight of the scoring categories, as detailed below.
	Medium priority 22 to 39 points	Will only receive funding if there is budget left after all the high priority projects are awarded. The percentage of funding awarded will be dependent on remaining funds.
	Low priority -1 to 21 points	Will NOT receive funding

Ref no.	Organisation	Project Name	Amount requested	Amount adjusted to	Reason for adjustment	Suggested score
SRev22-24/ 11	Oxfordshire South & Vale Citizens Advice Bureau	Overall running costs for the advice service: advisor training, manager and supervisor salaries, IT running costs and advice centre rent and service charges.	£238,444	N/a	N/a	40
SRev22-24/ 24	Riverside Counselling Service	Community Well-Being in South Oxfordshire and Income diversification.	£131,710	N/a	N/a	38
SRev22-24/ 40	The Thomley Hall Centre Limited	Core funding for Thomley’s activities and services for South Oxfordshire residents and funding to enable Thomley to further diversify its activities, fundraising channels and income generation programmes.	£70,000	N/a	N/a	38
SRev22-24/ 18	Didcot Train Inspiring Young People	Support for the safe & positive development of the Young People of Didcot and its immediate surroundings for the benefit of themselves, their families, our community, residents and society.	£74,876	£74,868	Funding request over 33.33% operating costs	36
SRev22-24/ 19	Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB)	Community Engagement Project.	£80,207	N/a	N/a	36
SRev22-24/ 37	Community First Oxfordshire	Community development actions and training with SODC communities on climate action and community infrastructure activities.	£42,000	N/a	N/a	36
SRev22-24/ 16	South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance	Nourish & Flourish.	£250,000	N/a	N/a	35
SRev22-24/ 13	NOMAD Youth and Community Project	Core costs towards staff salaries and rent including dedicated hours to fundraising and diversifying income streams.	£50,000	N/a	N/a	34
SRev22-24/ 17	My Life My Choice	MLMC in South Oxfordshire.	£31,548	N/a	N/a	34
SRev22-24/ 15	Style Acre	Ways to Wellness: Inspire.	£44,250	N/a	N/a	33
SRev22-24/ 21	The Maple Tree	Contribution to staff costs to enable us to continue to support children and young families in our community through running high quality play and learning sessions, workshops, outreach activities and one to one support for individual families.	£25,760	N/a	N/a	33
SRev22-24/ 50	The Abingdon Bridge	The South Oxfordshire (SO) Counselling and Wellbeing Hub - Counselling and Mental health support for 13–25-year-olds living in South Oxfordshire.	£120,000	N/a	N/a	33
SRev22-24/ 39	Earth Trust	Delivery, management, and diversification of our volunteer network; engaging hundreds of residents in and around their communities to access and take part in activities.	£90,624	£82,371	Adjusted to reflect yr 1 and yr 2 funding ask	32
SRev22-24/ 28	The Berin Centre	Core costs.	£51,006	£44,892	Funding request over 33.33% operating costs	31
SRev22-24/ 46	Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire	Home-Visiting and Family Support Services throughout the South Oxfordshire District Council Area.	£63,798	N/a	N/a	30
SRev22-24/ 52	Wild Oxfordshire	Community Ecology Project.	£30,000	N/a	N/a	29
SRev22-24/ 45	Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub South Oxfordshire	Hospice at Home in South Oxfordshire.	£110,000	N/a	N/a	28
SRev22-24/ 22	Chiltern Centre Ltd	Salary funding.	£50,220	N/a	N/a	27
SRev22-24/ 47	Be Free Young Carers	Brighter Future for Young Carers.	£37,516	N/a	N/a	27
SRev22-24/ 12	Millstream Day Centre	Benson Millstream Centre Development Plan.	£25,000	N/a	N/a	26
SRev22-24/ 14	Oxfordshire Play Association	Wheatley Junior Youth Club, Didcot / Vauxhall Barracks Playday, Wallingford / RAF Benson Playday, Berinsfield Playday, Wheatley Playday.	£44,000	N/a	N/a	25
SRev22-24/ 20	Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre	Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre will continue to provide services to Berinsfield and surrounding area and react to any new issues that arise.	£34,440	£21,648	Funding request over 33.33% operating costs	25
SRev22-24/ 49	River Thame Conservation Trust	Getting to the bottom of the problem with the Thame: A collaboration between researchers and citizen scientists to understand pollution in the catchment rivers and tributaries.	£125,000	£76,224	Costs pro rata to reflect service delivery wider than South Oxfordshire	21
SRev22-24/ 32	Makespace Oxford	Increasing inclusive employment in South Oxfordshire (MiO).	£92,000	N/a	N/a	20
SRev22-24/ 33	The Chinnor Village Centre	Create a centre of excellence; re-establishing and growing day care attendance capacity and room Hire fill-rate.	£125,000	£25,768	Funding request over 33.33% operating costs	19
SRev22-24/ 51	Thame Players Theatre Company	Increasing skills capability via training and technical recruitment and increasing marketing to develop additional audiences.	£36,000	N/a	N/a	19

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