Application, Assessment and Grant Award Procedures

1. How to Apply

Application forms should be completed with as much detail as possible, including full breakdowns of the estimated costs of your project and how you intend to spend the grant. Clear maps / diagrams / photos should be included wherever this could be helpful. Forms may be downloaded by following the links set up in the navigational panel on the right side or may be obtained by post or e-mail form the SET office.

The Suffolk Environmental Trust has limited funds, and usually receives far more applications in a quarter than it can actually fund. Therefore SET cannot make allocations of grants towards projects that are still a long way from commencing. Please time your application carefully; once a grant has been allocated, we will usually expect your project to be in a position to commence, and start claiming the grant, within six months. Any requests for Extensions of Time to the dates agreed on the Funding Agreement must be made in writing in advance. SET reserves the right to withdraw the offer of funding if it considers delay in implementation of the project to be excessive.

The Trustees will assess each project on a number of criteria, including:
Proof of need
Proof of wide public benefit
Evidence of local support
Evidence of ‘Value for Money’

You should therefore aim to provide, as part of your application, information that addresses these issues, including some background information on your project or facility, the people who are leading it, and any other organisations that are playing a key role in helping to achieve it.

Receipt of completed Application Forms will be acknowledged by the Project Officer, who will forward a list of any queries or additional information required to complete the Assessment of your applications.

2. Assessment of Applications

Applicant projects are assessed by The SET Board of Trustees which meets quarterly in February, May, August and November of each year. The deadline for receipt of applications is usually the middle of the month preceding the Board Meeting. Should the date of the Board Meeting be changed for any reason, all reasonable efforts will be made to inform applicants at the earliest opportunity. In its consideration of applicants, priority will be given (with the exception of applications under the Category / Object Da) to those projects:-

a) that provide the widest benefit to the most people
b) which are people-orientated projects
c) whose applicants have limited capacity to generate funds
d) that are small community projects that would not normally receive funds from elsewhere.
e) whose applicants who can show evidence of self-help

Although in all cases, consideration will be given to all types of projects.

3. Grant Award

Applicants are usually informed of the Decisions of the Board within 2-3 days of the meeting, and a brief reason for any refusal is always given. SET will then immediately apply for ENTRUST approval for successful projects, and this usually takes about 2 weeks to obtain.

Once ENTRUST approval has been received for a project, SET will forward a Funding Agreement to the Applicant for signature and return. This will confirm the standard conditions, the amount of the grant, and the required Start and End dates for the project. We will also supply a Form for the payment of the 10% to the Landfill Operator, and this should be passed to the Contributing Third Party at the earliest opportunity.

Please keep SET informed on the progress of your scheme, particularly if you encounter any difficulties that might affect the program. Please note that, under the terms of the FA, the Project Officer has the right to inspect the project at any reasonable time, both during and upon completion of works, to ensure that funds are being used only for the purposes specified in the Application, and that the project continues to meet the Landfill Tax criteria. Any defaults in our Agreement will result in a written warning and may ultimately result in the termination of funding by SET, and/or the reclaiming of any grant monies already paid.

The grant will be paid either at identified stages of the project, or upon completion, and will be paid directly to the Supplier or Contractor against original VAT Invoices. SET will NOT make payment of the grant direct to the Applicant Body.