You can apply for a grant if your project can meet all of the following criteria:
1. You are a:
- voluntary organisation
- charity
- not-for-profit organisation
- community group
- social enterprise
- youth club
- community focused project that operates within a community setting such as community centres, family centres, youth centres, children’s centres, nurseries, pre-schools, schools, further education setting, leisure centres, village halls or a faith setting
2. The project will benefit the residents of North Somerset and will target one or more of the following groups:
- residents living in areas with the highest rates of deprivation. For more information view our North Somerset profiles page
- residents living in areas with the highest rates of childhood overweight/obesity
- Wards with prevalence of excess weight >5% above North Somerset average in Reception or Year 6 (NCMP 2017/18-2019/20): Nailsea Yeo, Pill, Weston-super-Mare (W-s-M) Central, W-s-M Hillside, W-s-M Mid Worle, W-s-M Milton, W-s-M North Worle, W-s-M South Ward, W-s-M Winterstoke
- residents from Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups
- disabled residents
- residents from health inclusion groups, such as people experiencing homelessness, asylum seekers and refugees.
3. The project promotes healthy eating and improves knowledge, access to and consumption of nutritious and affordable food according to the social, cultural and dietary needs, and preferences of the population it aims to target.
This could include:
- community cafés that provides free or discounted hot meals
- community kitchens that support the development of healthy cooking skills and food skills, for volunteers and attendees
- teaching healthy cooking and food skills courses to any age group. Courses must consider the needs of the groups/individuals and reflect the environment in which they live and the food that they have access to and cook with
- providing ‘train the trainer’ courses to provide volunteers and/or staff with skills to run group cooking and food skills courses that promote healthy foods
- a garden-based project that includes all the following elements:
- hands-on gardening
- utilisation of produce from garden e.g., consumption, taste-testing
- community cooking groups or cooking/food skills workshops
4. You have an equalities and diversity policy and will comply with all legislation, official guidance and codes of practice relating to equal opportunities.
5. You have Public Liability Insurance no less than £5 million in place before the project begins.
6. You have a constitution or other governing document in place before the project begins.
7. You have safeguarding policies for vulnerable adults and/or children (according to your target population) and will comply with all legislation, official guidance and codes of practice relating to safeguarding. View the North Somerset safeguarding website for more information.
8. You can show how the project reflects the concerns and priorities of members of your organisation, group and/or local community.
9. You can show how the project will improve knowledge and skills relating to diet, food and nutrition among participants and the wider community.
10. The project will include a method of evaluation to measure key outcomes.