This means voluntary, community and social enterprise groups (VCSE) will only have to apply once for council funding - freeing up time that would have been spent on administration for both groups and the councils.  

The plans were approved by councillors at a recent meeting of the joint strategic committee, with applications set to open this September. There will be nearly £115,000 available for groups to bid for this year across Adur and Worthing. 

Funding from the pooled grants will be distributed across Adur and Worthing by neighbourhood, keeping the current CIL Neighbourhood Fund areas for Worthing and splitting Adur into three areas - Lancing and Sompting, Shoreham, and Southwick and Fishersgate.

Pooling the grants will provide greater flexibility to support areas where there may be less access to funding in a particular year, as can be the case with the CIL Neighbourhood Fund, and ensure that local groups in both Adur and Worthing have fairer access to funding that is tailored to the needs of each neighbourhood.

As part of the changes there will now be a single application route and the introduction of local assessment panels made up of ward councillors, officers, and community representatives for each area. The councils will also trial a new digital grants management platform.

In previous years, each fund has had different assessment criteria and were released at different times of the year. When applications for the pooled funds open in September there will be one set of criteria that is focused on local need, community benefit, inclusion, prevention, connection and lasting impact.

The aim is to not only fund individual projects, but to encourage collaboration between groups, strengthen local relationships and support activity that leaves something behind after the funding ends. 

Groups will be able to find out more about the changes, discuss their projects with the councils ahead of putting in an application, and build connections with each other at a series of in-person networking events in each area of Adur and Worthing from this August.  

Other funds may be added to the pooled grants pot from next year. The councils will also be looking at ways to encourage emerging groups to develop new ideas, and how they can support the VCSE sector to build resilience, diversify funding sources and reduce reliance on annual grant support.

Councillor Adrienne Lowe, Adur’s cabinet member for communities, wellbeing and leisure, said: “We are lucky to have many community and voluntary organisations throughout Adur who do vital work supporting our communities. Pooling the grants in this way will simplify the process for groups. And by distributing the funding into areas, we will be able to ensure that all communities in Adur benefit equally.”

Councillor Dom Ford, Worthing’s cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure, said: “The new funding process builds on many of the changes we introduced for the CIL Neighbourhood Fund, which have already made applying for funding in Worthing fairer and more transparent. We will further improve the process by testing digital technology as well as building resilience in the sector ahead of local government reorganisation changes.”

To read a detailed report about the plans, please visit https://democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=159&MId=2346 and look out for more information via the councils’ social media pages and website.