Would your town or village like £250,000?
The Community Ownership Fund is coming soon. So time to get ready.
The UK government has launched a new £150 million Community Ownership Fund to help ensure that communities across the UK can support and continue benefiting from the local facilities, community assets and amenities most important to them.
From summer 2021 community groups will be able to bid for up to £250,000 matched-funding to help them buy or take over local community assets at risk of being lost, to run as community-owned businesses. In exceptional cases, up to £1 million matched-funding will be available to help establish a community-owned sports club or help buy a sports grounds at risk of being lost without community intervention.
Launch of the Fund
The first bidding round for the Community Ownership Fund will open by June 2021. A full bidding prospectus will be published alongside this, which will be the key reference document for communities in developing and submitting bids. This prospectus will set out detailed advice on how to structure a bid, what activity to undertake to support this, what information to include, and the criteria by which bids will be assessed.
Who can bid for funding
Bids will be accepted from all communities across the UK. In most circumstances, bids should be made from community and voluntary organisations with formal governance in place, such as a Community Trust. Bids may be considered from groups without formal governance, where there is a clear plan to set this up.
Local authorities including parish councils will not be eligible to bid. Parish councils may play a role in working with community groups looking to submit a bid.
Eligible projects
The UK government will not publish a definitive list of eligible assets, as it is important for communities to set out what matters most to them. But projects could include community-owned sports clubs, sporting and leisure facilities, cinemas and theatres, music venues, museums, galleries, parks, pubs, post office buildings, and shops.
Detailed guidance on eligibility criteria, how bids will be assessed and weighted, and how to develop a strong bid will be provided in the full bidding prospectus, due to be published by June 2021.
Available funding
In most cases, bids will be able to make the case for up to £250,000 matching funds which communities have raised. Some funding will be available for feasibility studies and capability building, particularly in places with fewer resources, or for initial running costs where it can be shown these will lead to a sustainable community business. Funding will not be made available to pay off a businesses’ debts, nor to buy an indebted business.
The full prospectus will provide further details on available funding and bidding requirements.
Robin Millar MP said, “The launch of the outline of this programme ahead of the prospectus and bid documents is extremely helpful to communities here in Aberconwy, This allows time to investigate, discuss with friends and neighbours and decide whether your town or village has an asset it wants to protect.”
“If you have an idea, whether it’s a huge project or a small one, just pick up the phone and arrange to come and tell me about it. You can reach my office on 01492 583094”
Fyddai eich tref neu bentref yn hoffi £250,000?
Mae'r Gronfa Perchnogaeth Gymunedol yn dod yn fuan. Felly mae’n amser paratoi.
Mae llywodraeth y DU wedi lansio Cronfa Perchnogaeth Gymunedol newydd gwerth £150 miliwn i helpu i sicrhau y gall cymunedau ledled y DU gefnogi a pharhau i elwa o'r cyfleusterau, asedau cymunedol ac amwynderau lleol sydd bwysicaf iddynt.
O haf 2021 bydd grwpiau cymunedol yn gallu gwneud cais am hyd at £250,000 o arian cyfatebol i'w helpu i brynu neu gymryd drosodd asedau cymunedol lleol sydd mewn perygl o gael eu colli, i’w rhedeg fel busnesau sy'n eiddo i'r gymuned. Mewn achosion eithriadol, bydd hyd at £1 filiwn o arian cyfatebol ar gael i helpu i sefydlu clwb chwaraeon sy'n eiddo i'r gymuned neu helpu i brynu meysydd chwaraeon sydd mewn perygl o gael eu colli heb ymyrraeth gymunedol.
Lansio'r Gronfa
Bydd y cylch ceisiadau cyntaf ar gyfer y Gronfa Perchnogaeth Gymunedol yn agor erbyn mis Mehefin 2021. Cyhoeddir prosbectws bidio llawn ochr yn ochr â hyn, sef y ddogfen gyfeirio allweddol ar gyfer cymunedau wrth ddatblygu a chyflwyno ceisiadau. Bydd y prosbectws hwn yn cynnwys cyngor manwl ar sut i strwythuro cais, pa weithgarwch i'w wneud i gefnogi hyn, pa wybodaeth i'w chynnwys, a'r meini prawf ar gyfer asesu ceisiadau.
Pwy all wneud cais am gyllid
Bydd ceisiadau'n cael eu derbyn gan bob cymuned ledled y DU. Yn y rhan fwyaf o amgylchiadau, dylid gwneud ceisiadau gan sefydliadau cymunedol a gwirfoddol sydd â threfn lywodraethu ffurfiol yn ei lle, megis Ymddiriedolaeth Gymunedol. Gellir ystyried ceisiadau gan grwpiau heb drefn lywodraethu ffurfiol, os oes cynllun clir i sefydlu hyn.
Ni fydd awdurdodau lleol, gan gynnwys cynghorau plwyf, yn gymwys i wneud cais. Gall cynghorau plwyf chwarae rhan yn y gwaith o weithio gyda grwpiau cymunedol sy'n awyddus i gyflwyno cais.
Prosiectau cymwys
Ni fydd llywodraeth y DU yn cyhoeddi rhestr ddiffiniol o asedau cymwys, gan ei bod yn bwysig i gymunedau nodi'r hyn sydd bwysicaf iddynt. Ond gallai prosiectau gynnwys clybiau chwaraeon sy'n eiddo i'r gymuned, cyfleusterau chwaraeon a hamdden, sinemâu a theatrau, lleoliadau cerddoriaeth, amgueddfeydd, orielau, parciau, tafarndai, adeiladau swyddfeydd post, a siopau.
Bydd canllawiau manwl ar feini prawf cymhwysedd, sut y caiff ceisiadau eu hasesu a'u pwysoli, a sut i ddatblygu cais cadarn yn cael eu darparu yn y prosbectws bidio llawn, a gyhoeddir erbyn mis Mehefin 2021.
Arian sydd ar gael
Yn y rhan fwyaf o achosion, bydd ceisiadau'n gallu gofyn am hyd at £250,000 o arian cyfatebol y mae cymunedau wedi'i godi. Bydd rhywfaint o arian ar gael ar gyfer astudiaethau dichonoldeb ac adeiladu capasiti, yn enwedig mewn mannau sydd â llai o adnoddau, neu ar gyfer costau rhedeg cychwynnol lle gellir dangos y bydd y rhain yn arwain at fusnes cymunedol cynaliadwy. Ni fydd cyllid ar gael i dalu dyledion busnesau, nac i brynu busnes sydd mewn dyled.
Bydd y prosbectws llawn yn rhoi rhagor o fanylion am y gofynion ariannu a bidio sydd ar gael.
Dywedodd Robin Millar AS, "Mae lansio amlinelliad o'r rhaglen hon cyn y prosbectws a'r dogfennau cynnig yn ddefnyddiol iawn i gymunedau yma yn Aberconwy, Mae hyn yn caniatáu amser i ymchwilio, trafod gyda ffrindiau a chymdogion a phenderfynu a oes gan eich tref neu bentref ased y mae am ei ddiogelu."
"Os oes gennych syniad, boed yn brosiect enfawr neu'n un bach, codwch y ffôn a threfnwch i ddod draw i’w drafod gyda mi. Rhif ffôn fy swyddfa yw 01492 583094”