UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund June 2017
1 Contacting us If you are interested in applying to The UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund and are affiliated to a partnership body you must contact your umbrella body. If this is not the case or if you have a query about your application you can contact us at: Telephone: 03000123334 E-mail: uksar@cafonline.org Address: UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund c/o CAF Grant Making 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling ME19 4TA You may send your application by post or email. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 2
2 Guidance notes Background On the 7th April 2014 the Prime Minister announced that 4m would be made available to subsidise training costs for search and rescue (SAR) volunteers in the UK, in recognition of the key role that SAR volunteers play. The Cabinet Office, worked alongside a partnership comprised of the main UK SAR umbrella bodies plus the relevant statutory agencies and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) to establish the processes and governance arrangements for this funding 1. The funding was initially and in part, invested to build sustainability and over time will be distributed to SAR organisations. This document sets out the general principles by which funding will be distributed, and the details of the second grant funding round, including the grant application form. Aims The purpose of the partnership is as follows: To support SAR volunteering, by subsidising the costs of training, in order to improve recruitment and retention of volunteers, and the quality of service. To support SAR volunteering in the long term, by attracting funding into the sector for SAR volunteers training. Who can apply for funding? UK charitable search and rescue organisations seeking support to train their volunteers see below for the relevant definitions Applications will only be accepted from the partnership SAR organisations for affiliated groups. If you are affiliated to a partnership SAR body, you may wish to contact them to discuss how they can incorporate your training needs into an application to the Fund. If you are not affiliated to one of the umbrella bodies and meet the criteria for application you will be able to apply on an individual basis. The relevant SAR partnership umbrella bodies are the; Association of Lowland Search and Rescue; British Cave Rescue Council; Scottish Mountain Rescue; Mountain Rescue England and Wales; Royal Lifesaving Society UK and Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The Fund is focused towards support for those organisations who are able to provide both search and rescue services as part of their core work; that can show their work is tasked by the relevant statutory authority; and is provided on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis (where appropriate). Applicants need to either be registered with the Charity Commission, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, have a HMRC number or we will need to establish that your organisation has charitable purpose. Organisations must be working to support the search and rescue sector as defined below. 1 The membership of this partnership is Mountain Rescue England and Wales, Scottish Mountain Rescue, Association of Lowland Search and Rescue, Royal Lifesaving Society UK, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, British Cave Rescue Council, Northern Ireland SAR Practitioners Group, Association of Chief Police Officers, Police Scotland, Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The partnership reports into the UK SAR Strategic Committee. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 3
What do we mean by search and rescue? Search and rescue operations use available personnel and facilities to locate persons in distress, potential distress or missing and recover them, providing initial medical or other needs and deliver them to a place of safety. Search and rescue organisations should be recognised as viable SAR assets by the relevant statutory bodies (either the Police or the Coastguard). What is a search and rescue volunteer? An operational search and rescue (SAR) volunteer is a person who, of their own free will, and without expectation of profit, gives their time, effort and skill in responding to emergencies by carrying out lifesaving SAR operations, as required 24/7, as part of an organisation recognised by the statutory authorities. What will it fund? The fund can be used for the costs of training for SAR volunteers. This training must be directly related to operational SAR activities. Costs may be incurred by individuals, SAR units, or umbrella SAR bodies and may cover, but not be limited to individuals paying for courses, administration costs incurred by an organisation providing a course, the cost of hiring external trainers, travel costs and the costs of training equipment (e.g. dummies or training defibrillators). We encourage collaborative approaches where joint training with other organisations could demonstrate increased value for money. The Fund supports UK SAR activities. It will not support any training intended for overseas search and rescue work. We would expect as a rule any training supported by the Fund to be undertaken in the UK, unless there is an exceptional reason why this training needs to be undertaken overseas. Different grant funding rounds may have a different strategic focus within these broader parameters of what can be funded. This will be communicated at the opening of each funding round. This current round is an open call for all training activities. The applicant must commit and contribute at least 20% of the total training cost in the request. The fund is seeking applications which demonstrate one or more of the following: volunteer development high quality training in the search and rescue sector good value for money and quality of service collaborative approaches i.e. several organisations/branches can apply within one application innovative, replicable approaches and community and organisational impact sustainable development for SAR volunteers training supporting a tasking service to deliver Search and Rescue operations. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 4
We would expect that, prior to an application, any operational equipment or assets required to implement the training/learning are already in place. For example if you are applying for a number of your team to gain DEFRA Flood Rescue Concept of Operations Module 3 (Water Rescue Technician) training the expectation would be that your organisation has ready access to boats, ropes and appropriate rescue equipment. Funds are to be spent within 12 months of receiving the grant, unless there is a specific justification for a longer timeframe. What will it not fund? Non charitable organisations Organisations outside the UK Organisations not working in the search and rescue sector and/or not recognised as viable SAR assets Applications not addressing volunteer training needs Applications where the request or amount required are unrealistic Applications from individuals Equipment not directly related to the provision of training Organisations seeking over 80% of the total training cost. What size are the grants? There are no lower and upper limits though expectations are for support to be from 1,000 upwards depending on need and impact. The decision making process will review value for money to ensure that funds are used effectively. How will we decide who receives funds? Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) will review each application against the published criteria and prioritise these. A sub group of the partnership made up of statutory organisations and those outside of the application process with expert knowledge of the SAR sector will review these and confirm final decisions. What happens if an organisation is funded? A grant offer will be made and once this is accepted by the grantee, funds will be forwarded by BACS directly to their bank account. In the event that the grant is under spent, not used for the intended purpose, or not used within the intended time period, we reserve the right to reclaim all or part of the grant funds. Organisations funded will be expected to complete the relevant monitoring form as a condition of receiving funding. What happens if an organisation is not funded? If an organisation is unsuccessful a formal letter will be sent with feedback. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 5
3 Deadlines We plan for one wave/grant making round each year. The next wave is as follows: Total Funding available: 500,000 Focus/theme: General organisations can apply for any SAR related training for their volunteers as per the definitions above. For this round training can be part of existing planned and core training activities over the relevant timescale Deadline for applications: 5pm on Friday 25 th August 2017 Decisions to be communicated by: Friday 27 th October 2017 Grant payments to be paid: April 2018 Training completed/grant spent: Within 12 months of the grant offer (unless a different timescale is agreed) UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 6
4 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1. Do I need to be a registered charity? No, you do not need to be registered as a charity to apply for a grant. Your charitable status helps us to check your organisation s eligibility to receive a grant. Applications will be considered from any organisation whose mission is exclusively charitable. Remember to tick the appropriate box on the application form. If you are not a registered charity, or registered with HM Revenue and Customs, you will need to complete CAF s Eligibility form and submit it with your application. We cannot assess your application unless we have a signed copy of this form. Remember to include two copies of your organisation s governing document with your application. 2. Should I send you my application directly? If you are affiliated to a partnership body, your bid must come from your umbrella body in a consolidated application. If you are not affiliated to a SAR umbrella body, please send your application directly to us, but you must explain what SAR work you are involved with and how you work with relevant tasking authorities. 3. Can a group of organisations apply? Yes, though we will only need to see and receive one application. All groups concerned will need to identify a lead who will complete one consolidated application. Each organisation will be listed with a summary of their request within section 3 - areas of priority of the application form. If successful, the grant will be paid to a lead organisation identified on the application form. 4. Can I apply as a potential volunteer or do I need an organisation? You will need an organisation or charitable group to apply on your behalf. 5. I ve already received funding from another Central Government fund. Can I still apply? Yes, however the Central Government funding should not be supporting the initiative you are applying for already (unless it is providing the 20% match funding required). 6. Can we include volunteer travel costs in our application? Yes, you can apply for funds for direct training but also any additional costs that may be associated with this including travel costs. Please ensure this is broken down in your application. 7. Is there any requirement to match fund (or provide own organisation funds)? Yes. For this round we are asking that all bids provide 20% of the funds required for the total training package. These funds can be provided from any source. 8. I m looking at applying to the fund, can I apply for costs that have already taken place? Expenditure must principally take place after the grant is awarded. For this grant funding round we may be able to consider any training that has occurred from the date of the launch of this round. 9. Is the deadline final? Yes, please make sure you get your application submitted to us by the deadlines shown in the guidance. If you miss a deadline we will put your application into the next available wave/round. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 7
10. How are the awards decided? All applications are reviewed by CAF using a standard framework. Final recommendations are made by a sub group of the partnership. 11. I have been unsuccessful; can I re-apply for a later wave? Yes, please use the constructive feedback to inform your decision but also to enhance and develop your next application. 12. I ve received a training grant but it s less than what I requested. In some cases the funds available may not be sufficient to support all organisations. During the decision making process it may be decided to provide part funding and for the grantee to decide how best to prioritise the use of these funds. 13. I ve received support from this fund previously, can I apply again? Yes. We are interested in what your initiative can achieve. You may be able to exceed these and/or need extra funding to meet your original aspirations. We will consider additional funding, where this will help you to meet/exceed your plans. 14. Can I apply for funding for equipment? Only equipment that relates directly to the provision of training for volunteers e.g. dummies will be supported by this fund. Broader operational equipment and running costs will not be supported. 15. Can this fund support our business activities? Not directly. The fund is purely to support volunteer training for search and rescue purposes only. 16. Can we apply with another organisation for joint training? Yes. We would be looking favourably on applications where the training can reach other organisations and where the cost is reduced from a more collaborative training approach. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 8
5 Assessment areas All bids will be assessed in the following areas: 1. Proposed programme of training and what will this help you to achieve? 2. What impact will the support have to the organisation? 3. What impact will the support have for the volunteers? 4. What impact will the support have to the community? 5. Cost of project 6. Will the support have some impact around longer-term sustainability? UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 9
6 How will the information entered on the application form be used? CAF is responsible for managing this programme and assessing the eligibility and suitability of each organisation to participate in the UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund. CAF will hold information on your application and monitoring the impact of your grant. The impact will also be shared with the partnership, UK SAR Strategic Committee and other key stakeholders to demonstrate the impact of this fund. Please be reassured that the CAF Group will not share your information with any outside organisation, except as part of providing a product or service, or when legally obliged to do so. Where applicants provide consent, on the application form, we will use the contact details provided to keep applicants informed of other related CAF products, services, news and events which may be of interest. We will only share details of applicants with our partner organisations if applicants have indicated their explicit consent for us to do so. UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund Grant Application Guidance Pack 10