Council and democracy

Awards for All Presentation: Clarification of ability of branches of organisations to apply

During the Big Lottery Fund's presentation on Awards for All, a query was raised on the ability of branches of organisations to apply to the programme and how much money they could apply for.

The Big Lottery has confirmed that they can only make grants to organisations that can legally accept responsibility for them.

The situation with organisational branches is complicated as legal relationships between branches and their parent body vary from organisation to organisation.

The Big Lottery first needs to decide whether you are an independent branch or a dependent branch.

If the applicant is an independent branch of another organisation, they may have registered as a charity in their own right. In this case they can apply to Awards for All directly as an independent branch.

Where an independent branch has not registered as a charity in its own right, the Big Lottery can consider a branch to be independent where:

- the branch has its own governing document
- the branch can raise its own funds
- the branch trustees have complete discretion to use these funds without referral to another body
- the branch trustees are responsible for the branch's employees (if any), its debts and other legal and financial obligations.

If The Big Lottery Fund are satisfied that an organisation is an independent branch, then the branch can apply in their own right to the Awards for All programme and can hold up to £10,000 in any rolling two-year period (irrespective of any award held by another organisation, including the parent body or another dependent or independent branch).

If you cannot be classified as a independent branch, you will be a dependent branch. The issue will then be whether, as a dependent branch, you can apply directly to the Awards for All programme or whether the application has to be made by your parent organisation.

For a dependent branch to be able to apply directly to Awards for All, a branch must ensure that it has:

- its own governing document (or have adopted its parent's governing document)
- its own annual accounts (which may be included in its parents annual report)
- its own branch bank account

The application will need to enclose a letter of endorsement from the parent organisation and the accompanying contract will need to be signed by a senior contact of the parent organisation.

If a dependent branch is not able to apply directly to Awards for All as it does not comply with the above requirements, the application will need to be made by the parent body.

Please note that irrespective of whether a dependent branch can or cannot apply directly to Awards for All, the overall organisation including both the parent body and dependent branches cannot receive more than £10,000 in any two-year period.

For further information, please contact the Awards for All helpline (0845 600 20 40) or the Awards for All website: www.awardsforall.org.uk