Common Good Funding

Common Good funds are available in Arbroath, Brechin, Forfar, Kirriemuir and Montrose.

What we fund

Projects eligible for funding must do at least one of the following:

  • promote opportunities for people to work, learn, and take parts in arts, sport or culture
  • deal with problems such as poverty, ill-health or drug misuse
  • deal with problems that prevent people from working, learning or taking part in their community
  • encourage children and young people to play a role in their community and offer a good start in life to help them become responsible adults
  • encourage local people to take responsibility for their community and care for the disadvantaged

Your project could combine a range of different activities but must show direct community-wide benefit.

We won’t fund:

  • activities promoting religious or political belief
  • travel costs for exchange visits or trips
  • administrative costs for community councils over and above their annual grant from us
  • events held to raise funds for charities even if those funds might be used for charitable purposes
  • applications to cover all of an organisation’s running costs or capital investments
  • applications for projects which another organisation has a legal right or duty to provide
  • one-off events
  • projects that do not benefit the wider community

Who can apply

Any non-profit making, constituted group or a partnership of various groups can apply. We don't accept applications from companies that aim to make a profit or individuals.

How much is available

The amount of funds available varies from one burgh to another but funding in Kirriemuir is extremely limited. The money you request should be realistic and give value for money. We expect you to contribute something towards your project. This could be cash or time, materials, transport or use of premises. If your group has more savings than the amount of money you are applying for, you should explain to us what you’re planning to do with this money. If you have not set aside this money for anything in particular, it’s not likely we’ll give you funding.

How to apply

You can apply for funding using our common good application form. You can only make one application at a time.

Make sure you complete the application form as fully as possible. If you have any other information you'd like to send us in support of your application please do so. If we have to ask for additional information this delays your application. 

There is no deadline for applications or limit on funding. It depends on the available income in each burgh.

If you would like to discuss your project before you apply, please email externalfunding@angus.gov.uk.

What happens next

We send you an acknowledgement within five working days of receiving your completed form. This will contain a reference number which you should use in any correspondence with us.

We will assess your application, and we may contact you to get more information.

We need at least two months to process your application so make sure you send us your form in plenty of time. However, it should be noted that the timescale for processing significant funding requests may be much longer to allow us to consider the priority of the project in relation to other calls on the Common Good Fund.

The local elected members from your burgh will consider your application before it is submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee for a decision.

If your application is successful, we will send you a letter telling you how much the funding is and when we will pay it. You must spend the money within one year of the date on our award letter, and complete an end-of-project report.

We will also ask for copies of receipts where funding is for the purchase of equipment, materials and so on.

If your application is not successful, we will write to you telling you the main reasons why. You can apply again.

We welcome applications from groups who’ve had funding from us before. Once you have spent your funding and we have received your end-of-project report, you can apply again. However we consider each application individually, so there’s no guarantee that we will give you more funding.

Applicants charter

We aim to:

  • be easy to contact for a wide range of organisations and communities, large and small, and make special efforts to give all groups the same chance to apply for funding
  • give funding that reflects the culture and ethnic origin of groups and communities across Angus
  • be open and responsible, fair and balanced in the way we do things
  • offer equal opportunities in all areas of our funding

We will:

  • monitor and assess what we do, to make sure that we are providing the best service we can
  • answer all questions quickly, professionally and politely
  • assess all applications against the Common Good fund criteria
  • make sure that everyone who applies for a grant is treated fairly, whatever their race, colour, nationality, age, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexuality, marital status or disability

Being polite and helpful

We aim to be efficient, polite and supportive in everything we do. We can assist you to fill in your application form.

We want your comments and suggestions

We are committed to giving you helpful information in the best way possible. If you have any comments or suggestions about how we could do things better, please let us know by emailing externalfunding@angus.gov.uk