Gwent High Sheriff’s Community Fund

The Gwent High Sheriffs’ Community Fund aims to provide a safer and better quality of life for the people of Gwent by supporting community-based initiatives and projects for young people that help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

Grants will next be awarded at the annual participatory grant-making event on Saturday 8th March 2025.

Click here for more information about the Gwent High Sheriff.

What kind of projects will be supported?

To be successful, projects must demonstrate how their activities contribute to one or more of the following:

• providing support to young people that is relevant to them and the challenges they face in the 2020s, including establishing safe and secure digital behaviour by helping them to understand the risks and dangers of social media and the internet;
• working with young people to raise awareness of the impact and consequences of crime, including vandalism, criminal damage, misuse of alcohol and drugs or substance abuse, anti-social behaviour and cyberbullying;
• reducing crime and anti-social behaviour by creating opportunities for young people who might be both perpetrators and victims of crimes such as street-based abuse, vandalism and cyberbullying;
• targeting the underlying causes of crime and addressing the problems which drive young people to offend;
• engaging young people in positive activities which provide greater social support, positive role models and other protective factors to help them develop into good citizens of the future; and
• supporting victims of crime, including domestic abuse and modern slavery, and protecting the vulnerable.

Grants for 1 year

Groups are invited to apply for grants of up to £5,000 to spend in 2025-26 on a range of costs which could include:

• Piloting a new project
• Running costs for a programme of activities
• Purchasing equipment and materials

What is Participatory Grant-Making?

Participatory grant-making is about devolving grant making decisions to the local community. It enables local people to decide how best to address local issues by choosing to support initiatives that best demonstrate effective solutions to the problems facing communities in Gwent.

The event is run in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend our annual grant making event on 8th March 2025. The 2025 event will be held in a location in Abergavenny. Please make sure a representative from your organisation is available on this date before applying.

The Fund will be used to support projects for children and young people up to the age of 25.

The Fund is open to community groups, voluntary organisations and local charities in Gwent (the local authority areas of Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Monmouthshire and Caerphilly). There is a preference for grassroots organisations where volunteers play a key role in project delivery.

Projects that have previously received funding will be considered. Such projects should demonstrate how continued funding will help them to consolidate or improve the impact of the project. There is no longer a requirement for a 2-year break after 3 years of continuous grant funding.

All applicants must:

• Have a group/organisation bank account, as awards cannot be made to individuals or personal bank accounts
• Be properly constituted (although not necessarily a registered charity)
• Be able to supply their latest audited annual accounts, or, at the very least, evidence of recent income and expenditure

Types of organisation that can apply include:

1.    Constituted Groups/Unincorporated Association
2.    Registered Charities & Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO)
3.    Companies Limited by Guarantee (not for private profit)
4.    Community Interest Companies
5.    Social Enterprises