Am I eligible for grant support from Quartet?

Organisations Quartet will support

Our grants are primarily awarded to organisations based and working in the West of England to benefit local people. We award grants covering a broad range of issues and welcome applications from both new and established groups.

The group or organisation receiving a grant does not have to be a registered charity, but must be not-for-profit and have charitable aims together with the following:

• A management committee/board of trustees/board of directors with at least three unpaid people as members. There should be a majority who are unrelated. Charities that are companies must have three directors registered with Companies House. See below for further information about CICs.
• A written constitution/set of rules/articles of association that sets out the purpose of the organisation and how it is managed.
• Up-to-date annual accounts or financial records that show the organisation’s balance of funds, income and expenditure.
• A bank account in the name of the organisation with at least two unrelated signatories.
• Safeguarding policies and arrangements that satisfy current legislation and best practice.

If you are not a formal organisation or group, and do not currently meet some of the above criteria, another charitable organisation may be able to apply on your behalf.  But we encourage you to contact us before applying.

NB: If your group’s income is more than £5,000 and you are not a registered charity, company, or community benefit society, then we suggest you get advice on the status of your organisation. Usually, you must register with the Charity Commission if your charity has over £5,000 income per year. If you need advice, we suggest contacting either Voscur (for Bristol), 3SG (for B&NES), CVS South Glos or Voluntary Action North Somerset.

We will support organisations set up as Community Interest Companies (CIC) where:

• They are registered with Companies House
• Their work has a demonstrable social benefit
• The organisation has a minimum of three directors, the majority of whom are unrelated and majority not paid employees
• The salaries and benefits of any paid directors are approved by a majority of nonexecutive directors and must be reasonable and proportionate to the work they do and the financial position of the organisation
• CICs must have an asset lock body with objectives which are both charitable and similar to the CIC
• CICs are limited by guarantee, rather than limited by shares.

NB: Although a CIC can register directors as ‘Persons with Significant Control’ with Companies House, we cannot fund a CIC where one or two directors have overall significant control.

Organisations and activities Quartet will not support

We will not normally award grants to the following types of organisations and for the following activities:

• Privately owned and profit distributing companies (e.g. companies limited by shares) or partnerships
• Projects/activities that take place before a grant can be awarded
• Animal welfare
• Arts projects with no community or charitable element
• Direct replacement of statutory funding
• Medical research, equipment or treatment
• Political groups or activities promoting political beliefs
• Promotion of any Religion
• Sports projects with no community or charitable element
• General appeals

Support for individuals

Most of our programmes award grants to organisations, rather than individuals. However, we do run a small number of programmes for individuals – we post details of these when they’re open for applications. Check out our Current Grant Programmes.

If you have any questions about the above then please contact us at 0117 989 7700 or email applications@quartetcf.org.uk

Further information about eligibility and how to apply can be found in Help & Guidance (FAQs)