Heart of Yorkshire Fund for the Selby District

Selby District Council established The Heart of Yorkshire Fund when they invested a £2million donation as an endowment fund with Two Ridings Community Foundation. We will use the annual interest from this endowment to support local people through grant making, to deliver activities in their community, year on year, forever.

Selby District Council is now part of North Yorkshire Council. So through this fund, Selby District Council provides the local community with a lasting legacy by supporting local charitable activity and meeting identified needs.

Fund priorities

We can support groups providing activity for people in the Selby area (please see the map below). You should also clearly demonstrate how you are addressing local need in at least one of the following areas:

Health and wellbeing

• supporting older and vulnerable people to live dignified, productive and healthy lifestyles
• supporting children and young people to access and enjoy healthy lifestyles (this could be physical activity, access to the outdoors, improving their mental wellbeing)
• improving mental health and wellbeing.

Education and Training

• developing employability skills.
• providing volunteering opportunities.

Environment

• increasing biodiversity
• supporting environmental improvements

Community Sector Resilience

• community spaces providing significant community value requiring funding to stay open.

We are particularly interested in applications supporting environmental improvements and biodiversity, and where people with lived experience of the issues being addressed are involved.

What grants can be used for

You can apply for a range of projects that meet at least one of the needs listed above.

We are committed to the principle of full cost recovery to ensure that groups are supported with ongoing sustainability. So, as part of your application you can request a contribution towards overhead costs (e.g. rent/ heating/ lighting etc). If you need more information about full cost recovery please see our guide.

You can apply for small capital items, but this should not make up more than 20% of what you are applying for.

We may support larger capital costs for community venues, but this should not make up more than 50% of the total project costs. (In other words,  if your repairs equal £10,000 you can apply for up to £5,000 maximum.) We will prioritise these based on supporting community venues to stay open.

Here are some examples of what we can support (this list is not exhaustive):

• Community biodiversity projects
• In Bloom groups
• Befriending schemes
• Activities to bring people together
• Information, advice and guidance
• Sporting activity
• Transition work for children going from primary school to secondary school
• Counselling and peer support groups
• Volunteer recruitment and training