The Social Infrastructure Fund is Norfolk County Council's capital grants scheme for voluntary and non-profit making groups.
Grants are available for groups who are involved in community projects and initiatives that benefit the residents of Norfolk. Groups can use the funding to make improvements to their existing facilities, or to fund new initiatives and projects.
£1m of funding is available this year – with £250,000 set aside for smaller projects of between £5,000 and £50,000, and the other £750,000 for larger projects between £50,000 and £250,000.
The grant is for capital projects that support the Council’s plan Together, for Norfolk, and that help the county recover from the coronavirus pandemic. For example, the money could be used to:
- Create a better outdoor space for COVID-safe activities
- Enhance a community centre or village hall by adding the latest digital technologies to creatively open up activities to a wider range of people
- Improve a building to make it more accessible or a more attractive place for clubs to meet.
The closing date for applications is 10 September 2021.
How the grant works
“We will put out at least one call for projects each year. You can only apply for a grant when we are calling for projects.
We may put out further calls in the year, depending on how much of the funding we give out in the first round. If we don’t allocate all the funds in a financial year we will roll the remaining funding over to future years.”
Projects from faith organisations will be supported if there will be a clear benefit for the wider community.
What can be funded?
This grant is for capital costs. This includes the costs of buying equipment, furniture and other assets, building costs or the costs of enhancing an asset. An asset is something that can last for more than a year, so incudes things like computer software as well as buildings.
What cannot be funded?
Items that cannot be supported include day-to-day servicing, repairs and maintenance.