Voluntary and Community Sector

Voluntary and community organisations play an essential role in providing a wide range of activities and services in Taunton Deane, and in Somerset as a whole.

Local Area Agreement

A Local Area Agreement has been agreed in Somerset which aims to develop partnership working across the public sector, particularly by keying into the significant resource that is available through the Voluntary and Community Sector.  The Local Area Agreement sets targets which include:

• To increase the proportion of key public services delivered by the voluntary and community sector.
• To increase the number of self-sufficient voluntary and community sector organisations.
• To increase the number of social enterprises.

The full Local Area Agreement report (593 KB) .

The Council has demonstrated its commitment to improving the relationship with voluntary and community bodies by working towards the standards within the Somerset Compact.  The Somerset Compact is a written agreement which aims to move the relationship away from one of grant-giving and grant-taking to one where we work together as equal partners.  It sets out how Taunton Deane Borough Council will work with voluntary sector organisations and provides basic ground-rules. More information can be found in the Somerset Compact Mini Guide (98 KB) .

This website is currently being developed and will provide more information on the way in which Taunton Deane Borough Council works with and supports the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Applications can be made for financial assistance with running costs or service delivery costs to either, voluntary organisations, community associations or twinning associations operating within Taunton Deane.

Criteria

Organisations will be expected to show evidence of funding from other sources within their application and those already receiving support for running costs from other Council operated schemes will not be eligible.

Grant Details

Applications for support can be made at any time during the financial year, but only one grant will be awarded per organisation each year.

Applications can be made for up to £5,000, but in most cases support grants will be much smaller.

All applicants will be required to demonstrate a clear need for financial support.

  Application form guidelines (51 KB)

  Application form (57 KB)

Contact Information

By Telephone: 01823 356481

By Email: strategyandpartnerships@tauntondeane.gov.uk