Providing small pots of funding to community organisations delivering local services is a good way of attracting attention from them and engaging with them; finding out what it is they are doing, who they are working with and whether or not they are in partnership with other organisations. It acts as a good measure of social capital in a neighbourhood. The conditions of funding should ensure that the project will support the delivery of the overall outcomes, it will directly benefit local people, and will involve them in the design and delivery of the service. It provides an opportunity to engage with these organisations helping shape the service and support delivery.
The NDC’s Community Chest project was an annual grant fund which provided small scale funding and support for small projects in the community or for small items of equipment for community and voluntary organisations. The project helped build capacity of smaller organisations, and provided them with experience of bidding and managing small projects. The Chest also provided a useful tool for the NDC, funding a good number of small projects and in turn raising its profile locally.
