Guidance Notes

Jigsaw Foundation funds local projects and organisations that can demonstrate a commitment to Jigsaw’s residents, the community where they live and projects which support the delivery of our Corporate Objectives.

We are particularly interested in receiving applications which are resident led. All projects must positively impact at least one of the themes:

• Health and wellbeing: promoting physical wellbeing, improving physical health, taking part in activities, healthy eating initiatives, improving mental wellbeing, increasing confidence to manage own health, to live more independently, reduce isolation.
• Work and skills: developing new skills, accessing training, gaining a qualification, getting into work, gaining work experience, volunteering, moving closer to work.
• Environment and Sustainability: engaging residents in improving spaces or places, improving green spaces, increasing usage of community spaces, improving lifestyle choices on environmental issues, improving energy efficiency. Reducing tenancy turnover, creating a sense of community cohesion, increasing a sense of belonging in the community, increasing a sense of safety.
• Financial wellbeing: improving access to money advice and management, increasing individual confidence to manage money, reducing debts, increasing savings and improving digital usage and access.

The project must also help to meet a need identified in the Neighbourhood Plan for the area in which the project is to be delivered. The Neighbourhood Plans are available on our group website →

We will pay for activities that fit the above themes and will benefit the community, including:

• Putting on an event, activity or performance
• Buying new equipment or materials
• Running training courses
• Setting up a pilot project or starting up a new group
• Paying expenses for volunteers, costs for sessional workers or professional fees
• Transport costs
• Staffing costs

It is vital that all projects aim to make a difference to the lives of our residents and their communities and must fit one of the four themes listed above.

All projects must state how they will help meet a need identified in the Neighbourhood Plan for the area in which they are to be delivered.

Only one bid can be made per year by a Resident or Community organisation, charity, voluntary organisation, social enterprise or partner (exceptions may be made for organisations who propose different projects in a different neighbourhood).

All projects must take place within and benefit the residents within Jigsaw Group neighbourhoods.

All projects must be over £500.

All projects must benefit more than one individual.

All applicants must comprise a constituted group or registered organisation (e.g. charity or social enterprise status), have an equal opportunities statement, insurance and a bank account with at least two signatories who are not related and do not live at the same address.

A grant agreement must be signed by the recipient and terms of the project agreed.

Your group/organisation must have met the terms and conditions of any previous grant(s) awarded through this programme (or the programmes of any of the Jigsaw Group subsidiaries).

All additional funding sources for the project must be clearly outlined on the application. Additional funding received during the project must be declared to the Jigsaw Foundation team.

You must keep receipts, reports and records of expenditure to be able to evidence how the grant has been spent.

Should the project include land usage you must have written permission from the landowner.

Applications can be made any time throughout the year. If the money has all been allocated then it will be held until the new budget is available in April (subject to the agreement of the applicant).

All successful applicants will be required to produce a project end social impact report, illustrating the achievements of the project and to share stories and case studies. Evidence of how the grant has been spent will need to be submitted to ensure accountability. All unspent funds at project end must be repaid to the Jigsaw Foundation.

All funding must be used for the purpose as stated on the application.

Decisions on applications will be made dependent upon the funding amount requested. Requests for £24,999 and under will be shared on Jigsaw Rewards to be voted on by residents. Applications £25,000 and over will be referred to our Operations Directors for decision. The maximum grant that can applied for in each subsidiary is based on the proportion of the fund allocated to that subsidiary.

The maximum application amount for each area is:

• Chorley Area: £11,000 (total fund £48,000)
• Tameside area – £30,000 (total fund £197,500)
• Oldham area – this fund is called the Aksa fund and bids of up to a £3000 can be applied for, the Aksa fund is dedicated to the Oldham area and to improving the lives of our BAME residents (total fund £11,000)
• Miles Platting area – £5,000 (total fund £16,500)
• Midlands area –£9,000 (total fund £44,000)
  • (The Midlands area covers Calverton, Carlton, Kingswell & Killisick, Daybrook & Arnold, Gedling, Netherfield & Colwick)

Any other areas in which Jigsaw operates, but are not listed above (subject to sufficient housing stock in the area) – £28,000 (total fund £133,000) In exceptional circumstances our Operations Directors may approve a grant above the levels shown above.

The amount of funding awarded will depend upon the amount of Jigsaw stock located in a particular area and the number of Jigsaw tenants who you anticipate will benefit from the project.

Please speak to a member of the Jigsaw Foundation Team for further details.

There are some things which we will not fund, these include:

• Routine repairs or maintenance
• Projects which benefit only one person
• Livestock
• Individual sponsorship
• Alcohol
• Political or Religious activities
• Retrospective funding that has already taken place
• Repaying of personal debt or insolvency costs
• Repairs or maintenance for equipment or property that is owned by someone else
• Power Tools.

The title of your project: Insert the full name of your project or activity.

Neighbourhood priority: Tick the priorities which best fit your project or activity, you can choose more than one.

Name of your group/organisation: Insert the name of your group as it is shown on your constitution and your bank account. Give full details, including full postal address and contact details for two members of your group.

Describing your organisation: Tick the description which best describes your organisation, if you feel none are relevant use the ‘other’ section to describe your organisation.

Previous funding from Jigsaw Homes Group: Insert all details, including funding amount and project details for any previous funding you have received from Jigsaw Homes Group in the name
of your current group/organisation. This includes any funding you have received for alternative projects.

Local Authority Ward & Neighbourhood plan area: Advise on which Local Authority ward and neighbourhood plan area the project or activity will take place, if this encompasses more than one Ward list all.

How many people in total will your project benefit: It is important to be realistic if your funding is approved this figure will be used as a condition of your funding. This should be direct beneficiaries, for example if you were a youth club it would be the young people attending sessions.

How many of the above people will be Jigsaw residents (anyone living in a Jigsaw property): It is important to be realistic if your funding is approved this figure will be used as a condition of your funding. If you are not sure how to work this out contact us for advice, we are happy to help.

Grant amount requested: Tick whether you are requesting under or over £25,000. Please refer to the maximum bid amount outlined above. If you are unsure which subsidiary organisation your project falls under please contact a member of the Jigsaw Foundation team.

Grants under £24,999 – about your project: In less than 200 words explain your project, including the aims and expected outcomes, how Jigsaw Homes residents/communities will benefit from the project, how many people you expect to benefit, why the project is needed, when it will take place, where it will take place and how you will market your project. This section is extremely important as the judges decision will be based entirely on this summary. In the second box you can provide more information that you think may help us shortlist your application for judging. For example you may want to provide us with more detail on how your project meets the eligibility criteria shown at the start of this application form, explain how you calculated the overall number of people and number of Jigsaw residents who would benefit, and you could also describe the types of evidence you will be able to provide if your project is successful e.g. photos, case studies.

Grants £25,000 and over project proposal: All grant requests exceeding £25,000 will require a full project proposal. This information can be completed on the form or in a separate word document and attached to your application. This information will be used by our Operations Directors to decide upon funding. The project proposal should not exceed 1000 words and should detail: Aims, objectives and outcomes of the project. How Jigsaw Homes residents and the community will benefit from the project. How many people overall and Jigsaw residents will benefit from the project (including how you have calculated this). Why the project is needed. Any community or resident consultation exercises you have undertaken. Project budget, detailing any partnership working – including any funding secured from partners and in-kind funding. Where your project will take place. How you will market your project. How you will monitor your project. How you will evaluate and/or demonstrate the social impact of your project. This information can be completed on the form or in a separate spreadsheet and attached to your application.

Project start date: Tell us the date your project will start.

Expected project end date: Tell us when you expect the project to conclude.

Volunteering/employment opportunities: Tell us about any volunteering or employment opportunities your project will create.

Project cost – tell us how much the project will cost in total, giving a breakdown of expenditure prioritised: You will need to list any funding being obtained from alternative organisations or through budgets already identified. Please be clear in stating where from all funding has been received and whether this is match funding based on the success of your application.

Project forecast: If your project is to last more than one year we need to understand in which years spending will occur. Please note years are based on financial years so from April until March. A 12 month project may therefore be a two year project. In this section, we only need to know details of the expenditure that you are requesting from the Foundation.

How have you worked out your costs: Tell us information on suppliers, materials, venue hire, staffing to illustrate how you have attempted to achieve value for money and have also given local suppliers an opportunity to participate. For projects that don’t benefit a significant number of Jigsaw residents we may ask you to find match funding to cover some of the project costs.

If your project costs will exceed the amount you are applying for, or you are not asking for the full amount from us, how will you fund the rest of the project: Tell us about your plans to raise funds for the additional amount required for the project to succeed.

Additional Documents: The listed additional documents are required for your application to be considered. Dependant on the type of project you may be required to submit additional information. For example if you are working with children and vulnerable adults, this may include: child protection policy, safeguarding policy, public liability insurance, DBS checks, and Accounts/- Bank statements. Where requested you will need to provide copies of documents with your completed application. To ensure we are supporting projects that are financially viable please provide copies of your latest audited financial accounts.

Contacting you General Data Protection Regulations: Please complete this section by ticking the opt-in box.

Declaration: Please read the declaration carefully and sign to state that you have understood. (Please note an individual payment plan will be arranged with each successful applicant prior to any monies being released) Publicity. Support from Jigsaw Group should be acknowledged in publicity and promotional material when it is appropriate. Copies of our logos are available, on request, for this purpose. The words ‘This project has been supported by Jigsaw Homes Group Foundation’ may be used in place of a logo and/or in addition to a logo. Evaluation/Monitoring. Groups must provide photographs, flyers and evidence of their projects activities as part of the monitoring process. These photographs may be used for marketing and publicity purposes by the Group. Please see terms and conditions of use for more information. All projects will be required to either complete monitoring or evaluate their projects.

All applications will be assessed against the basic criteria, for those failing to meet the criteria, notification of rejection will be sent.

If your application is rejected you can appeal against this decision within 7 days of receiving the letter of rejection. Set out the reasons you feel you should have been shortlisted and send them to:

Jigsaw Foundation Manager
Cavendish 249, Cavendish Street, Ashton Under Lyne OL6 7AT

For completed applications under £24,999, your 200 word description will be shared on the Jigsaw Rewards portal. Your project will be voted on by Jigsaw Rewards members.

Each application will be active for voting on the portal for 10 days, to be eligible for the funding, applications need to meet a voting threshold, Jigsaw Rewards members may only be eligible to vote for projects within their own subsidiary. You should receive a decision within 12 weeks of us receiving your application. The Jigsaw Foundation team reserves the right to make discretionary payments on some applications where the project benefits the Corporate Plan to such an extent immediate authorisation can be made.

Those applications £25,000 and over will be referred to our Operations Directors for approval. You should receive a decision within 12 weeks of us receiving your application. If your application is successful, we will expect you to agree to the funding terms and conditions set out in the Funding Agreement document. Signing this document means you agree to provide monitoring and evaluating information, you will be expected to provide an end of project social impact report and will illustrate the achievements of the project, provide case studies and statistics.

We will monitor your progress throughout your project and will be able to give advice and assistance on queries you may have throughout.

If your application is unsuccessful we will contact you with the outcome and give advice and support for future applications. You can not apply again for funding for the same project within that financial year.

All recipients have to maintain full and proper accounting records on the use of the grant to ensure all spend meets the objectives. If there is a proposed change to the use of the grant you must notify us immediately so that a decision can be made to determine whether spend is in line with the Jigsaw Foundation objectives.

Funds must not be spent without prior approval. We will provide you with a Jigsaw Foundation contact to make sure your project is a success.

All grants will be monitored through social impact reports. The detail required within the social impact reports will depend upon the level of funding given. The records will be subject to inspection by the Jigsaw Foundation team.

• All recipients of funds £25,000 and over will produce a social impact report which strives to show a social return of 3; 1, for every £1 donated a social return of £3 should be achieved.
• All recipients of funds £24,999 and under, a final project report will be submitted, illustrating spend and outcomes, including numbers of people benefiting from the project.

Copies of invoices, receipts or proof of match funding (where applicable) may be requested for audit purposes so these should be retained for a period of one year after the grant has been made. Where AllPay cards have been used as a form of payment statements must be shared with the Jigsaw Foundation team on a regular basis and attached to the social impact report.

If you want to talk through your idea with someone, or have a question about the Jigsaw Foundation, please call the Jigsaw Foundation team:

• t: 0300 1111212
• jigsawFoundation@jigsawhomes.org.uk

Please fully read the guidance notes to ensure your project meets the criteria and contact us if you have any questions regarding your project.

JIGSAW FOUNDATION ONLINE APPLICATION FORM →