Covid Recovery Programme for Ulster-Scots Organisations (CRPO)

Overview

In order simplify the administration of the programme as a whole, groups are only allowed to apply to one funder to access CRPO funds. This makes no difference to most Ulster-Scots groups, who should apply to the Ulster-Scots Agency as they did previously.

Available Funding

The maximum amount of funding available to an eligible organisation under the Covid Recovery Programme for Ulster-Scots Organisations is £10,000 however this may also be influenced by the level of Free Reserves that you hold.

The minimum grant available is £1,000. Please do not apply for amounts less than £1,000.

An Ulster-Scots organisation which has a larger operating deficit might be eligible to apply to another funder with a larger maximum grant, such as the Arts Council of Northern Ireland or Community Finance Ireland, but please remember that you can only apply to one funder.

The Department for Communities has provided the Ulster-Scots Agency with an indicative budget for support to the Ulster-Scots sector. The Ulster-Scots Agency expects that this budget will be sufficient to meet the proposed awards under the Programme from the sector.

While the maximum grant available is £10,000 it is anticipated that most grants will be in the £2,000-£3,000 range.

Delivery partners will report their proposed awards to the Department to allow any need for prioritisation to be determined before awards are finalised. In the event that the proposed awards exceed the available budget, awards will be prioritised towards those organisations with the largest operating deficits expressed as a percentage of their income in the financial year 2021/22.

Eligible Organisations

The following constituted not for profit groups in Northern Ireland are eligible for support from this fund:

a) Ulster-Scots groups, i.e. you have Ulster-Scots in your name

b) Marching bands that identify as being part of the Ulster-Scots community

c) Groups that have delivered/facilitated Ulster-Scots programming at any point in the last three years

If you are a group that has delivered/facilitated Ulster-Scots, they will ask you to briefly explain what activity you have done. Please note that community venues will only be considered to have facilitated/delivered Ulster-Scots activity where activity has been hosted at some point during the last three years for which they have NOT been paid for rent/venue hire. You must explicitly state this in the application form.

Eligible Costs

Under this programme, your group can receive help with an operating deficit in the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, so long as it has been caused by the Covid pandemic.

What is an operating deficit?

When you look at all the money you expect to bring in during the period and all the money you expect to have to pay out, if you will have to pay out more than you bring in, that means you will have an operating deficit. The amount of the deficit is the difference between what you will pay out and what you will bring in.

How might Covid cause us to have an operating deficit?

Covid might have caused your group to have an operating deficit by reducing your income, increasing your costs or a combination of both. For example, your income might be down because public health restrictions meant that you could not hold your normal fundraising events, or because events you have held were not as well supported as normal because people did not have the confidence to attend. Your costs might have increased because you have to pay for Covid safety measures such as sanitiser, or additional cleaning of venues or equipment.

Please read the Guidance Notes for further information on calculating the amount of grant you wish to apply for.

Treatment of Reserves

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland defines reserves as the unspent resources or income of an organisation. These may or may not be governed by an explicit reserves policy. The Department for Communities recognises that it is prudent for organisations to build up and maintain a level of reserves appropriate to the circumstances of the organisation. The Department’s policy is to recognise and encourage good governance such as the creation of appropriate reserves. For that reason, the cost of replenishing reserves run down to fund a Covid-related deficit will be eligible for support under this Programme up to the level equivalent to six months turnover for the organisation or the organisation’s reserves held at 1 April 2021, whichever is less.

If you are projecting unrestricted reserves of more than six months expenditure at 31 March 2022, you will be expected to apply the money over and above six months turnover to your deficit. After this has been done, if you still have a deficit over £1,000, this will be eligible for support.

If you believe that your organisation has a valid need for holding free reserves greater than six months expenditure, you must include the reason for this need in your funding application.

Further guidance is available in the Guidance Notes.

Vouching

All successful applicants will be required to provide the Ulster-Scots Agency with a report by the end of May which provides a detailed breakdown of actual income and expenditure for the 12 month period, supported by a bank statement and invoices in respect of renewal expenditure (if required). Failure to supply this information may result in claw back of funds.

Right to Adjust the Policy Framework

If it occurs that an application for funding is received which, although not explicitly stated, is clearly outside the intended scope of the policy framework, the Ulster-Scots Agency reserves the right to seek an urgent review of the policy.

Submission and Retention of Documentation

You must include certain key financial and other documentation with your application. Any application, which does not include all of the mandatory enclosures, will not be considered.

The mandatory enclosures are:

1. Governing Document (might be called rules, constitution or Articles/Memorandum of Association). This must have been previously agreed by your group and must be signed and dated by the current Chairperson.
2. Financial Statement (Annual Accounts). These must be the last complete set of accounts prior to 31 March 2020 (when the Pandemic started), which must have been prepared in keeping with your governing document. If your governing document says the accounts will be prepared by an accountant, then that is what they will expect to see. If it says they will be audited, then they will expect them to have been signed off by an independent person.
   • If the organisation was formed within the last 12 months, then an Income & Expenditure account up to 30th September 2021 should be submitted.
3. Bank Statements covering 31 March 2021 (showing your opening balance for the 2021-22 financial year) and 30 September 2021. Online banking statements or bank print outs are acceptable, provided that they are signed as authentic by the Chairperson, Secretary or Treasurer of the group.

All evidence used to support the eligibility of the organisation for the Programme and to evidence the amount of operating deficit in the financial year attributable to Covid must be retained until March 2025. The Ulster-Scots Agency retains the right to carry out post payment audits to validate the accuracy of the information provided and, if appropriate, to claw back payments made in error or payments made in excess of the appropriate amount of funding.

Applicants can apply only to one funding organisation under this Programme and are required to declare and certify that this is the case on the application form.

Applicants are also required to declare that they do not know of other available sources of financial support, including external support or support from related organisations, which would enable them to manage recovery from Covid without recourse to public funds.