Diocesan Growth Fund

1. Since 2009 the Diocesan Board of Finance has provided a “Growth Fund” to support projects or staff whose work designed to lead to growth. The fund can also be used strategically by the Diocese to support local work, eg planting new congregations.
2. There are relatively small amounts of money available to support bids from Mission Communities, Parishes and Deaneries – around £45,000 a year.
3. The following paperwork sets out:

• the criteria for awards
• application form
• timetable and process for bidding

Criteria for Awards

4. Awards will be made to projects that will lead to Church Growth, particularly growth in numbers, but also growth in spirituality and growth in community engagement/contact.5. Priority will be given to projects promoting our Growing Younger theme, but other areas are also eligible for support.
5. Awards will NOT be made for:

• building work, whether maintenance, repair or refurbishment (other grants and loans are available from the Diocese for this work)
• salaries of existing staff

7. Bids will assessed against the following criteria:

• the extent to which they will contribute to church growth
• the extent to which they involve work with children and young people
• value for money from the overall project cost and from the amount requested from the Growth Fund
• whether the Growth Fund contribution is essential to their success
• the amount of additional resources – either financial or in kind – that the Growth Fund’s contribution will release
• the extent of Deanery support, including the Deanery’s assessment of the financial Offer towards the costs of ministry that is made by the Mission Community or parish making the application

8. The normal maximum grant is £6,000 for a one year grant or £15,000 over three years (in exceptional cases funding may be provided for up to five years). There is no lower limit.  We will try to support a larger number of smaller bids rather than three or four larger bids that take all the available money.  Bids for more than one year’s work should show how other income can be generated to ensure that the project is viable once Growth Fund support has ended.  Where funding is sought for staff costs over a number of years, grants will normally be made on a reducing basis eg £6k yr1, £5k yr2, £4k yr3.
9. Wherever possible the full amount bid for will be provided (but see above in relation to staff costs). The amount granted will not normally be a reduced proportion of the bid.  Bids should therefore be made on a realistic basis, rather than over-bidding in the expectation of funding being scaled back.
10. Bids should be in line with local Mission Action Plans and Mission Communities plans. Bids from Mission Communities with Parishes in arrears with their Ministry Offer payments or who have not participated fully in the Ministry Offer process will not normally be supported.  Grants may be conditional upon the parish involved increasing their Ministry Offer in line with “ministry cost inflation” throughout the period of the grant.
11. Bids should be accompanied by a Mission Community council or PCC (or, in the case of a deanery project, Deanery Synod) resolution supporting the bid, and signed evidence of support from the Lay Chair of the Deanery Synod.

12. No bid should be for more than 5 years funding, although it is open to projects to seek further funding towards the end of their life.