We asked Sheila Horton, the Fundraising Trustee for Withersfield Village Hall, how the portal works for her.
“I would recommend others visit Funding4Suffolk because it holds all the information you need about current funding opportunities and it’s easy to use. The fact it is free to use is excellent and I ignore emails from other commercial grant finding companies because of Funding4Suffolk”.
We were thrilled to be able to speak with Sheila about Withersfield Village Hall which was one of the many recipients of funding after using the Funding4Suffolk portal operated by Community Action Suffolk. Our Financial Sustainability Officer, Andy Cooke was keen to learn from Sheila first hand about results of the funding available via Funding 4 Suffolk.
What did you want to achieve?
Sheila and her fellow Trustees wanted to improve the Village Hall experience for its users and increase its appeal to the local community. They felt cooking facilities in the kitchen area were lacking, and the units, sink etc were very outdated. On top of this there was insufficient storage for staging tables and chairs which impacted on the space available in the Hall for new and existing user groups
The Trustees wanted to remedy their catering concerns by installing an oven in the kitchen and a wall mounted water boiler for hot drinks. They also wanted to increase storage capacity by putting in new floor and wall units. For general storage needs the Trustees applied to build an extension for the tables, chairs and staging not in constant use.
So What happened next
Sheila went to the Funding4Suffolk site to search for funding for these two projects. Sheila was able to search for and find funding of £10,000 for the kitchen upgrade which allowed for an oven and a wall mounted boiler for continual cups of boiling hot water to be installed. A cleaner and healthier environment was therefore created in the kitchen and the Trustees made sure to use a local supplier for the work to try and keep the new funding within Suffolk.
The Trustees also secured just under £10,000 for the storage extension. By freeing up space in the hall they were able to accommodate more people at events. The new store also allows for improved disabled access.
Using the Funding4Suffolk site
Sheila explained “I found Funding4Suffolk very easy to use, especially the ability to refine what I am looking for by filtering my search, otherwise it could be daunting faced with such a large number of funding opportunities on the site. I like that the site provides fund deadlines and quick access to the funder’s websites, along with good summaries of each fund”.
What difference did the grants make to you?
The improvements were much needed and the opening of the space to new users is increasing the hall’s revenue and ensuring a more financially sustainable future for the hall and the community it serves.
Sheila’s Top Tips
Speaking with Sheila she had some great tips to pass on to other organisations looking to raise funds for their projects –
- Run a focus group to prove there is a demand for what you want to do, get feedback from your community.
- Speak to the funder first if there is an opportunity to do so.
- Don’t just cut and paste from a previous funding application, tailor your application to what the funder is looking for.
- Print off the guidance notes, and always refer back to the guidance when writing your application. Imagine this was your own money.
Sheila said “I would strongly recommend every VFCSE organisation to use the Funding4Suffolk portal”.
Funding 4 Suffolk is a completely free portal allowing those who use it easy access to hundreds of grant options. It includes a useful filtering system and alerts function. The portal is a great way to save time when looking for grant opportunities and makes the whole process so much easier. To find out more visit https://funding.idoxopen4community.co.uk/suffolk If you would like to find out more about Withersfield Village Hall please visit Home » Withersfield Village Hall (onesuffolk.net)
