Governance
There is a committee of volunteers, a minimum of 51% of whom must be Toothill residents.
We have a representative from the Local Trust and a representative from our Local Trusted Organisation who are authorised by the Local Trust to hold funds on our behalf. Our Local Trusted Organisation is Swindon Borough Council.
Get in touch either via email or pop into the office, or if you already know a committee member, then speak to them.
There is a formal election process at our Annual General Meeting held each January, but new committee members are welcome any time.
Committee meetings are held monthly and our AGM is held in early January.
Specific dates will be published on the Blog and our Facebook page.
We have a Memorandum of Understanding agreed by the Committee and endorsed by the Local Trust.
We have a Memorandum of Understanding agreed with our Local Trusted Organisation and endorsed by the Local Trust.
Matters of Confidentiality and Declarations of Interest are minuted at every committee meeting.
The Grant Application decision making process, which ensures that the community determines which applications are approved, has been endorsed by the Local Trust as addressing any questions arising relating to Conflict of Interest.
Successful applicants are obliged to sign a declaration prior to release of funds.
No grants can be paid to individuals and all grant payments are made by bank transfer with the associated audit trail.
For more information about how funding is managed nationally by the Local Trust please click here
This also explains how and when interest is available to each Big Local site.
Big Local are not permitted to fund anything directly related to the sale of alcohol , anything religious or political or to pay for anything which is a statutory obligation – i.e., something set out by law which the government already funds. Nevertheless questions regarding applications for support in these areas do come in and we are obliged to complete due diligence on such questions and we do our best to signpost to other organisations.
In October 2015 guidance was sought from the Government (via Mr R Buckland QC MP) and the Local Trust regarding upgrades to community facilities for the sole purpose of supporting Early Years provision. It was confirmed that Early Years is a statutory obligation and as such the Big Local would be unable to support any application for the sole purpose of servicing the needs of Early Years.
