Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE

 

Nottinghamshire Community Foundation recognises that the covid-19 outbreak is an exceptional event that will have an impact on the work of charitable groups and want to offer reassurance that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the sector during this time.  We wish to be as helpful as possible during the coming weeks and months so that groups can focus on the vital work of supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.  We understand that there will be times when staff and volunteers will not be available, when beneficiaries may need services to be provided in different ways, or when systems need to be flexible to ensure that needs are met.

NCF are committed to support all partners, donors, grantees and employees throughout the uncertainty of this viral outbreak.  We are continuously evaluating the developing situation and following Governmental and NHS guidelines, whilst ensuring we continue to deliver the services required.

Some key points regarding our continued support:

  • We can still operate effectively in any isolation phase, this includes remote working to allow us to continue to provide the services required, although telephone and postal communications may be affected.
  • There may be some slight short-term response delays if any major illness outbreak occurs that reduces the number of staff that are too ill to work either from home or office.

We understand that some groups are considering how they may need to managed a planned activity in relation to Coronavirus (Covid-19).

We hope that your funded project will be able to go ahead as planned.  Charities and voluntary sector organisations play a vital role in communities when external events like this happen, and our aim is to ensure as much of this important work as possible can continue.  However, we recognise that depending on how you operate and who you work with, you might need to make some changes to planned activity.

If your project funded by us is affected by the covid-19 outbreak, please contact us on enquiries@nottscf.org.uk outlining your concerns in writing and we will review on a case-by-case basis.

We are committed to:

  • Adapting activities – we recognise that you may experience difficulties achieving some of the outputs or outcomes we agreed for your grant during the outbreak.  If you need to alter the activity which you were planning to deliver or find alternative ways of achieving your intended outcomes – please let us know.
  • Delaying activity – we dont want to add pressure, so if you think you will stuggle to meet deadlines, please let us know in advance if your activity will be delayed, include new suggested timings in your email.  We will work with the funders to look at extending the grant period and delay the date on which your end of grant monitoring report is due.
  • Cancelling activity – if activity cannot go ahead and grant money is unspent please let us know as early as possible.  We’ll expect you to return to us any portion of the grant which will not now be spent.  If grant money is spent but doesn’t achieve expected outcomes, we’ll be understanding of the extenuating circumstances. Again, please do keep us in the loop. We’ll expect you to make best endeavours to achieve the outcomes as planned, but in the circumstances we understand this may not be possible. We also understand that some costs are fixed, and will be incurred even if you cancel or rearrange activity. So long as you keep us informed, and use your end of grant report to explain why you weren’t able to deliver the planned activities or achieve the anticipated outcomes, we’ll be understanding of this.
  • Delaying reporting – If your end of grant monitoring report is due imminently – we recognise that during this difficult period we do not wish to add additional pressure. So where possible we are delaying the return of all end of grant monitoring evaluation reporting for three months.
  • Listening to you – we are here if you want to tell to us about the situation you’re facing, but we’ll wait for you to tell us so that these conversations are at the right time for you.

 

Please note that project changes can only be made if you inform us in writing in advance so please keep in touch.

 

We also recognise that there may be further shocks to the system caused by covid-19 that may impact on your other income streams, or require a more urgent response from funders.  Where we have any news on emergency funding we commit to publishing this on our web page so you can see all available programmes in one place.  If you have immediate pressing need please get in touch.

We will continuously review the Coronavirus situation and update you with any further developments.

You can contact the Grants Team by email at enquiries@nottscf.org.uk

 

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