[comradio-l] Community Radio Fund: award of grants for 2011/12 Round 1

[CMA-L]

Ofcom's Community Radio Fund Panel met on Monday 13 June to consider
applications for the first round of grant awards for 2011/12.

In summary, at the time of the meeting:

- The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has allocated
£442,000 for the Community Radio Fund for 2011/12 (a further £20,000
was allocated by DCMS to other community radio projects)
- 67 applications were considered
- Funding applications totalled £1,143,410
- 16 applicants were awarded grants which totalled £225,403
- 51 applicants were not awarded a grant

First round of applications for funding in 2011/12:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Panel reviewed each application and awarded funding based on the
information provided, and with reference to the Community Radio Fund
guidance notes. The Panel's decisions were for:

- a full award;
- a partial award; or
- not to award any funding.

The average grant in this round was £14,088. A table setting out the
awards is at the end of this statement.

Issues of note arising from the Panel meeting:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

With public funding being cut in many parts of the UK, the Panel feels
strongly that, as much as possible, grants from the Community Radio
Fund should help further a station's financial stability and future
sustainability. Therefore, even though the Panel does consider grants
for community outreach or volunteer support posts, for example, (and
the Panel recognises these are core station functions) it favours, as
stated in our guidance notes, applications focusing on posts that will
promote long-term financial sustainability.

With regard to the applications the Panel considered in this funding
round, it would like to make the following points:

- A grant from the Fund for new stations is not a foregone conclusion,
and applicants need to make their case sufficiently well for the Panel
to be confident that a grant will be well-spent, and enhance the
future viability and sustainability of the station.

- The Panel would like to remind applicants to take due note of the
published guidance as well as the guidelines included within the
application form when completing applications. Some applications in
this round sought funding for items that the panel considered
ineligible. This included, for example, applications for equipment
costs, publicity costs, website costs and funding for journalists. The
Panel would like to remind applicants to have regard to the list of
exclusions that the Fund will not support. This is listed in Annex A
of the Community Radio Fund Guidance Notes:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/guidancenotes230210.pdf

- Some applicants did not include job descriptions and/or work plans
in their submissions for staff funding (question four of the grant
application specifies that this is a requirement). This information is
important to the Panel in order to consider whether the job
description of the post to be filled corresponds with the outline
description given in an application, or alternatively that the work
plan for the post-holder matches the work priorities outlined in the
Fund application.

- With regard to roles intending to raise funds for stations, such as
fundraiser and business development roles, the Panel considers that
grants for roles such as these can be deemed a success if the post
holder is able to raise, as a minimum, the equivalent of their own
salary in the course of the grant spend and in so doing making the
role sustainable and likely to continue once the grant has been spent.

- Lastly, the Panel would like to emphasise to previous grant
recipients the importance of good quality feedback on previous grant
spends and that this information will be taken into account in the
decision-making process (question twelve of the grant application, and
separately in the grant report form). For example, for posts that
included fundraising the Panel would like to know how much money the
post-holder raised.

Priorities:
+++++++

The Panel will continue to prioritise making grants to newly-licensed
stations and to funding core activities and those which will improve
the sustainability of a station. The Panel considers promoting
long-term sustainability a critical, core activity, and will take
special note of novel proposals that have this aim, such as those
focusing on fund-raising and business development. The Panel also
continues to believe there is scope for collaborative working or joint
applications from stations.

Applications for the second round of funding in 2011/12:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A total of £216,597 remains in the Fund for the financial year
2011/12. Applications for the second round will be invited on 19
October 2011, with a closing date four weeks later at 5pm on 16
November 2011. Decisions will be made at the next Panel meeting on 30
January 2012.

The Panel will give priority to those applicants who have not received
funding in previous years. However, the Panel would urge all
applicants to take note of the remarks outlined above.

Summary of grants awarded in the first round for 2011/12:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1) Station
2) Location
3) Purpose
4) Amount

1) 10Radio
2) Wiveliscombe
3) Business Generator (p/t)
4) £15,000

1) Alive Radio
2) Dumfries
3) Business Development Manager/Station Coordinator
4) £15,000

1) Amber Sound FM
2) Ripley
3) Financial Management
4) £5,500

1) BRFM (Bridge Radio)
2) Isle of Sheppey
3) Fundraiser & Business Development Officer
4) £12,300

1) Cambridge105
2) Cambridge
3) Fundraising Manager
4) £15,000

1) Celtic Music Radio
2) Glasgow
3) Sales & Fundraising Executive
4) £12,000

1) Cheshire FM
2) Winsford
3) Fundraiser & Marketing Officer
4) £16,125

1) Hermitage FM
2) Coalville
3) Business Development Officer
4) £15,950

1) In2beats
2) Bedford
3) Funding Coordinator
4) £14,976

1) Lionheart Radio
2) Alnwick
3) Business Development Manager (p/t)
4) £14,938

1) New Style Radio 98.7FM
2) Birmingham
3) Project Manager (six month period)
4) £12,000

1) Peace FM
2) Manchester
3) Station/Business Manager (p/t)
4) £15,526

1) Redroad FM
2) Sheffield
3) Business Development Manager (p/t)
4) £16,088

1) TCR FM
2) Tamworth
3) Funding & Development Officer
4) £15,000

1) The Park
2) Lymington
3) Business Development Manager
4) £15,000

1) Wythenshawe FM
2) Manchester
3) Station Manager (part-fund)
4) £15,000

Source: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/radio/community-radio-fund/grants-2011-12-1

\\

Community Media Association
-- 
http://www.commedia.org.uk/
http://twitter.com/community_media
https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/