Apply for a Fitzwilliam Society Grant

Society Logo Colour

 

** This page will be updated once the 2022-2023 grant opens **

Fitzwilliam Society Student Grants 2020-2021

The Fitzwilliam Society is delighted to announce that a grant fund of £3,000, increased from £2,000 in previous years, is available to support projects that enhance the student-experience at the College.

This is the seventh year of the programme that supports student projects that would not otherwise qualify for funding from the usual sources.

We are particularly keen to encourage applications from individuals and informal groups as well as from established societies, clubs or associations.

In 2020, successful grant applications helped fund items for the Fitz Gardening Club, set up The Good Lad Initiative, purchase a Tablet and new TV for the MCR, and distribution of Mooncups and a Mooncup savings pot. Previous years have seen funding awarded for Billie Day, self-defense classes, an environmental awareness film, and a digital art system for the Arts Society.

Fitzwilliam Society Student Grants – Application Form

Strict deadline for submission to JCR or MCR: Friday 5th March 2021

Please refer to the Guidelines before completing this form.

Please keep your answers as brief as possible

  1. Name of Applicant(s). It can be the name of one student, students or one or more organisations
  2. Email contact address (one only)
  3. If applying as an organisation(s), briefly tell us about your organisation(s), including number of members and whether undergraduate, graduate or both
  4. Title of Project
  5. How much support do you have amongst the student body for your project?
  6. Total cost of the project
  7. Amount of grant you are applying for (max £3,000)
  8. If only part of the project is to be funded by the Fitz Society, please explain which part or which costs.
  9. How will you finance any other costs, including any on-going expenses?
  10. Do you require advice or permission from any person or group within the College to proceed with the project? If so, this should be forthcoming before you submit your application. See Guidelines paragraph 5.
  11. If applicable, please explain how your project is financially and environmentally sustainable
  12. If applicable, please explain how your project promotes social diversity
  13. Please tell us anything else about your project not covered by the above questions that you feel we need to know

Please email the completed form to the JCR or MCR President (jcr.president@fitz.cam.ac.uk, mcr.president@fitz.cam.ac.uk) whichever you prefer by 5th March 2021.

 

Guidelines

The following guidelines should be read alongside the instructions in the application form, available here.

  1. Applicants should be current Fitz students, either individuals, informal groups or Fitz Associations and they can apply for any amount up to the maximum of £3,000.
  2. The project to be funded, or part-funded, must aim to enhance the student-experience at Fitzwilliam College.
  3. Applications must be made on the official application form and emailed to the JCR or MCR President no later than Friday 5th March 2021 for onward transmission to the Society’s Grants Panel. (Note – the JCR/MCR will not vet or alter the applications; they are simply acting as a communication conduit.) Funds will be allocated hopefully before the end of Lent term (i.e. Friday March 26th 2021).
  4. Funding from other sources (e.g. a sports fund) should not be available. The Fitz Society is looking to fill a gap, not compete. Please contact the JCR or MCR President to find out if your project could be funded from elsewhere.
  5. Before applying, check whether appropriate advice should first be sought, e.g. from the Health and Safety Officer, Senior Tutor, or a College committee etc. Examples from previous applications when prior advice etc. was needed include: the suitability of a proposed site because of noise impact, and the need to prepare a risk assessment. Please contact the JCR or MCR President if you are unsure.
  6. Joint applications by more than one Fitz student or organisation are permitted. Applicants can submit more than one application if they are pursuing different projects. Each project can benefit undergraduates, post-graduates or both.
  7. The Panel may seek additional information or clarification from applicants, but will not enter into negotiations or help applicants plan their projects or enhance their applications.
  8. The Panel will decide which applications are successful and their decision is final. The Panel reserves the right not to award any or all grants should the applications not satisfy these guidelines or be unsuitable in other respects.
  9. Depending on the applications received, the Society may decide to grant the total fund to one project, or share it between several smaller ones.
  10. Successful applicants should acknowledge the financial contribution of the Fitzwilliam Society when reporting and promoting their projects. The JCR and MCR Presidents will update the Society committee on the progress of the successful projects during the September committee meetings, or later by prior agreement with the Grants Panel.
  11. Successful applicants should provide three good-quality digital photographs (jpeg) to the Grants Panel to illustrate their projects. The photographs should be accompanied by a written confirmation that the applicants have the right to share these photographs and that they and any and all people in the photographs give permission for them to be used for the promotion of the Fitzwilliam Society Grant Scheme.

Summary of feedback provided to previous year’s applicants:

Not every application over the years has been successful and detailed feedback is provided to the applicants to help with any future grant applications. For example:

  • Some applications did not adhere to the guidelines or answer the questions in sufficient detail or clarity. Applying for a grant is like answering an exam question – read the instructions carefully.
  • Those applications that were successful provided a clear and persuasive narrative, and costings were well-researched and clear. Some unsuccessful applications had not researched the costings, and only guesstimates were provided.
  • Projects should be at the advanced-planning stage by the time the application is submitted. Previous applications for projects still at the formative stage were unsuccessful.
  • The Panel needs to know how many students would benefit from a project. This could be simply by stating the number of members, attendees, or circulation list (for example). Another way of demonstrating this is by undertaking a survey.
  • Some projects were not clear about basic financial and or practical sustainability, e.g. who would manage the project during the summer holidays, and how was the project to be funded on an ongoing basis?

Comments are closed.