Advice to Applicants Seeking Grant Assistance

Below are the electronic forms which are editable pdfs, this means you can fill in the forms, (remember to save), attach any requested photos and email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 Application form for groups 79.66 Kb

 Application form for President's Company 74.49 Kb

 Grant Review 86.78 Kb

 Report on an applicants for President’s Company 77.70 Kb

 Application form for individuals 82.52 Kb

General

soba's application form makes the following important points:

‘The Scottish Outward Bound Association (soba) is a charitable organisation which aims to help make Outward Bound and what it can offer available to young people whose circumstances are such that it would otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to participate’.

‘The Association has a duty of care over the allocation of donations and each application for financial assistance will be judged on its own merits’.

‘It is in the interest of the applicant that as much relevant information is given as possible’.

The need criterion

soba has to place emphasis on supporting young people who are in need. Usually, the need factor is financial, but we would also want to take account of social difficulties or additional support needs.

Individuals

The application forms ask young people who are applying for assistance to tell soba a bit about their background and circumstances and to nominate a person who will act as a referee. The referee will be asked to endorse what is being said by the candidate and to comment on what he or she knows about the circumstances of the applicant.

Schools and organisations

In a small number of cases, the profile of a school or organisation is such that we can more or less assume that all the children will fall into one or more of the need categories. Most schools, however, cater for children from a wide variety of backgrounds and circumstances. When considering applications, we look at:

Evidence of targeting

If a soba grant were merely going to be used to reduce the cost for all, regardless of individual circumstances, we would be reluctant to offer much in the way of support (unless of course it was obvious that the whole group was made up of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds). If, by contrast, the grant was needed to ensure that a child or children who would otherwise not be able to take part at all could be included, we would be minded to be generous towards those particular individuals.

The balance of need across the school or organisation 

We would want to know as much as possible about the ‘hard indicators’ of disadvantage. For school groups, we would be looking at the FME (Free meal entitlement) percentages or the proportion of senior students who receive the full measure of EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance).

What other support might be available

Some schools or organisations operate in areas where significant additional resources are already made available. 

Self help

In considering applications, we also want to know what efforts the individual  or the organisation and its young people are making on their own behalf. Is the school or organisation putting some of its own money into the project? What is being done in the way of fundraising that will involve the participants in taking some responsibility for making sure that the project can proceed?

Affordability

soba is a small charity run by volunteers. Its resources are significant, but limited, and we obviously want to spread our support as widely as possible. The size of any grant awarded will be informed by the number of young people taking part in the project.

In the case of groups, it would be unusual that any support given would exceed an average of around £70-£80 a head or would amount to more than a quarter of the total cost. If a grant were needed to allow a particular individual to take part in a project, we could obviously look to be more generous. Except in exceptional cases, our support for any single organisation or school would not amount to more than about £2000 in any one year.

Age and stage

soba believes firmly in the potential of the Outward Bound experience to influence positively young people’s thinking about themselves. We  believe that the greatest impact can be achieved with young people who are at secondary school stage or above. We are less inclined to support groups of primary school age children.

Impact

soba is inclined to support projects that have ‘a beginning, a middle and an end’. Particularly in the case of residential projects, we would like to see evidence of preparation for the main experience as well as an indication of how the young people are going to be debriefed and given opportunities to build upon what has been learned.

Sustainability

In the past, certain groups and schools have been regular recipients of soba money over a period of years. soba sees its role as helping new groups and organisations to access Outward Bound; it follows that organisations cannot assume that they will receive support from soba on an ongoing basis.

Evaluation

soba asks groups that receive funding to report back in due course on the success of their project, and particularly encourages feedback from the young people who have been involved. Organisations that fail to respond to this condition will not receive funding in the future.

Further advice

Those planning projects are welcome to seek informal advice from the grants convenor.

Ian Valentine can be contacted by phone on 01357 520917. If it is felt appropriate, a first approach can be made by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .