This depends on who applies/can apply for the grants. i.e. who the lead applicant is.
In all cases to-date… this has been Cwmaman Town Council as the owners of the property, majority of the equipment etc.
Going forward… I would like to see/support possible joint funding applications through Valley MakerSpaces and Cwmaman Town Council. This increases member investment (in the non-financial sense) and also increases the breadth of grants that would be available.
In all cases where Cwmaman Town Council is applying for a grant which makes use of the MakerSpace facilities, an element is included to cover usage of space and equipment. Depending on the grant provider, this either goes into the Council budget for ongoing upkeep/energy/staffing for the MakerSpace or goes to Valley MakerSpaces as the third sector organisation.
â—Ź Who is included in deciding about grants?
Anyone and everyone with either;
– a need (the intended client/participants)
– an interest (volunteers, officers, Council, partner organisations)
– a gain/benefit (partner organisations, wider community, external stakeholders such as County Council etc).
… in all cases any grants applied for must;
A. Meet a perceived and evidenced need in Cwmaman or wider community of Amman Valley.
B. Not conflict with existing providers already working in the locality.
C. Be in-line with the Carmarthenshire Wellbeing Plan and Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015. - this isn’t obligatory but is good practice. Failure to do this will make most, not all, grants unlikely to be funded.
â—Ź Who has to deliver once a project granted?
This is largely defined by who the Lead Applicant is. i.e. who will receive the money paid into their organisation’s bank account.
The Lead Applicant is the organisation with the contractual obligation to deliver if they wish to claim the money back.
That said… partnership or collaboration projects are becoming more and more attractive to funders. An example of this could be…
Cwmaman Town Council submits the application and plays the role of Lead Applicant.
One or more organisations sign a Partnership Agreement to act as “Delivery Partners” for the project.
Delivery Partners each have a given budget within the project and work to this.
Delivery Partners submit claim packets to Cwmaman Town Council in advance of the Council submitting a claim to the funder.
Council pays Partners.
Funder pays Council.
… this is how the GI project is delivered. Neath Port Talbot are the Lead Applicant. Cwmaman, Carmarthenshire and Swansea Councils, along with Smallwoods, are Delivery Partners.
Are you part of the Amman Valley MakerSpace Community Group?
Absolutely. As an Officer of the Council I have no decision making powers within the Council; outside of my delegated duties authorised by the Council Elected Members.
As such, I am able to be part of community organisations, a trustee or Director… providing my vote or decision making powers aren’t greater than 50% of voting powers.
NB: I think it’s important to differentiate between;
“Amman Valley MakerSpace” - the Cwmaman Town Council provided service and;
“Valley MakerSpaces - Amman Valley” - the “Constituted Community Group” (legal definition).
This distinction keeps things separated but complimentary. The Council utilises its service to address community needs - skill development, socialising opportunities, local business start-up support etc etc
Meanwhile, Valley MakerSpaces AV is an organisation which, whilst supporting community development in-line with the Council and Community needs, is also able to operate and do things of its own devising.
That last bit obviously comes with the caveat of “things of its own devising” being legal, safe (within reason🤞) and in compliance with good practice around equality, diversity and safeguarding. Although I doubt anything that’s likely to be proposed wouldn’t be or would fail to meet goals shared by the Council.
Hope that covers everything but please ask any other questions and I’ll respond ASAP
Going to start a new thread around relevant legislation, research and policy that could be useful everyone having a taste of going forward. I’ll call it “The Really Fun Thread”… in the hope that it might get read
No worries! It just meant that it took me some time to get my head around this and finally, I read through it.
Thanks so much! I think, this makes the actors in the makerspace much clearer and most of all: There is no doubt if there is maybe another legal actor or not!
Personally, I wonder about all the different projects that were there but should be done like this: The Metal Sculpture - urgent
E.g. for the Plastics Project I have no idea about how to go forward.
I think, I created this because I wanted to know how to fund material and objects for the volunteers and I do understand that the topic is wider. At the present moment, I can ask for refund but I can not decide what gets funded.
If we keep the money conversation (hard one it is) in the unseen then, I think the following might happen:
people who are here before know how to navigate the space but it is exclusive to a group
we do not know the expenses
it is hard to ask for contributions
we can not ask for help to get stuff if we do not know how to fund it
we do not know what to get if we do not know what project it is for and who to ask
people paying always out of their pocket selects projects based on status - I would like the idea to win and to level the playing field for equal access - this requires conversation to happen in the community
I see a lot of good coming from little improvements to the space. I would like to see them flow. Sometimes that requires new parts and it needs trust that the money is used in a good way - so I would like to have a clear, accessible process here.
If we do not know what funds the space - I do not know what sustains it largely. I think this is an issue as it makes it hard to give gratitude so it gets received in the right place. It is hard for me also to long-term prioritize or chip in with a passion if I do not know what is happening or needed - maybe the same for others.
quality over quantity: There is plenty - the space is so full with good stuff. We can choose where to put our energy to be more effective. And we can support each other.
