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Applying for SUSU Funding

To apply for funding, select the 'Apply for Grants’ option from your Groups Hub page at http://www.susu.org/groups/admin. 

All affiliated Clubs and Societies can apply for funding, as long as they have no overdue debts owed to SUSU. 

Grant funding is funding provided by SUSU directly to affiliated clubs and societies. 

Grant funding is not designed to cover the day-to-day running costs of the group. These should be covered by membership fees, fundraising, or from other sources. Grant funding is designed to cover the costs of resources, specific pieces of equipment, or trips that wouldn’t otherwise be able to be provided by the club or society.

What you need to apply 

• Bank statement from the last 4 weeks (if you are not on Money Hub)
• If you received funding from SUSU earlier this year, you must show how it has been spent (or explain why it has not yet been spent)
• If your current balance is more than one year’s running costs, you must explain how you are planning to use that balance and why you still require additional funding from SUSU. (To calculate your average running costs, look back at a pre-pandemic year and add up all expenditure for core activities and costs)
• Relevant supporting evidence, for example quotes and links to websites

How the process works 

Clubs and societies submit applications, including recent bank statement if not on Money Hub and explanation of credit balances in excess of one year’s running costs 

Applications are reviewed by the AU Committee and VP Sports (for clubs) and PA Committee and relevant officers as well as and VP Activities (for societies). (If there is any conflict of interest, officers will not take part in individual decisions). The SUSU Activities staff are also present to advise and ensure consistency. 

Decisions are taken based on the criteria outlined below and within the constraints of the available funding. Applications may be approved, part-approved or rejected; reasons will be given for any rejections 

You will receive the funding straight into your club or society’s bank account or Money Hub. 

You must spend the funding on the items specified in your application. If you wish to spend it on other items, you must reapply. 

What we can fund

Clubs 

• Essential equipment that cannot be funded through membership fees
• Essential Safety Equipment
• Appropriate maintenance costs that cannot be afforded through membership fees
• Coaching up to 100% 1st Team, up to 50% of 2nd Team and subsequent teams.
• Individual Sports – up to 100% for club’s most senior level coach, and up to 50% of any subsequent coaches.
• Please note that coaching grants are capped at £4000 annually for any single club and £1500 per individual coach, regardless of level) Up to £20 per hour for any coach. Maximum 22 weeks (11 per semester) of coaching funds will be contributed (please advise of dates in application)
• Evidence of relevant qualifications/experience should be provided. For individual sports, please provide information on how many individuals one coach covers during sessions
• Coaching courses (up to 100% of the costs for one person who will stay with the club for at least 18 months and up to 50% of the costs for two people)
• Affiliation to NGB up to 100% for club, not individual
• Initiatives that focus on inclusivity
• Up to 100% of BUCS entry fees where not paid by the Union already and up to 50% of travel*
• Up to 100% of any other league or competition entry fees and up to 50% of travel* if you don’t participate in BUCS (or if you do compete in BUCS: only if the competition is demonstrated to be of reasonable value for money and benefit to the members of the club)
• Hire of external facilities for matches/fixtures where the Uni/the Union are unable to provide them (clubs must provide links to relevant NGB or league regulations if alternative arrangements need to be made in this case)

 *For travel costs please breakdown the cost including how many miles travelled and how many people travelling. Car mileage = 25p per mile. Minibus mileage = 40p per mile 

Societies 

• Musical directors and conductors
• Coaches for dance
• Any core activity or new initiative that cannot be funded through membership fees
• Any necessary equipment that cannot be funded through membership fees
• Any EDI initiative aimed at improving your society’s engagement with students who are not currently well-represented

What we can’t fund 

All 

• Any individual item costing more than £1,000
• Food and drink (including alcohol)
• Promotional material for Clubs and Societies Fair
• Other promotional material (clubs and societies are not permitted to use flyers and other unsustainable methods of marketing)
• Personal items (e.g. water bottles, social clothing, personal playing kit, sticks and racquets)
• Travel to training or social activities
• Social events
• We will not award grants for any events or activities that have already taken place
• Insurance (as they are part of SUSU, clubs’ and societies’ normal activities are covered by existing insurance policies. Exceptions can be made when insurance and NGB affiliations are intertwined)

Clubs 

• Club-owned playing kit – due to the high costs involved with offering this to all clubs
• Replacement of equipment without an adequate explanation of expected lifespan and reasons for damage
• Payment of coaches’ travel expenses unless the coach is a volunteer coach (in which case, a contribution, not full expenses covered)
• Pre-season coaching
• Any coaching outside of official training or fixture time
• Personal affiliation of an individual to an NGB - this must come out of club membership fees.
• If suitable facilities are available within Sport & Wellbeing, we will not fund the use of external facilities
• Additional competitions (BUCS or otherwise) the AUC deems to be unjustified
• Travel fees for coaches and officials (if required) to attend competitions
• Referee/Umpire/Official fees
• Travel to an unknown location
• Costs for an event that you haven’t qualified for yet
• Entry for more than 25 individual competitors for individual entry competition
• Accommodation
• Match teas (if required)
• Kit – e.g. playing kit (when not provided by sponsors), casual kit e.g. tracksuits and Personal playing kit (e.g. personal protective equipment, footwear and bat/racket/stick)
• Costs for a group to run their own competition
• Coaching costs, if there are only a low number of members in the club.
• Facilities hire, if the union can offer facilities to the club already.
• To pay for a minibus driver (for legal reasons)
• Social trips and tours (this includes AU tour)

To give your application the best chance of receiving funding, follow our Top Tips: 

• Make sure the application form is filled in correctly and completely.
• Be realistic - it’s very unlikely that your application for £1000 worth of glow sticks for a single event will be approved.
• It is important that as many people as possible benefit from SUSU funding, so make sure you specify how many people will be involved/attend your event/use the equipment.
• Show value for money, can you buy in bulk? Can you share equipment with other groups? Have you asked different suppliers for quotes?
• You are unlikely to repeatedly receive funding for the same activities, so consider how you can make your club/society and its activities more sustainable. You could consider organising additional fundraising, sourcing external sponsorship, or scaling down your plans to make them more manageable.

Remember we only have a limited amount of money to grant. As a rule, you should not expect to receive funding from SUSU and should plan accordingly.