Application Guidelines for 01st September 2017 submission deadline

Background 

The Trustees of the True Colours Trust have set aside funds towards a small grants programme for hospices and palliative care providers across Africa to support the development of palliative care. All work supported by this programme must adhere to the WHO definition of palliative care (http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/).

 All funding decisions are made by the Trustees of the True Colours Trust, who meet twice a year to review applications. Applications and approved grants are administered by the African Palliative Care Association. Funding is primarily for one-off projects, with a duration of no more than one year.  The size of grants ranges from £500- £5,000.  

Funding Priorities

Trustees favour support for items which directly improve the patient experience and the standard of palliative care services for people of all ages.  Priority is given to the following, in no particular order: 

• Training courses for palliative care service providers held in Africa (applicants must supply a curriculum / outline of the topics covered, and supply the name of the accrediting body. Funds will be released on receiving the letter of acceptance for the training institution)
• Equipment for patients (e.g. beds, wheelchairs). For equipment we will require at least three quotes attached to the application, with the preferred quote indicated and reasons why.
• Projects supporting paediatric palliative care services (this could include purchasing toys, integrating paediatric services into an existing programme, developing materials for advocacy, etc.).
• Medicines.
• Capital improvement costs (such as refurbishing buildings to improve the patient experience, buying furniture, etc.)
• Developing small palliative care projects (integrating palliative care components in existing health care services, adapting palliative care models, quality improvement activities e.g Palliative Care standards, developing materials, etc.) and helping health care providers to establish new palliative care projects where none currently exist.
• Increasing access to palliative care in rural areas. 

Grants will not be approved for:

• Attending conferences
• Education courses outside Africa
• General work with children and young people which does not adhere to the WHO definition of palliative care
• Per Diems or grants to individuals or governments.
• As multi-year grants are not considered, the Trustees will not normally fund salary costs. 

Only registered hospices and/or palliative care providers in any setting of care can apply. 

Each applicant may include a request for up to £500 within their application for their core / administration costs. This component must be included as part of a bigger proposal. This part of a grant will only be included if the organisation applying makes a convincing case for the need for core / administration costs. This does not increase the maximum grant size which can be applied for, which remains at £5,000.

Grantees will be required to share with APCA any required information related to the grant in a timely manner, for the further development of the programme and other official purposes. 

Trustees are keen to make this programme available to as many organisations as possible. They are therefore unlikely to approve consecutive grants to any organisation. This means that an organisation which has received funding from the small grants programme, will have to wait at least one year (starting from the date of approval of final narrative report and financial report), before being eligible for another grant. 

Applications 

The deadline for applications this year will be 01st March and 01st September respectively.  Trustees will then review applications in April and October. Trustees will only consider appeals made by completing the small grants application form which is available from the African Palliative Care Association website here. Should you require additional support or information while developing the proposals you can contact the Small Grants Officer at APCA by telephone +256 312 264978 or email at: truecolourssmallgrants@africanpalliativecare.org or Pamela.kalema@africanpalliativecare.org 

Please attach all required documents to this application form. Incomplete applications risk not being considered. 

All applicants must include the following documents with their application: 

• A copy of the registration of your organisation confirming that it is a legal entity in the country of operation.
• Reference letter from a relevant local hospice and palliative care organisation, ministry of health or any other credible network organisation e.g. cancer society, hospital, academic institution. Proof of employment with the organisation of the person responsible for the project.
• Proof of registration of the person responsible with the relevant professional body/council such as the Medical Association where applicable.
• A copy of a valid work permit if the responsible person is not a national.
• Current audited accounts. In the absence of current audited accounts, please provide an explanation of why it is not possible to provide accounts and instead submit an annual statement of income and expenditure.
• Detailed project budget using the attached template. (The budget should be provided both in the local currency and GBP currency, indicating the date of currency conversion and rate used)
• A copy of the organisation structure if available.  Alternatively, a summary list of staff positions in the organisation indicating number of people per position.
• Curriculum vitae (CVs) of the key institutional contact, the person responsible for project coordination and for the person responsible for finance management of the project. 

If applying for training courses, please also include the following:

• Completed training sheet for activities involving training using the attached template. 

If applying for the purchase of equipment, medicines or materials, please also include the following:

• A minimum of three quotes for proposed equipment purchases if applicable indicating the preferred quote and reasons for this. 

Please note that we receive a large number of applications and some applications will therefore be unsuccessful. We will endeavour to communicate the trustees’ decision to all applicants within two months of the closing date. 

What to expect if you are successful in applying for a grant 

If you are successful in applying for a grant, you will be notified by APCA who will send you a grant approval letter and contract outlining the terms and conditions of the grant. 

Once the grant has been paid to your organisation, you will be required to report on the progress of the grant on a quarterly basis. This will be explained in your contract. 

Once you are a successful applicant, please ensure that you stick to the project implementation timeline, activities and budget lines. If, at any time, you need to make changes, you must contact APCA for approval. A failure to meet the compliance requirements of the grant may result into:

• Forfeiting of any undisbursed funds
• Disallowance of any ineligible costs charged to the grant, and your organisation will be asked to pay back to APCA any disallowed costs
• Being banned from reapplying for future grants, among others. 

What to do if your application is not successful 

If your application is not successful, you will receive a letter of regret from APCA. Please feel free to request any clarification from APCA if required. We know that all organisations that apply for small grants have interest in the programme and are doing important work in palliative care. 

APCA will therefore be providing you with information on how to improve your application in future.