Harrogate Town Council has £24,045 in general grants and £50,000 of developer money for community projects. Applications close on Tuesday 15 September.

Harrogate community groups have eight days left to apply for a share of £74,045 from the town council. The deadline is Tuesday 15 September 2026, and the council says applications arriving after it will not normally be considered.

The money sits in two pots, and they are for different things:

  • General grants, £24,045: community projects, activities, services, events, small equipment, and work on wellbeing, inclusion or community cohesion
  • Infrastructure and capital grants, £50,000: buildings, facilities and capital projects

Individual awards will not normally go above £5,000, unless the council decides otherwise in exceptional circumstances.

The £50,000 is developer money, and that changes what you have to prove

The larger pot is not raised from the council tax precept. It is Community Infrastructure Levy money, charged on new development in the area and passed to the town council.

That has a practical consequence for anyone applying to it. The council’s applicant guidance says applicants to the infrastructure pot “must explain how the project helps Harrogate respond to development, growth or increased demand on local facilities and services”, and must supply extra evidence so the council can meet its CIL monitoring, audit and annual reporting duties.

In other words, a good project is not enough on its own for that £50,000. You have to tie it to the pressure new housing puts on the town. There is plenty of that to point at: councillors granted 133 homes at Cow Dyke Farm on 25 August, with more than £1.4m of separate developer contributions attached.

The Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Viv Poskitt, said when the scheme opened in June that the council was “particularly pleased that a significant proportion of this funding has been secured through developer contributions, ensuring that investment linked to new development can be directed back into our communities”.

Who can and cannot apply

Eligible applicants are properly constituted community, voluntary, charitable and not-for-profit bodies operating for community benefit. They should normally be based inside the Harrogate Town Council boundary. Groups outside it can be considered where the grant is ring-fenced to a Harrogate event, project or activity.

The guidance rules out:

  • individuals
  • commercial organisations, or projects for private commercial gain
  • projects that have already started or finished
  • projects that only benefit people or causes outside Harrogate
  • anything that fulfils a statutory obligation or service
  • party-political or proselytising religious activity

What you have to send with the form

This is the part that catches people out. Officers run gateway checks first, and the guidance is explicit that applications “will not progress unless officers are satisfied that all required information has been provided”. You need:

  • the completed application form
  • your constitution or governing document
  • recent accounts, or alternative financial information if you are a new group
  • evidence of a bank account in the organisation’s name, redacted where appropriate
  • a project budget with quotes or estimates showing the costs are reasonable
  • evidence of any permissions, licences, consents, insurance or safeguarding arrangements
  • for the infrastructure pot, the additional CIL evidence described above

Eligible applications are then scored by members of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. The scores are advisory and do not bind the committee.

The dates that matter

Harrogate Town Council small grants 2026/27: the four key dates Timeline. 15 September 2026, applications must be received. 11 November 2026, Finance and General Purposes Committee considers them. 30 November 2026, applicants advised of decisions. Then within two years of the award, the grant must be spent. Source: Harrogate Town Council applicant guidance. Harrogate small grants 2026/27: the four dates One fixed application round, decided in November 15 Sep 2026 Applications must be in 11 Nov 2026 Finance and General Purposes Committee 30 Nov 2026 Applicants advised of decisions Within 2 years Grant must be spent Source: Harrogate Town Council, Small Grants Scheme Applicant Guidance 2026/27 Graphic by Harrogate Live
Graphic by Harrogate Live.

What it means for you

If your group has a project that has not started yet, the useful move this week is to check the paperwork rather than the wording. Most of what the council asks for, a constitution, recent accounts, a bank statement, quotes, is either somewhere in your files or takes days to get hold of, and a missing document stops the application at the gateway check rather than at the scoring stage.

Successful applicants take on conditions as well as money. The funding must be used only for the approved purpose, spent within two years unless the council agrees otherwise in writing, and unspent or misapplied money can be reclaimed. The council must be credited in publicity, and the Mayor must be invited to any launch or opening connected with the project.

The forms are on the town council’s grants announcement, and the full grants policy sits with the council’s other policies. Questions, help with the form, or a large-print copy of the documents: 01423 642542 or grants@harrogatetowncouncil.gov.uk. The council is at Harrogate Community House, 46-50 East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LT.

Sources