First stage – leaflet

There was a folding leaflet which gave brief information about the initiative and which had a tear off postcard at the back for people to outline brief details of their proposed project and also give their contact details. This postcard was then sent to the national project team for logging on a database. The database had a section for each of the eight regional teams and on a regular basis they would check the database to see whether there were any new enquiries.

Telephone appraisal

When a new enquiry was received in a region, one of the two regional advisers would contact the person who had submitted the postcard and arrange to carry out a more detailed telephone appraisal of the project. The telephone appraisal was quite detailed and asked many questions about the group, the site, funding, land ownership and what proposals the group had to improve or create a site. On the basis of the telephone appraisal, the adviser would decide whether or not to carry out a site visit.

Where the telephone appraisal established that the project was not suitable for Doorstep Greens funding for whatever reason. The adviser, where able, would signpost the group to other possible funding sources.

Where a project had the potential to be eligible for funding the adviser would carry out an initial site visit to have a look at the site and establish whether it and the group were suitable candidates for Doorstep Greens funding.

Site visit

After the first site visit the adviser may ask the group for further information before inviting the group to apply for a grant, or they may be happy with what they had found and ask them to apply straight away. The group would be sent a standard application form to complete and return to the regional adviser.

Project Preparation Grant
The Doorstep Greens grant process had two stages. The first grant available was a small planning grant called a project preparation plan. There was up to £5,000 available to groups to enable them to carry out community consultations and to have designs drawn up for their project. Decisions on these grants were made by the Doorstep Greens national project team. The planning phase of the projects usually took between six and nine months to complete and occasionally, up to a year. At the end of it, the groups would have a large amount of information all related to the project that they wished to carry out. It included, project design plans, maps, information about the group, their legal and financial status, beneficiary information, costings, match funding information, photos of the site and other information that was requested before the project could be considered for creation grant funding, along with a creation grant application form.

Advisers would check that all of the requested information had been provided and then complete an appraisal of the project, including costings for the benefit of the creation grant panel.

Creation grant application

Grant panels were held every two months from May 2002 onwards until March 2004. The panel consisted of people from organisatons who are similarly concerned with environmental regeneration. The panels were chaired by a senior manager of the Countryside Agency. A representative of the BLF also observed each meeting and decisions were reached on the majority basis.

At the grants panel, regional advisers were asked to present the projects that they had put forward for consideration. This involved saying something about the project to expand on the information that the grants panel already had in the packs that were prepared for them. It also added the hands on information that advisers dealing with projects on a daily basis have and so made the process efficient with most questions raised answered during the meeting. On the panel submission, advisers also recommended whether a project should be accepted or rejected – and if they recommended that it should be rejected they would advise why.

When a decision had been reached about a project, grant offer letters were sent out to the applicants along with Doorstep Greens creation grant terms and conditions.