Worthing CIL Neighbourhood Fund

Worthing Borough Council are proud to be relaunching the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Fund programme in 2023/24.

The Worthing CIL Neighbourhood Fund pots of money have been accrued from payments made by developers building in the local area and are available to local community groups, organisations and residents associations in the selected areas. A summary of the applications received and which projects have been funded can be found in the summary of bids received section (see below). 

What can the CIL Neighbourhood Fund be used for?

15% of all CIL funds received by Worthing Borough Council are to be spent in the neighbourhood where the development took place (known as the Neighbourhood Fund).

In accordance with the Government's CIL Regulations the CIL Neighbourhood Fund should be used to support local projects which entail:

  • the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or
  • anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area

The opportunity with this fund is the "demand that the development places on an area". This gives communities freedom and power to spend the money on a wide range of things, in consultation with the local residents. Local project proposals seeking support from the CIL neighbourhood fund, can therefore cover a broad range of project types, by using the opportunities that local development brings to an area.

This might include projects that:

  • tackle social isolation
  • encourage community cohesion
  • improvements to open space, play and leisure facilities
  • projects that enhance your local environment, or tackles the impact on the climate
  • activity that promotes outdoor spaces
  • activity that enhance people's health and wellbeing
  • public art projects
  • encourage residents to use local activities they might not normally be able to access

The activity must take place in the CIL area you are applying for, as defined below.

As part of the application and any subsequent award you will be expected to evidence the local need and provide impactful case studies.

How will neighbourhoods be defined?

In the absence of parishes and neighbourhood plans, which is the case in Worthing, the CIL Regulations allow the Council to design its own bespoke definition of what constitutes a local neighbourhood area for the purpose of allocating the CIL Neighbourhood Fund. For the 2021/22 funding round, ward boundaries were used for allocating funds.

Following discussions internally and with a range of community groups, a revised approach is now being used to allocate the funding based on 'CIL areas' (groupings of wards) where the development takes place, with the CIL receipts pooled and to be opened up to applications if an area has over £10k collected and unallocated. The revised approach will provide greater opportunity for groups from all areas of Worthing to bid for available funds.

The aggregated groups of wards which will form the Worthing 'CIL areas' are set out below:

  • Coastal East: Heene, Central and Selden: Pot total £177K
  • Coastal West: Marine and Goring: Pot total £84K
  • North West: Northbrook, Castle and Durrington: Pot total £365K
  • North: Tarring, Gaisford and Salvington: Pot total £25K
  • North East: Broadwater and Offington: Pot total £0K

Note that the Worthing CIL areas exclude any area covered by the South Downs National Park Authority.

See also the interactive map showing the CIL areas listed above, as well as the locations of the projects which have previously been allocated CIL funding:

Who can apply for the CIL Neighbourhood Fund?

To ensure the local link with development, only organisations based in a Worthing 'CIL area' that has accumulated at least £10,000 of CIL Neighbourhood Funds are encouraged to submit project applications. The funds will be made available as part of an annual bidding process. 

Projects seeking funding from the CIL Neighbourhood Fund should be community-led and ideally be delivered by a local community organisation, group or club. It is a requirement that the group being allocated CIL funding must be formalised and have a constitution. The expressions of interest stage will give groups a chance to be signposted to a partner organisation to assist with getting set up to bid for grant funding.

What value of project proposals are invited?

The CIL Neighbourhood Fund is intended to support small local projects. Bids will be considered on their merits for local projects, as follows:

  • Project proposals can request a minimum of £1,000 and up to a maximum CIL neighbourhood fund allocation of £15,000 (or up to the total amount of funds in a CIL area, if below £15,000)
  • Applications for larger sums, of up to £30K, could be considered in CIL areas where the pot is greater than £50K, providing the applicants can demonstrate that they have actively sought matching funds from alternative funding providers
  • Project proposals that match CIL Neighbourhood Fund, with other funding sources, will be encouraged

The CIL Neighbourhood Fund can be used to fund 100% of project costs, or can also be used in conjunction with other sources of funding. For example, the CIL Fund could be used as the match funding element to secure a larger funding award from other organisations, or from the Council's own grant schemes.

It is important to note this fund will not be able to be used as ongoing revenue support, but will instead provide one-off emergency funding that could help to keep organisations and facilities alive whilst longer term funding solutions are secured. There will be a stipulation that any funding allocated to revenue projects is time limited and that the group or organisation must seek alternative funding before the CIL Neighbourhood Fund allocation runs out.

The CIL Neighbourhood Fund will be available to fund one off project costs. This means there will be no commitment by the Council to meet ongoing costs (eg maintenance or revenue costs), beyond the initial funding award. The application form asks for groups to consider the impact of funding the project beyond the initial funding. 

Additional CIL Neighbourhood Fund applications to support future phases of a project may however be considered on their merits.

How to apply

The step-by-step process for allocating funding from the Worthing CIL Neighbourhood Fund is set out below:

  • 3rd April to 19th May 2023: Groups with a project proposal are recommended to complete and submit the Worthing CIL Expression of Interest form below (please read the 'list of questions' document before you apply, which will help you prepare your application) - which will give the Council a chance to direct groups to a partner organisation who can provide support to groups to ensure that they are set up correctly to be allocated funding:
  • 22nd May to 30th June 2023: Groups are invited to complete and submit the Worthing CIL Neighbourhood Fund application form - this will consist of a simple Google form (some of the questions asked are detailed in the Guidance Note below):
  • 17th to 28th July 2023: Suitable projects will be sent through to an assessment panel - the panel is to consist of Elected Worthing Ward Members and specially invited Community representatives who will go through the application forms submitted and evaluate/score each application
  • July 2023: The assessment panel will complete an evaluation of each project proposal and provide feedback to each applicant
  • August 2023: The assessment panel's recommendations are included in a report to the Cabinet member for Communities and Young People who will sign off on which bids are approved
  • September 2023: Formal process starts for allowing transfer of funds, starting with signing CIL fund agreement

More information is provided in the Guidance Note for applicants:

All applicants will be asked to submit an application form which will allow the CIL assessment panel to assess proposals against a range of criteria. The full evaluation form which will be completed by the panel can be found here:

Worthing Borough Council ran some CIL Neighbourhood Fund Networking Events between 9th to 11th May 2023 which saw a great level of participation from a range of community groups. It also resulted in some 'unanswered questions' regarding the CIL fund and wider Council engagement work. A copy of these questions and responses can be found here:

All applications which are allocated CIL funding will have a certain time frame to spend the funds. The project will then be monitored to ensure the correct use is made of the CIL Neighbourhood Funds. Regular updates on the project should be provided to the Council, along with a report and photos upon completion of the project.

Any bids which aren't successful this year will be informed of the reasons why and will be given the opportunity to reapply next year, dependent on sufficient funds being available in the relevant 'CIL area'.

Summary of bids received in 2023

A total of 57 applications were received in 2023 for the second round of CIL funding. The Council was delighted to see the range of projects highlighted by applicants. Of the applications received, a total of 45 were allocated CIL funding, based on the evaluation of the assessment panels. This will result in a total of over £577,000 of CIL Neighbourhood Funding being given to the community and voluntary sector in Worthing to help fund some exceptional projects.

The interactive map shows the locations of all the projects which have been awarded CIL Neighbourhood Funding (including in 2021), as well as the five ‘CIL areas’:

The forty five groups/organisations who were awarded funding are:
(listed alphabetically)

  • 1st Durrington Scout Group (North West): for the 'Refurbishment of Northbrook Barn Community Centre' - awarded £12,610 to carry out a refurbishment Project of the Centre, in particular the Hall and the Centre's entrance hall
  • Active Worthing Wellbeing Centre (CIC) (Coastal West): for their 'Life Skills Club - Combating Isolation and Loneliness' project - awarded £8,600 to secure the delivery of one session a week of their Life Skills Club at the Lovett Hub, in Goring, for one year
  • AudioActive (Coastal East): for their 'Audio Active Worthing hub infrastructure developments and music projects' - awarded £27,850.00 for improvements to the community facility and associated equipment and to run projects beneficial to children and young people living in the local area
  • Broadwater Support Group and Worthing Uniform Centre (North West): for their 'Broadwater Support Community Hub, Food Pantry & Uniform exchange' - awarded £30,000 to provide a functional cold room, equipment and staffing
  • Castle Northbrook Sports Club (North West): for their 'Castle Northbrook Sports Club' project - awarded £15,000 to install an artificial cricket pitch and practice nets at Northbrook Recreation Ground
  • Chanctonbury Community Play Scheme (North West): for their 'Funding provision at CCPS' project - awarded £8,350 for venue hire, trip funding, transport and activity costs
  • Climate Resilience cEntre Worthing (CREW) (Coastal East): for their 'CREW Youth Space' project - awarded £19,800 to develop a 'Youth Space' at the Climate Resilience cEntre Worthing for children and young people to address the climate emergency
  • CYCALL (Coastal East): for their 'CYCALL Hub' - awarded £15,000 to provide a converted storage unit at Brooklands Park
  • Dad La Soul (Coastal East): for their 'Worthing Dad La Soul' project - awarded £11,950 to run Worthing Dad La Soul children and dad playdates, support Dad only mental health meetups and run a new playdate for children with special educational needs
  • Durrington High School (North West): for the 'Rejuvenation of a MUGA to provide community access' - awarded £30,000 to rejuvenate the courts, turning them in to three good quality outdoor Basketball courts and a five a side Football pitch
  • Durrington Infant and Junior School PTA (North): for their 'Outdoor Classroom and Sensory Trail' - awarded £10,000 to replace outside flooring with specialist tiles and provide a vestibular trampoline, sand and tuff trays, sensory play mats and other equipment
  • Family Support Work (North West): for their 'Send Friends and FSW' project - awarded £3,300 for an out of school, activity based club for school–aged children with SEND and their parent/carer present and siblings
  • Football For Future (North West): for their 'Football & Climate Change: engaging school children in the climate conversation' project - awarded £14,400 to deliver 36 educational workshops for school children (across a variety of age groups, from U11s up to U21s)
  • Friends of Denton Gardens (Coastal East): to 'Rejuvenate and Redesign of the Sunken Garden in Denton Gardens' - awarded £3,500 to replant the flower beds in the Sunken Garden in Denton Gardens
  • Friends of Homefield Park (Coastal East): for 'Changes and improvements to The Haven, Homefield Park' - awarded £15,000 to enable the enclosed area, known as The Haven, to be opened up to the public and community groups including safe access for disabled people
  • Friends of Oak Grove College (North West): for their 'Growing for Growth' project - awarded £8,464 to replace two poly-tunnels in their allotment area
  • Friends of Palatine School (North West): for their 'Outdoor Learning Track' - awarded £10,000 to install a multi-purpose track, serving as a walking track as well as a bicycle/scooter track
  • Friends of West Park PTA (Coastal West): for 'Playground equipment and shaded area' - awarded £10,000 to provide new play equipment and build an outdoor canopied area for pupils and groups from the community to use
  • Friends of West Worthing Park (Coastal West): for their 'West Worthing Park Upgrade – Multi-Use Games Area' - awarded £15,000 to deliver a multi-use games area (MUGA) in West Park Recreation Ground
  • Friends of Whitebeam Woods (North West): for their 'Project See-Saw' - awarded £6,177.34 to provide a range of equipment in Whitebeam Woods, including a new wooden signage board, tools, picnic benches and shelving units 
  • Green Tides (North West): for their 'Strengthening and developing Green Tides and member groups' project - awarded £9,916 to upgrade their website, provide promotional materials, cover staffing costs and training for members
  • Heene Community Centre (HCC) (Coastal East): for their 'HCC Garden Project' - awarded £15,000 to improve the garden area to provide two areas, one for children and one for quiet spaces for people to sit and relax while using our café and other facilities
  • Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur (North West): for their 'Thursday Tots Toast Club' - awarded £7,400 to cover running costs for a new 'Thursday Tots Toast Club' to be held in the Worthing West Family Hub for two hours weekly during term time
  • Humber Avenue Community Allotments (HACA) (North West): for 'Accessible Allotmenteering for those with physical and hidden disabilities' - awarded £15,000 to convert one 5 rod plot into a flexible accessible plot consisting of 8 oak raised beds for people with physical and hidden disabilities
  • New West Durrington Residents Association (NWDRA) (North West): for 'Malthouse Way Playground Enhancements' - awarded £27,179.31 to enhance a LEAP, including a small roundabout for disabled access, a small slide for younger children and wet pour surfacing
  • Sight Support Worthing (Coastal East): for their 'SSW Sustainable Green Driving' project - awarded £15,000 to purchase an electric minibus
  • South coast skate club c.i.c (North): for 'Durrington Community skateboard lessons' - awarded £3,510 for two skateboard instructors running free skateboard sessions at (Blue Skatepark) 28 Chiltern Crescent
  • Spring into Soul (Coastal East): for 'Worthing Black History Month 2023' - awarded £5,137 for a month of events to celebrate Worthing Black History Month in October
  • Superstar Arts CIO (North): for their 'Superstar Development Package' - awarded £2,670 to develop several areas of their provision and establish a robust programme of mental health & wellbeing support for staff
  • The Sid Youth CIC (Coastal East): for 'The Sid 'Revamp' - awarded £14,000 to update the court area and improve the annexe building at the Sidney Walter Centre
  • Transition Town Worthing CIC (North West): for their 'Moving forward' project - awarded £15,000 for day to day running costs for all their projects and the infrastructure that underpins them
  • Tree Action UK CIC (North West): for their 'Trees for Oak Grove College' project - awarded £13,781 to provide a range of trees and equipment at Oak Grove College
  • Waves Music Therapy (North West): for their 'Reaching, engaging and supporting at-risk young people through music' project - awarded £14,700 to provide artists in residence, bringing positive, live music making to vulnerable children and young people with complex additional needs
  • We are Pollinator Pioneers (Coastal East): for 'Pollinator Pioneers Educational Workshops' - awarded £13,490 for training new trainers and trainers for the courses and talks and other running costs
  • West Sussex Mind (North West): for their 'Inclusive facilities: toilet redesign and refurbishment project' - awarded £30,000 for refurbishment to the toilets at The Gateway hub in Durrington 
  • West Tarring Young Peoples Hub (North West): for their 'Family and Young People community Hub' project - awarded £15,000 to provide a safe and welcoming multiuse space with kitchen, social space and area for groups to add to the large hall and outside space
  • Wild Gathering (North West): for their 'Returning to Nature' project - awarded £7,548 to offer a year-long programme of nature-based activities to participants who experience mental and physical health needs, loneliness and isolation
  • Worthing 4 Refugees (North West): for 'Basic English Conversational Classes' - awarded £5,650 to cover the running costs of their easy to access, free, rolling programme of conversational English classes for refugees
  • Worthing Choral Society (Coastal East): for their 'Celebrating music - an intergenerational Selden collaboration' project - awarded £2,520 for a series of guided workshops for adults and junior school children, culminating in the delivery of an intergenerational concert
  • Worthing Cricket Club (North): for a 'Roller Lawn Mower for Outfield Preparation' - awarded £3,000 to purchase a second-hand ride-on mower for The Manor Sports Ground
  • Worthing Fisherman's Society (Coastal East): for their 'Rotunda Conversion' project - awarded £16,000 to cover utilities, water/electric cold store ice making machine, toilet and drainage, and sales area as part of the Rotunda Beach Shelter conversion
  • Worthing Heritage Alliance (North West): for their 'Durrington Heritage Trail; West Durrington Heritage Trail' - awarded £5,500 to research heritage information for the two heritage trails, as well as design and print the paper copies.
  • Worthing Theatre Trail (Coastal East): for their 'Worthing Theatre Trail 2024 and 2025' - awarded £1,966 to cover website design, banners, advertising and printing leaflets and posters 
  • Worthing Theatres and Museum (Coastal East): for 'Ensuring access to the arts for Worthing's D/deaf community' - awarded £13,292 to purchase and install 4 x Sennheiser Mobile Connect Units across four venues
  • Worthing Vegan Food Bank and Worthing Food Foundation (Coastal East): for their 'UpStart' project - awarded £30,000 for the continued employment of our outreach worker 

The Council has provided feedback to all unsuccessful applicants and referred them to work with Community Works who will be able to assist them with getting the support they need to apply for future grants. All groups will have the opportunity to reapply in the next CIL funding round.

Any questions?

Regarding expressions of interest or questions with regard to the Worthing CIL Neighbourhood Fund, please contact:

See also:

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Page last updated: 18 September 2023

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