A new High Street Fund for business has been launched today (24th August) by the Mayor of London and Sir William Castell.
The High Street Fund is a newly registered charity and will be open to receive claims on Friday 26th August through partners Santander and Barclays. Donations can be made now.
It is the Fund’s aim to make initial grants of £2000 within a matter of days. In addition to these initial grants, the Fund may at its discretion make further grants based on an assessment of particular business needs shown by individual claimants. Any such further grants are likely to be within the range of one to two times the initial grant.
The fund is aimed at micro businesses (as a guide, up to 10 employees) across the UK. The businesses will be from those areas directly affected by the public order disturbances during August 2011 and must have reported a crime to the police in order to claim.
Deloitte are administering the funds on behalf of the trustees and Barclays are holding the bank account, both companies have provided work on a pro bono basis.
Other major corporations including RBS and Lloyds have made donations to the fund, with the Mayor kick-starting the fund with a grant of £500,000.
To apply for a grant, claimants can download a form from the website and fill it in by hand, alternatively they can fill it in online and then print it off.
The form must then be taken to any branch of Barclays or Santander (forms are also available in branches).
Barclays and Santander can receive forms from Friday 26th August.
Along with the forms, claimants must also take these 3 items:
- a passport of driving license
- the last 3 months bank statement demonstrating the company name on their bank statement matches that on the form for which they are applying
- their crime reference number from the police (this will be used as their unique reference number)
Bank staff will check all the forms and the 3 required documents above and then approve the forms in branch. The forms will then be sent to the Fund’s trustees and administrators who will give approval on all grants.
It is anticipated that the whole process will be turned around in 3 – 5 working days.
All applications must be received by the 30th September.
Individuals can make donations to the fund, and the fund will be seeking more financial support from large corporations from across the UK. Corporate supporters should contact the trustees if they wish to discuss sizeable donations – details are on the website. www.thehighstreetfund.co.uk
