Customer Services Charter

This customer service charter is a guide to the level of service you can expect, when you contact us.

Community Spaces is an open grants programme run by Groundwork UK as an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund. Groundwork UK is running this programme on behalf of a consortium of national environmental organisations.

Customer service standards

We have adopted the following standards to make sure we provide the best possible service and maintain high standards of customer care:

We value the views of our customers and partners
We take account of, and respond to, our customers’ needs
We make sure we are easy to contact and that we respond to enquiries quickly, taking account of people’s different communication needs
We aim to behave in a professional way
We aim to be honest and open, and accept responsibility for our actions
We aim to provide clear and relevant information, guidance and feedback
We aim to process grant applications effectively and efficiently
We aim to continually improve the service we offer.

Your grant application - how we will help you

We will provide reliable guidance about our grant making processes
We will provide clear and accurate information about how you can contact us
We will acknowledge receipt of your application form within 8 working days of receiving it
Your application will be dealt with fairly and efficiently and assessed against the published criteria
If your application is ineligible for this scheme we will notify you within 15 days of receipt of your application form
If your application is eligible, we will complete the stage 1 assessment of your application form within 8 weeks of receiving all required documentation
We will notify you of our decision in writing within 2 weeks of completing our assessment
If your first stage application is successful we will provide you with the appropriate support for your project
Stage 2 applications will be acknowledged within 8 working days
Stage 2 applications will be assessed within 10 weeks of receiving all required documentation
If your application is unsuccessful, we will tell you why in writing and provide you with information about other possible sources of help.

How you can help us

To enable us to process your application as quickly as possible we need your co-operation and it would be helpful if you could bear the following points in mind:

Please remember to provide us with a contact email address and a daytime telephone number – this will help us to resolve any queries as quickly as possible
Please keep in touch with us. If there are any changes in circumstances, which may affect your application it is essential that you let us know as soon as possible
Please complete the grant application form fully providing all relevant information. This will prevent any unnecessary delay in assessing your grant request
Please do not provide any additional information with your application form unless you are specifically asked to. If it is not required it will not be considered
Please treat our staff with courtesy – they are trying to help you.

About Groundwork UK

Groundwork supports communities in need, working with partners to help improve the quality of people’s lives, their prospects and potential and the places where they live, work and play. Our vision is of a society of sustainable communities which are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the local and global environment and where individuals and enterprise prosper.

We work in partnership to deliver projects and programmes that benefit:

people - creating opportunities for people to learn new skills and become more active citizens
places - delivering environmental improvements that create cleaner, safer, greener neighbourhoods
prosperity - helping businesses and individuals fulfil their potential.

Our approach is always to work with others to add value to wider plans and strategies and our role is often to find ways of helping local people get practically involved in making decisions and managing improvements in their neighbourhood.