Each year Dart Harbour allocates a proportion of our income to supporting good causes in the local area. These funds come from a direct grant that we make annually, and also from a levy on cruise passengers, helping to ensure that they make a contribution to our area.
The purpose of the fund is to support organisations whose mission it is to help tackle disadvantage and provide opportunities across the Dart River Estuary area with a particular focus on children and young adults, and on giving opportunities to develop skills, careers and access to the water and the surrounding environment.
Our Aims
We are particularly looking to support projects that:
- Provide access to the Dart, and to water-based activities to young people or disadvantaged people in the local community who would not normally otherwise get to experience it.
- Introduce the natural environment of the Dart Estuary and its environs to the local community, particularly young people, helping to inspire new generations of conservation.
- Introduce or develop maritime skills – both commercial & leisure in the local community.
From 2024 we will also allocate an element of the cruise funding to environmental projects which:
- Improve the catchment of the Dart, improving the health of the estuary.
- Encourage biodiversity on the Dart Estuary and in its setting.
Recent grants
Grants made in 2024 include:
- Dartmouth Sea Cadets – refit and maintenance of safety boat
- Tuckenhay Regatta – funding towards costs of waterbourne events
- Friends of the Dart – Water quality testing
- Devon Wildlife Trust – equipment for underwater surveys
How to apply
Funding available
We are flexible in our funding, and can make grants to charities, clubs, businesses and informal groups, providing there is a suitable level of governance.
We can support:
- One-off projects or events up to £1000. An example could be funding a school trip to study a saltmarsh.
- Capital expenditure projects up to £3000. These projects should demonstrate a plan for future running costs. An example could be helping to fund a new boat for a disabled boating charity.
- Long-term projects. Grant funding projects can lead to a boom and bust cycle that can damage worthwhile schemes. We will therefore consider committing to up to 5 years of funding for running or capital costs for projects, subject to detailed annual reviews. These projects must either be expected to be complete at the end of the funding, or have a clear plan in place for long-term funding. An example could be scientific study leading to restoration of a woodland within the catchment.
- Seed funding for larger grants elsewhere may also be considered.
When there are more worthy requests for funding than we have funds available, then awards are generally made on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
We also have funds available through our legacy scheme partners Devon Community Foundation, who may also be able to help projects which don’t quite match our core aims. https://devoncf.com/
Area of Benefit
Priority will be given to projects that are within the Dart Valley, though projects to introduce the Dart to residents of other nearby towns can also be considered.
To apply
We aim to make the process simple. Send us a short summary of what you want to do by email, and we should be able to get back to you quickly and let you know if we can help. We would like to know:
- Who you are (charity, formal club, company, informal group etc)
- What you want to do
- How much it costs
- What grant you would like from us
- What your other sources of funding are, and why you particularly would like our support as well
- How it fits with our aims listed above
- Details of the formal structure of your organisation or if you are an informal organisation any details of how you will ensure the money is properly accounted for – typically this may consist of us paying a supplier directly for example.
- Whether you will be happy for us to promote this grant, for example in social media, on this page, or perhaps with a sign or plaque if it is a capital project.
- Any other information about your organisation or the project that you think could be useful to us (or links to websites etc)
You may find it useful to pop into the harbour office for a chat. Longer term projects are likely to need a more detailed conversation.
