Our community grants panels are at the heart of our grants decision-making at GCF bringing vital lived experience and knowledge to our grantmaking and sharing the responsibility of what can be quite difficult decisions about how to prioritise awarding grants from our limited funds.

We strive for diversity in our panels welcoming volunteer members from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, geographical locations and types of experience both in the community, voluntary and business sectors.

Each panel meets three times a year to discuss applications and share insight and knowledge into the challenges facing communities and the organisations working in our county.

Whilst one of our GCF Trustees sits on each of our panels, the board of trustees delegates the making of decisions to these much-valued groups of volunteers.

Our Main Grants Panel meet via Zoom

Our Panel Members enjoy making visits to groups as well to gain better understanding of the work organisations are doing – here are Tim and Nigel, two of our Freemasons Grant Panel Members visiting Centred Horseplay

In February 2022 we held our first volunteer celebration, something we intend to make a regular event in our calendar