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International Support Grant Programme

INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF ALS/MND ASSOCIATIONS

PO Box 246, Northampton NNI 2PR, England

Telephone: +44 1604 611821 Facsimile: +44 1604 624726

Email: alliance@alsmndalliance.org

Website: www.alsmndalliance.org

ALLIANCE SUPPORT GRANT PROGRAMME

The Grant

The International Alliance, supported by the generosity of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of England Wales & Northern Ireland, the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association, the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Australia, the Les Turner ALS Foundation, the ALS Hope Foundation and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, has established a programme, whereby financial grants can be made available to member associations of the Alliance and/or, in certain circumstances, to their individual representatives.

The grant is known as the ALLIANCE SUPPORT GRANT (“ASG”)

Purpose

The ASG is intended to provide financial assistance for the following purposes:

  • To facilitate the formation of new ALS/MND Associations in countries where none currently exist
  • To help newly formed Alliance member associations establish themselves
  • To facilitate, as far as is practical, the survival of existing member associations by providing short-term financial support
  • To provide financial assistance to delegates of member associations (who would not, on economic grounds, otherwise be able to do so) to travel to, and attend, the Annual Meeting of the Alliance, the Allied Professionals’ Forum and the International Symposium, to experience and share information, strategies and techniques about ALS/MND, and to take that information back to their home Association
  • To assist with the fares and other expenses associated with the costs of travel between individual members of the Alliance’s recognised Partnership Programmes and Alliances, in order that they may share experiences, gather knowledge and information to be transferred back to their own countries and to benefit from discussions and work with patients, carers, clinicians and researchers

Administration

The ASG is overseen and administered by a special panel of the Directors of the International Alliance (the “Support Grant Panel”), assisted by the Alliance Co-ordinator in England

Use of the Grant

Support

In the case of applications for the ASG for the purposes of establishing or sustaining member associations in their own countries, the Grant may be used for:

  • the purchase of office materials, furniture, communications or computer equipment
  • printing and publication of awareness and information material
  • salaries or other local costs for the employment of an administrator, secretary, fundraiser or other paid employee approved by the Support Grant Panel

The Grant will not be made available for the payment of rent or other property-related costs

Travel

Where an application is made for the ASG for the purposes of travel, the Grant is to be used solely for travel and accommodation expenses. Attendance Fees in respect of the Alliance Meetings and Allied Professionals’ Forum will be waived for recipients of the ASG. However, all other funding for travel and attendance must be secured by the applicant Association, or its individual representative.

The Grant will not be made available for personal subsistence expenses (e.g. meals, local travel or other costs)

Application Procedure

New Associations – Applicants are asked to contact the Alliance Co-ordinator, who will forward a pack of information. This ‘Eligibility Phase’ pack includes notes on “How to start a local Association” and places emphasis on the need to properly incorporate the new Association in accordance with local and/or national corporate and charitable law.

Once incorporated, applicants should notify the Alliance Co-ordinator. One of the Directors of the Alliance will be delegated to act as a Mentor and oversee the application procedure. The Mentor will be selected on the basis of availability and geographic convenience to the country of the applicant Association. An “Application Phase” pack will be forwarded, which will include an Application for Membership of the Alliance, and a “Stated Case” form for the Alliance Support Grant. The Support Grant Panel will review the application, and consider the extent of the grant to be made, and any conditions attaching thereto.

Existing Associations – Existing Alliance members, who wish to apply for an ASG, are requested to contact the Alliance Co-ordinator, who will provide a “Case of Need” form, which should be completed and returned to the Co-ordinator’s office. Subject to the nature of the submission, the Alliance may appoint a Mentor, to seek further information and to assist the applicant. Following submission of the application, and any report form the Mentor, the Support Grant Panel will make the necessary decisions regarding the payment of a Support Grant

Travel – To be eligible to apply for an ASG for travel purposes, the applicant member Association must be fully up-to-date with all subscriptions, or any other sums due to the Alliance. Furthermore, it must be an Association which, in the absence of a support grant, would not, for economic reasons, be able to send a representative to the Annual Meetings or Partnership Visits. Although applications will be considered from all member Associations (provided that they meet the necessary criteria), priority will be given to those Associations which have not previously been represented at an Alliance Meeting or the International Symposium

Application Forms may be obtained from the Alliance Co-ordinator. In the case of applications for grants for travel to the Annual Meetings and Symposium, these must be submitted by no later that 1st September in the relevant year. The Support Grant Panel will review applications, and will decide on the award of grants by 15th September, and successful applicants notified on 16th September. It will award up to five grants for travel, each of £1000 in value, but not more than one grant will be awarded to any single member association in any one year.

Review

Recipients of Support Grants for establishment or maintenance of Associations will be required to submit a written report to the Board of the Alliance, in accordance with a specified timetable, and to include yearly audited or certified accounts of the Association. Recipients of Travel grants are not required, but are encouraged, to submit a short report to the Board, within three months of the event, describing how the individual or the Association benefited from the experience.

Discretion of the Directors

It should be noted that the Alliance is under no obligation to award Support Grants, in any category, in any year. All grants are made at the discretion of the Support Grant Panel, and are subject to the formal approval of the Board of Directors of the International Alliance.

August 2006