Leicestershire Zakah Fund is a fund that has brought together a group of charities and Muslims to respond to the welfare needs of people in Leicestershire.
Financial security is essential for individuals, families and our city to thrive. Leicestershire Zakah Fund aims to offer those facing financial shocks. Leicestershire Zakah Fund is determined to do everything, to support individuals and organisations battling against welfare and financial crisis and its wider impact.
a) Case Worker Panel, made up of vetted volunteers. They will be responsible for carrying out due diligence on all funding applications received. Any proposal within a specified financial request that the Case Worker Panel consider eligible and worthy of support will be supported. Request above a specified amount [determined by the trustees] will be forwarded to the Trustees. Leicestershire Zakah Fund decision is final will be final and not have a right of appeal.
b) Advisory Panel, consisting of senior representatives of the community, major donors and experts will review the policies of Leicestershire Zakah Fund. They will from to time provide recommendations and advice to advance the work of Leicestershire Zakah Fund.
The trustees of Leicestershire Zakah Fund have determined that at the current time the focus will be on the following key priorities:
Any other request that an individual or organisation can demonstrate to be operating in relation to welfare and hardship needs.
The Fund delivers its key objectives through the following grant-making vehicles:
All applications will only be considered via direct applications through the website at:
www.lzf.org.uk
All grants will be subject to Due Diligence Policy having been undertaken.
Recognising their duty to safeguard charitable assets, the Case Worker Panel and Leicestershire Zakah Fund team confirms that any third-party organisation receiving support from the Fund must be:
In all cases, the Case Worker Panel and the Leicestershire Zakah Fund will ensure that organisations have in place appropriate governance and financial handling policies and procedures to ensure the appropriate safeguarding and use of Zakah funds and where appropriate non-Zakah funds. Leicestershire Zakah Fund will also carry out due diligence for individual applicants to ensure the appropriate safeguarding and use of Zakah funds and where appropriate non-Zakah funds.
Any grant or donation which it is intended to support via Zakah funds must comply with Zakah rules. If it is unclear whether a grant or donation is in line with the Zakah rules, the Fund will seek further advice. The final decision on whether a donation/grant is to be made using Zakah funds rests with Leicestershire Zakah Fund.
a) Organisation Grants
When the Fund considers supporting an organisation through its major grant programme, the following criteria should be met:
In addition, the following principles apply:
All applications from previous recipients of grants or from previously unsuccessful applicants will be considered by the Case Worker Panel on their own merits. Although the Panel will have regard to the outcome of the previous grant, any new application will in no way receive preferential or adverse consideration.
b) Individual Grants
The Fund will administer a grants and donations programme by which to support individuals and families.
To be eligible for a small grant or donation, the following criteria must be met
Proposals for support must be received through the Fund’s website at:
The following are prerequisites to submit a proposal:
The Fund applies a two-stage process depending on amount requested:
Applicants should note that, as with many other charitable trusts, the Leicestershire Zakah Fund may receive far more applications than it has funds to support. Even if a project fits within the criteria and priorities of the Leicestershire Zakah Fund and a detailed assessment has been made, Leicestershire Zakah Fund may still be unable to provide a grant.
There are no appeal procedures for unsuccessful applications and the Leicestershire Zakah Fund decision will be final. Leicestershire Zakah Fund Panel will not be obliged to provide an explanation to the applicant should their application be unsuccessful but will endeavour to provide constructive feedback.
It is the policy of the Leicestershire Zakah Fund to have been reasonably satisfied before making the grant. To this end, before a grant can be confirmed, clarification will be sought from the applicant.
If the grant is payable in instalments, then payment of subsequent grant instalments will be dependent on satisfactory progress having been demonstrated and Leicestershire Zakah Fund reserves the right to withdraw the grant on receipt of unsatisfactory progress reports.
Failure to submit reports at the time specified by Leicestershire Zakah Fund may also jeopardise the continuation of the Fund’s support.
The Fund also provides in its grant agreement for the repayment of funds provided in the event that such funds have not been used for the purposes agreed.
In addition, Leicestershire Zakah Fund may demand reports detailing progress, grant recipients will be expected to provide a statement of how their grant monies have been spent.
Leicestershire Zakah Fund also expects to receive testimonies from grant recipients.
Equally, Leicestershire Zakah Fund will require feedback from organisations on how the grant has helped, any published articles, papers or other outputs which may result from the project, including all media coverage.
Leicestershire Zakah Fund reserves the right to publish on their website and other participating organisation’s websites (or literature) the named individual/organisation that the Fund has assisted and the specific initiative.
Following the conclusion of the project, the grant recipient will (where appropriate) be expected to submit a final report, detailing fully the results and outputs from the project. The grant recipient should inform Leicestershire Zakah Fund of any extenuating circumstances whereby the submission of the final report is delayed, to allow a mutually acceptable date for submission to be agreed.
Leicestershire Zakah Foundation Governance: Version No: 1.0 Updated: 1 October 2023
