Local Area Panels

Local Area Panels

An overview of the funding programme

The Community Priorities Programme is a grants programme funded by Westminster City Council and coordinated by the council’s Communities Department. It is all about strengthening communities in the borough, specifically in Queens Park, Westbourne, Bayswater, Church Street, Harrow Road, Maida Vale, Little Venice, Abbey Road, Lancaster Gate, Pimlico South, Pimlico North, Vincent Square & St James’s wards.

The programme was launched in 2022 as a pilot in North Westminster and only covered four Wards in the North: Church Street, Queen’s Park, Harrow Road & Westbourne. Round One successfully funded 24 community-led organisations and individuals to deliver meaningful projects.

It was relaunched in 2023 to additional wards in the South of the Borough where there are higher levels of need, resulting in 51 community-led projects being funded by the programme.

What are Local Area Panels?

Local Area Panels are dynamic, collaborative groups comprising dedicated individuals from our communities, all driven by a shared passion for enhancing their local areas. Panel membership is diverse, and includes:

• Residents

• Ward councillors

• Representatives from Voluntary and Community Organisations

• Tenant and Resident Associations

• Community Champions

• Young people

What will you do?

The main role of these panels is to determine which community projects should receive funding from the council under the Community Priorities Programme. Additionally, they serve as the voice of the community, offering guidance and support in the design and coordination of community consultations and events in their local area.

We will be hosting an information session to provide more details about the Local Area Panels. Your support in promoting this event within your network would be highly appreciated.

How can you help?

We will be actively seeking nominations for panel members in early 2026 who can contribute their skills and enthusiasm to positively impact their community. I encourage you to nominate other individuals whom you believe would be valuable additions to these panels. Nominate your legend.

Who can become a Panel Member?

Anyone who is a resident of Westminster can apply. You must be 16 years old or over to apply.

Panel members are selected based on the following criteria:

• Knowledge of the local neighbourhood.
• Interest in the general good of the community (rather than personal interests).
• Be able to attend meetings in person or online.
• A willingness to work with others and consider different points of view.
• Ability to think critically and use this to shortlist projects proposals.
• Being open, inclusive, and transparent.
• Being punctual and have good time management.
• Being sensitive and responsible with personal information, strictly not discussing applications outside of meetings and being aware of GDPR compliancy.
• Training and support will be provided to assist you in fulfilling your role effectively.

Conflict of Interest:

Note: Working Group members and any organisation that Working Group members are involved with (e.g. as a Trustee, paid employee or volunteer) can apply for Community Priorities funding while they are a working group member.

Members are expected to declare any potential conflicts of interest related to individual funding decisions before the meeting wherein they will be discussed, on the application form or as soon as the existence of a conflict becomes apparent.

In such cases, members must withdraw from reviewing that grant application. This does not exclude them from scoring other applications of the same type at the meeting, but it excludes them from being designated panel members at the meeting.

For more information about the Community Priorities Programme, please visit: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/community-prioritiesprogramme

Important Information

Application Deadline: 2026

Programme Length: 2 years (2026-2028)

Time Commitment: Time will vary according to the number of applications received.

Reward & Acknowledgement: Each panel member will be awarded gift vouchers for attending sessions. In total, we are asking for 15 hours of your time, and we will reimburse you with vouchers.

HOW TO APPLY

We will be looking for more panel members in early 2026, please sign up to stay updated and find out more.

If you have a query please email communityprioritiesprogramme@westminster.gov.uk