7. What happens when your application is successful
7.1. Exchange of Grant Agreement Letter
Successful applying organisations will receive a Grant Agreement letter from Taith, which will provide the detail of the terms and conditions of the funding award. Grant Agreement letters and accompanying schedules will be issued and signed by the applying organisation’s legal representative as well as the Chief Financial Officer (or equivalent)
As soon as the Grant Agreement letter is signed by both parties, the applying organisation becomes a ‘beneficiary’ and project activities and spend against the grant award can commence.
The award of a grant in a given funding call does not establish an entitlement for future rounds.
7.2. Payment of grant funding
Depending on the Taith Pathway and the project duration, awarded projects may have different payment schedules. Apart from the initial pre-financing payment, further payments or recoveries will be made subject to Taith’s approval of requested interim reports and final reports as specified in the Grant Agreement.
An initial pre-financing payment will be transferred to the beneficiary within 30 business days of the date of the grant agreement letter being countersigned (subject to satisfactory financial capacity checks). Initial financing is intended to provide the beneficiary with the cashflow to commence activities.
Taith funding must not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary and must only be used for the purposes of delivering eligible activities, specific to the project, as defined in the project Grant Agreement letter. A grant from Taith must therefore not be used to fund the core running costs of an organisation, where these are not directly related to the delivery of international learning exchanges.
7.3. Project management and reporting
Beneficiaries are accountable for the implementation of the project and for the use of funds received from Taith. Beneficiaries should therefore ensure that project management procedures are in place which enable them to manage the project and the funding appropriately. To support beneficiaries in this, Taith will provide resources and support to enable beneficiaries to track, manage and report on their project and funding.
Beneficiary reports
All beneficiaries will need to report on their project activities and funding. It will be a requirement of the grant award that project information is updated monthly, to enable Taith to see progress and spend. There will be additional requirements for interim and end of project reports. All beneficiaries will be provided with full details of reporting expectations in advance of any report requests.
Participant/Beneficiaries reports
Participants/Beneficiaries who undertake an individual/group mobility activity under Pathway 1 may be required to complete a pre-departure survey and complete and submit a final survey at the end of their mobility.
7.4. Safeguarding
All applying organisations have a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of participants who are under the age of 18 and at-risk adults, in accordance with the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 (and accompanying safeguarding guidance Working Together to Safeguard People), and Keeping Learners Safe (Guidance for local authorities and governing bodies on arrangements for safeguarding children). The Wales Safeguarding Procedures can help organisations to understand and apply the duties set out in the legislation and guidance. All education settings in Wales have a legal duty to ensure that children have access to a safe learning environment. It is important that education settings are clear about how they continue to meet their statutory duties for safeguarding children and young people when making arrangements for foreign exchange visits.
Applying organisations also need to consider the relevant legislation governing safeguarding in the country/territory to which they send any participants, and where appropriate, incorporate this into their processes/procedures.
It is a requirement for all organisations participating in the Taith programme to have the following in place:
- An up-to-date safeguarding policy
- A code of conduct
- A clear mechanism for reporting any safeguarding concerns
- A named individual with responsibility for safeguarding
Successful applying organisations who plan to run activities (including virtual exchanges) involving under 18-year-olds or at-risk adults will be required to complete a safeguarding checklist and must have plans and procedures covering these activities. The safeguarding checklist will be sent out as part of the grant award process. For more details see Annex 3.
7.5. Checks and audits
Taith beneficiary organisations may be selected for assurance check audits undertaken by the Taith Programme Executive. The assurance check audits will vary in scope and scale, according to the type of check performed and will be undertaken to ensure that the management of the awarded grant funding is compliant, and within the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement and the programme rules.