£70k on offer to community groups
Community and voluntary organisations throughout the district are being encouraged to bid for a share of a £70,000 pot of cash!
Community and voluntary organisations throughout the district are being encouraged to bid for a share of a £70,000 pot of cash that has been earmarked for distribution by Fenland District Council and Roddons Housing Association.
They can put in for grants of up to £5,000 under the revised Community Grants scheme that was approved by FDC's Cabinet last week.
To qualify for a grant groups must show that their project furthers the aims of at least one of the Fenland Strategic Partnership's four priorities: improving health, economic prosperity or young people's life chances or reducing crime and disorder.
FDC has allocated £45,000 to the scheme, with Roddons providing the other £25,000.
Decisions on where the money goes will be taken by a joint panel made up of FDC's Cabinet and a representative from Roddons and is designed to be less bureaucratic. Previously those decisions had to go through the various Neighbourhood Forums.
Councillor Chris Seaton, portfolio holder responsible for the grants, said: "We recognise the amazing contribution that community and voluntary groups make all over the district and we're looking to help as many as we possibly can. So get your applications in."
Applications must be received by April 27 so that they can be fully assessed. Funding will be allocated in August and projects are to run until April 1, 2013.
For more details and application forms, call Hetty Thornton, FDC's senior community development officer, on 01354 654321 or email hthornton@fenland.gov.uk
Some we have helped
The Community Grants scheme is designed to support a wide range of projects of varying sizes. Some cover the whole of Fenland, others are more local. Those that benefited from the last round include:
Doddington Under-5s Parent and Toddler Group: Its grant of £3,630 went towards new play equipment, which has helped to boost its membership by 40 per cent. Some of the equipment has also been loaned to other groups, thus spreading the benefits.
ABC Pre-school and Kids Club, Tydd St Giles: A £1,000 grant has paid for the heating and other core running costs. Without it, this service in an isolated rural area would have been in danger of closing.
Care Network: The £595 grant enabled it to set up a new community car scheme in Wisbech to help vulnerable or isolated people get to the doctor or other services, visit friends or go shopping. The project undertook more than 130 journeys.
Fenland Association for Community Transport (FACT): It got £597 to pay for wheelchair constraints in its community bus, thus improving safety and making it much easier for disabled people to use the service.
Friends of St Andrew's Church, Whittlesey: It was awarded £3,000 for improvements in and around its community hall. Those have resulted in four new groups using the site and increasing its use for wedding parties and funeral or christening teas, as well as car boot sales.
