Fantastic response to council's Community Pride Fund
Telford & Wrekin Council's Community Pride Fund has drawn a fantastic response with over 60 applications and all categories of funding oversubscribed.
The Community Pride Fund was launched early this summer to support regeneration and job creation in Telford and Wrekin and closed to applications last week.
The Fund is part of the broader £13.6m Pride In Your Community programme, which is delivering environmental and infrastructure improvements across the borough.
Grants are for capital projects only, such as new builds or improvements to existing building or purchasing of equipment, was open to businesses, voluntary sector and public sector organisations.
The total value of the applications received is £2.5m, with an available £1m pot. The grants are split into small to medium bids of £2,000 to £50,000 and larger grants of over £50,000 to £100,000 with £500,000 being available for each of these pots.
Applications for small to medium applications (£2k to £50k) total over £700,000 and large grant applications (over £50k to £100k) total approximately £1.8m. There have been large numbers of applications for both categories.
All applications are now being checked and the independent Funding Advisory Panel, made up of Cooperative Commission members and cross-party councillors, will meet next month to consider the applications and develop their recommendations on the funding.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet are due to make a final decision on the scheme that will receive funding in November and all applicants will be notified of decisions after this date.
Councillor Shaun Davies, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, Employment and Skills, said: “We’ve been really impressed by the number and range of organisations who have applied for a grant through the Community Pride Fund.
“We’ve set up the Community Pride Fund to help to support organisations to make an even greater contribution to our borough by improving local buildings, protecting and supporting local jobs and the economy.
“I am really looking forward to looking at the applications in greater detail and seeing the difference that the Community Pride grants will make in our community.”
