Telford 50 anniversary events fund swamped with applications
Telford & Wrekin Council says it has received over 120 applications for funding community events to mark Telford’s 50th anniversary.
The total value of the applications is more than £200,000, over four times the £50k Telford Pride @ 50 Celebration Grant the Council has put aside to support community-led events for Telford 50.
This autumn, the Telford Pride @ 50 Celebration Grant was opened to individuals and a wide range of community groups - to help organise celebration events for next year. They could apply for up to £2,000 for their anniversary event to be funded.
To be eligible for funding, the Council asked that the events must be distinct and different to those usually carried out over the course of a year and must allow the whole community to get involved. Additionally, all events bidding for funding had to fall at least under one of the following themes: People and places, Culture and communities, Green spaces, Get active.
Applicants for the Telford Pride @ 50 Celebration Grant were also asked how much they can contribute towards their events (and the total is estimated to be worth over £255.000). This shows how committed communities are to get involved to celebrate Telford 50.
The bids also showed how important volunteering will be to Telford 50’s success, as the events would need support from 2,600 volunteers.
Cllr Arnold England, Cabinet Member for Communities, Health & Wellbeing, said: “The response we have had to our funding grant has been absolutely amazing, with lots of communities and organisations willing to have their own Telford 50 events.
“We want to thank everyone for their involvement and for the ideas submitted, as all these will help bring communities together, to make Telford 50 a truly unique celebration.
“With so many applications for funding, sadly we won’t be able to meet all requests to the Telford Pride @ 50 Celebration Grant.
The Council will be looking at ways to work with groups and individuals to support their Telford 50 events if their funding application is unsuccessful.
“The Telford 50 website, www.telford50.co.uk provides useful information and several toolkits (logo, communication and events toolkits) to help communities with the Telford 50 celebrations.”
