Generous council chiefs have awarded nearly £60,000 to community and voluntary groups as part of a new scheme to help deliver grassroot projects aimed at improving lives.
A total of £59,965 has been awarded to 16 local groups via Chesterfield Borough Council’s new Community Grants Funding scheme.
The funding will help groups deliver projects that will build resilient, healthy, and safe neighbourhoods, as well as initiatives which will help reduce the borough’s impact on the climate and wider environment by promoting greener choices.
Councillor Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “We’re really pleased to have allocated this funding to these local groups to help them deliver vital projects that will help our communities continue to thrive, and we look forward to watching the projects progress.
“We’re really lucky to have so many important community groups and voluntary organisations here in Chesterfield. They really do make a difference to the lives of local people, so it’s vital that we can provide them with grants such as this to help them achieve their goals.”
Funding can also be used by community projects to develop volunteering opportunities, help people prepare to get into work, and to support organisations to expand their reach into different areas of the borough.
Fairplay, which supports children and young people with disabilities and additional needs across north Derbyshire, is one of the groups to have received grant funding.
It aims to use the funding to support a new project that will give young people with learning disabilities the chance to engage in work-based activities within their communities.
Fairplay Chief Executive Officer, Heather Fawbert, said: ’This Community Grant will enable Fairplay young people to make a real difference in their local community. They will be volunteering on a wide range of projects, showcasing the many skills that they have developed whilst at Fairplay. The young people are all very eager to get started.”
Others to be awarded funding include: Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre; Relate Chesterfield and North Derbyshire; Barrow Hill Community Trust; Positive Healthy Vibes; Standing Tall; Young Enterprise; Transition Chesterfield; Hobby Talk; Inspiring Inkersall Community Group; Friends of Spital Cemetery; Hope House; Gussies Pantry; Chesterfield Cricket Club; Inclusive Pedals and Friends of Badger Park.
Applications for the second phase of the scheme have now reopened, allowing more eligible organisations to apply for grant funding with grants ranging from £500 to £6,000.
Full details on funding can be found at: https://www.chesterfield.gov.uk/business-and-economic-growth/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-ukspf/community-grants-fund.aspx
The deadline for applications is Friday 27 October.
Funding for the grants scheme has been secured from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, together with money raised through the Community Infrastructure Levy Neighbourhood Portion.
It is just one initiative which is benefiting from funding through the UKSPF after the council successfully secured £2.6m from the Government. It will fund initiatives up to April 2025, which are designed to improve life and support businesses.
