Council funding for Redditch voluntary and community groups is agreed (From Redditch Advertiser)
Get involved! Send your photos, video, news & views by texting RA NEWS to 80360 or e-mail us
Council funding for Redditch voluntary and community groups is agreed
1:30pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in News
VOLUNTARY and community work in Redditch is set to be supported by £246,000 of borough council grant funding next year.
The recommendation from Redditch Council’s executive committee is to make an unchanged total budget of £241,000 available again to local voluntary and community sector organisations in 2013-14, plus £5,000 rolled over from last year’s budget.
This year’s grant funding would enable bids to be made to the council for funding to support projects and initiatives that help deliver services to the local community and meet the council’s strategic purposes such as stronger communities and community welfare.
Independent financial advice, clubs and social events, discounted childcare, the recruitment and training of volunteers, even house-moving support for people in need are just a few examples of the huge list of crucial services delivered to Redditch people by voluntary and community organisations that the recommended scheme is designed to support.
Also recommended for renewal are the popular Stronger Communities grants, a scheme for relatively small grants of £500 or less that was prominently used this year to help with the costs of running community street parties for the Diamond Jubilee.
A further recommendation puts £1,000 towards increasing local awareness of and access to the grants, which would cover the cost of holding meetings, producing leaflets and other promotional activity.
Council leader Bill Hartnett, who is also responsible for community leadership and partnership including the voluntary sector at the council, said: “I am delighted to recommend this year’s grant fund to the council.
“The grants scheme has blossomed over the last three years and our goal remains the same, to ensure our grass-roots local groups, which do such great work in Redditch, have a simple accessible source of local funding that they know how to apply for.”
Redditch councillors will vote on the recommendation at their full meeting on October 15.
