£131,000 Community Funding pot up for grabs in South of the Borough
The new chair of the South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee has called on local residents to put in bids for community projects they think should be funded.
Councillor Helen Grocott was elected to chair the committee at its last meeting and used the occasion to call for bids to come forward to share in the £131,000 funding available from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
“It’s a sizeable pot of money and we want to ensure that it continues to go to really worthwhile projects,” Cllr Grocott said.
“I’d encourage any local residents or organisations to get in touch if they have good ideas about how the money could be used to make the South of the Borough an even more wonderful place to live and work. Anyone with projects they think we should support should apply via the community grants page on the council’s website or contact their local councillor for more information.
With the council working hard to provide more homes so residents can continue to live locally the CIL is paid by developments. It is a crucial way for the council to fund the regeneration of neighbourhoods while also helping the borough to recover from the COVID pandemic.
The levy is one of several pots of council funding available for community improvements. Details about how to apply for these funding streams can be found on the council’s website.
Among successful bids last year were the Friends of RAF Chessington group which got funding to put towards their Community Woodland Project and the Men’s Shed project - an initiative supporting loneliness and mental health among older men - which received funding to update existing woodworking tools and to purchase new tools due to the increased number of participants in the project.
In addition, the Sunray and Egmont Community Resident’s Association (SECra) received funding to buy more litter-pickers for their monthly clean-up events that help make their community a great place to live.