Up to £5k available in latest rounds of Council grants
Local charities and community groups can now apply for grants of up to £5,000 from Hackney Council as two rounds of funding go live.
Between £1,000 and £5,000 is available from the Small Grants Fund for voluntary and community groups which can demonstrate how their projects will help improve the lives of residents by focusing on one of the following themes: reducing poverty, raising aspirations, promoting healthy living, making the borough safer, promoting mixed communities, or increasing community pride.
Projects will need to be delivered between 1 October 2015 and 31 March 2016.
Also available are pots of up to £1,000 through the Community Chest Grant for groups to deliver short-term projects or one-off activities that foster community, neighbourliness and pride. Projects must be delivered between 1 July 2015 and 31 March 2016.
Applications for Small Grants are open until midday on Tuesday, 26 May, and applications for the Community Chest Grants are open until midday on Wednesday, 13 May.Application forms are available on the Hackney community grants webpage.
From the 2014/15 Small Grants progamme, 22 groups were awarded funding totalling £80,000; meanwhile the Community Chest Grant delivered £13,816 of financial help to 15 local groups.
The Hawa Trust, which works with African and minority groups in Hackney on a range of projects, was awarded £900 from the Community Chest Grant to deliver music and dance sessions as well as healthy cooking workshops. Hawa Sesay, from the Trust, said: “The project brought together many elderly people who were isolated in their homes. The project also bridged the inter-generational gap between the younger and elderly generations through music and dance. All these have helped build a strong sense of community.”
Artburst Mini, a family learning programme, was awarded £4,000 from the Small Grants Fund to help build young children's confidence, and language and communication skills.
Amy Bicat, from the group, said: “The work enabled us to reach out to families on the doorstep of the Artburst Studio who did not have funds to pay to attend Artburst sessions. "By offering free provision for targeted groups a need in the area was fulfilled. Eighty-one per cent parents said their children’s confidence was improved as a result of the sessions.”
Joanna Sumner, Assistant Chief Executive of the Council, said: “There are lots of groups across Hackney with the ideas and energy to help make Hackney an even better place. If your organisation needs some extra help, then I would encourage you to apply for one of these Council grants.”