Cheshire East Council has announced that despite the challenging financial climate, community and voluntary organisations are set to benefit from more than £23,000 of grant funding.
The Council recognises the valuable input that voluntary and community groups bring to local life and the final round of Community Grants for 2011/2012 has seen 44 groups receive awards ranging from £75 to £3,000.
These grants are available to support community, environmental, sports, arts, heritage and play projects. Only one grant can be awarded to each organisation per financial year.
Applications are judged on a number of criteria and they should be able to display that their project: enhances the quality of life for Cheshire East residents; increases involvement in the community; demonstrates the potential to be sustained in the future; and that it can attract more participants.
Local organisations to benefit from the grants include Knutsford Amateur Swimming Club, who received £102 to enable volunteers to undertake poolside rescue training, and Toft Cricket Club who were awarded £250 funding for their Junior Section.
High Legh Community Association were granted £3000, required towards 3rd Party Funding for a WREN bid. They wish to reconfigure the hall at High Legh to create 4 rooms which can be hired. The total cost of the project is £50,000 and the Parish Council has committed £10k towards it.
Knutsford Gymnastics received £350, so volunteers can undertake coaching courses to obtain Clubmark accreditation.
Head Coach Richard Price said "On behalf of everyone at Knutsford Gymnastics, I'm delighted to once again express gratitude for all the support we've received from various departments within Cheshire East Council; staff at Knutsford Leisure Centre, as well as those from the Leisure Development Team, have done so much to encourage us and help us to grow into the club we are today. And that's not all, we've got ambitious plans for the future too: with this recent grant, we hope to assist coaches with funding towards their UKCC qualifications and this will enable us to upgrade our status and become Knutsford's very first Clubmark accredited gymnastics club.
"We've newly-recruited coaches from a variety of sporting backgrounds, all of whom are keen to help our gymnasts develop in the sport they love. We're all really excited about the Olympics later this year and by increasing our coaches' qualifications, we're just that little bit closer to seeing our own gymnasts take their first steps towards the competitive arena."
Councillor David Brown, Cabinet member with responsibility for performance and capacity, said: "These grants show how Cheshire East Council is working with other groups to improve community life.
"Over the last year a large number of organisations have received funding which has enabled a wealth of community activity to take place.
"Funding is in place for the next financial year and I would advise anyone interested to get in touch to find out more."
For more information on Community Grants visit the Cheshire East Council website. The next deadline for applications is March 30th.
These decisions are subject to the standard call-in period.
