Communities across Daventry district benefit from £85,000 in grant payments

During from April 2015 to April this year, the council awarded £85,000 to groups across the district, helping to pay for new community buildings, funding training and equipment, and assisting groups delivering one-off events for the wider community.

A total of 39 individual awards were made, ranging from £346 to help the Daventry-based Time2Talk advice service buy a new computer, to a £15,000 grant to help Crick Athletic Football Club build a new pavilion and changing rooms.

Other groups to have benefitted from the grants include Overstone Village Hall committee, who received £6,000 toward a range of improvements, and organisers of the Naseby Christmas Trail, who used their £500 grant to widen the scope of the event, helping to raise a further £500 for local good causes.

Enterprising villagers in Arthingworth, Clipston, East Farndon and Great Oxendon, meanwhile, took full advantage of the Shambala Music and Arts Festival by running an outdoor café at the event with help from a £1,000 grant from DDC. The venture raised more than £6,000 to be divided among the four villages.

DDC is now encouraging applications for the 2016/17 financial year. There are capital grants of up to £15,000 available for voluntary and community organisations in need of capital investment, as well as smaller one-off grants of up to £500 designed to help groups organise a one-time community event to raise money for their cause.

Up to £1,000 of community project funding is also available to groups looking for funding towards things like small items of equipment, training and volunteer expenses.

All of the grants must be match-funded by the organisations applying for them.

Councillor Alan Hills, community, culture and leisure portfolio holder on Daventry District Council, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to help so many deserving projects across Daventry district throughout the year with our Community Grants scheme.

“Not only do the grants help groups towards their fundraising total, they also demonstrate local authority support for the project, which in turn helps to unlock funds from other grant-giving bodies.

“I would urge voluntary and community groups to contact us to find out how a Community Grant might benefit them.”

Applications can be made at any time throughout the year and are judged against the same eligibility criteria.

For more information or to request an application form contact Tim Cantwell at Daventry District Council on 01327 871100 or email [email protected]. Alternatively visit www.daventrydc.gov.uk/communitygrants.