GRANTS of up to 10,000 are up for grabs for community organisations to help make a big difference in supporting their local area.
Amber Valley Borough Council is inviting not-for-profit groups and charities in the borough to apply for a share of support from the Community and Place Fund, as part of wider UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF).
The local authority has £160,000 available over two years.
Groups can apply for between £5,000 and £10,000 each, to help the council deliver its Community and Place investment priority.
The grant is centred around the themes 'Culture and Communities' and/or 'Health and Wellbeing.
To be eligible, groups’ activities need to be delivered against a set of criteria, and these are:
Support for local arts, cultural, heritage and creative activities; Impactful volunteering and/or social action projects; Community engagement schemes, local regeneration and community measures to reduce the cost of living, including through measures to improve energy efficiency, and combat fuel poverty and climate change.
Councillor Tony Harper, Amber Valley Borough Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, said: “I am delighted to help launch the community grants fund, which will enable local groups to bid for funding to deliver their own priorities and support their local area.
“This funding could make a huge difference to many of our residents’ lives.”
The first call for grant applications will run from April 1 to May 12.
If all funding is allocated at this time, the fund will close until the following year.
If 2023 grant funding is still available, a second call for applications will take place from June 1 to July 14.
This project is funded by the Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is the Government’s replacement programme for funding that was previously allocated by the European Union.
To apply for funding, visit https://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/test-area/first-call-for-community-and-place-projects/ or to find out more, email ukspf@ambervalley.gov.uk no later than a week before the application deadline.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus