Issue - items at meetings - Community Chest and Theatre Royal Grants 2023 to 2024

Issue - meetings

Community Chest and Theatre Royal Grants 2023 to 2024

Meeting: 07/02/2023 - Cabinet (Item 444)

444 Community Chest grants 2023 to 2024 pdf icon PDF 207 KB

Report number:     CAB/WS/23/009

Portfolio holder: Councillor Robert Everitt

Lead officer: Davina Howes

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

That:

 

A.           Recommendations of the Grant Working Party: Community Chest

1.           The allocation of Community Chest funding for 2023 to 2024, be approved, namely:

a.            Reach Community Projects, Haverhill £13,000

b.            West Suffolk Citizens Advice, West Suffolk £245,379

c.            Catch 22, Suffolk Positive Futures, Mildenhall and Newmarket £4,800

d.            Haverhill Community Trust, Haverhill £11,620

e.            Mildenhall and Newmarket Sea Cadets £6,000

f.             The Racing Centre, Newmarket £5,400

g.            Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds £5,993

h.           Vogue Athletics, Newmarket £10,000

i.             Bridge Community Church, Bury St Edmunds £7,000

j.             Cambridge Pringle Group, Haverhill £7,800

k.            St Mary’s Church, Haverhill £6,925

l.             Suffolk Accident and Rescue Service (SARS), West Suffolk £10,000

m.          West Suffolk Hive CIC, West Suffolk £3,982

n.           Hundon Village Hall and Playing Fields Charity £2,480

o.            Bury Women’s Aid, West Suffolk  £4,200

p.            Cruse Bereavement, West Suffolk £4,882

q.            The Befriending Scheme, Haverhill £5,000

r.            Families Together, Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill £5,908

s.            Sharing Parenting – SEN Worker, West Suffolk £5,142

t.             St Nicholas Hospice Trust, West Suffolk £20,000

u.           Suffolk Family Carers, West Suffolk £10,000

v.            Art Branches CIC, West Suffolk £9,524

w.           Second Chance Stroke Association, Bury St Edmunds £3,840

x.            BME Suffolk Support Group (BSSG) CIC, Mildenhall £3,000

y.            Bury Drop In, Bury St Edmunds £9,460

z.            Gatehouse Caring, Bury St Edmunds £12,934

aa.         Lightwave CIO, Red Lodge and Beck Row £8,200

bb.        Our Special Friends, West Suffolk £5,000

cc.         The Voluntary Network, West Suffolk (Befriending Service) £31,700

dd.        The Voluntary Network, West Suffolk (Community Transport) £52,810

ee.         Wood Monkey CIC, West Suffolk £20,000

ff.           The Gunners Football Club, West Row £5,550

 

2.           For the reasons set out in paragraph 3.4.2 of Report number CAB/WS/23/009, no Community Chest funding for 2023 to 2024 be awarded to:

a.            Abbeycroft Leisure – Explore Outdoor, West Suffolk

b.            Abbeycroft Leisure – Move More Outdoors, West Suffolk

c.            CRE8 Theatre Productions CIC,

d.            The Bumblebee Children’s Charity

e.            Communities Together East Anglia, West Suffolk

f.             River of Life Community Church, Haverhill

g.            Homestart Suffolk, West Suffolk

h.           Ormiston Families, West Suffolk

i.          Restitute CIC, West Suffolk

j.          Sharing Parenting – Community Outreach, Newmarket

k.         Still Good Food CIO, Bury St Edmunds

l.          Suffolk Mind, West Suffolk

m.       Anglia Care Trust, West Suffolk

n.        Bury St Edmunds Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society

o.         Brandon Festival

p.         SOS Bus CIO, Newmarket

q.         Honington and Sapiston Village Hall

r.         Newmarket Town Council

s.         Risby Village Hall

t.          Young Lives Vs Cancer, West Suffolk

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/23/009)

 

The Cabinet considered this report, which sought approval for the recommendations of the Grant Working Party following its consideration of applications for Community Chest funding in the 2023 to 2024 financial year.

 

The Community Chest had £513,406 available for allocation for 2023 to 2024.  The budget had been increased by 10 percent, subject to the funding targeting organisations supporting vulnerable individuals/families with cost-of-living challenges.

 

Applications for Community Chest funding for 2023 to 2024 closed on 28 October 2022.  A total of 52 applications were considered, totalling £1,137,335 from a wide variety of organisations as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.  In a change to previous years’ criteria, and as previously approved by Cabinet, each application was for one year’s funding only.

 

Councillor Robert Everitt, Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet and commended the Grant Working Party for their sterling work and thanked Officers that had supported the process. 

 

Councillor Carol Bull, Chair of the Grant Working Party, also addressed the Cabinet.  Overall, the Working Party had supported ten applications to the value of £315,303 to assist with cost-of-living challenges.  Projects ranged from supporting mobile foodbanks, providing debt and councillor services, delivering support for vulnerable individuals/families through arts workshops and opening a community café for elderly residents. 

 

In addition, as one-off, an additional allocation of £44,123 had been received from central government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and this had been allocated to eligible projects as required by the criteria for these funds.

 

The Working Party had also acknowledged the value of Citizens Advice West Suffolk (CAWS) to the community, the Council and other services in West Suffolk, recognising the importance of the work they did to support residents in need and the delivery of their preventative services.  Due to the level of expertise and its longstanding positive relationships with the Council, the Working Party were keen for the Council to continue to support CAWS, within the limited parameters of the Community Chest scheme and budget.  Whilst minded to support the application with a significant level of grant, the Working Party considered that due to the limited funds available and to be fair and equitable to other applicants, it needed to reduce the amount applied for.  Therefore, the Working Party considered that it was appropriate to fund £245,379 of the requested £250,000 (1.9 percent less) as it would not significantly adversely impact the CAWS’ ability to operate, albeit recognising that it would need to be supported by alternative funding sources.

 

Councillor Bull also commended the Grant Working Party for their hard work and thanked Officers that had supported the process.  She also commended Officers for the depth of knowledge for enabling organisations that were turned down or had a reduction in Community Chest funding to be signposted to alternative grant schemes and sources of funding.  This had provided some reassurance that projects may still be able to come to fruition.

 

The Cabinet noted that the Grant Working Party had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 444


 

In this section