Council's cash help for local charities
The amount of charity funding St Albans City and District Council has committed to this year adds up to almost £500,000.
A life skill course to help people with mental health problems is one of more than 30 good causes given financial support by the Council.
A grant of £4,647 has been awarded to Mind in Mid-Herts to provide the classes in coping strategies.
The money will finance eight courses that last six weeks and will put vulnerable people on the pathway to wellbeing.
Mind in Mid-Herts is one of 22 local organisations that are being given cheques of up to £5,000, around £70,000 in total, from the Council’s Community Grants Fund.
The awards are intended to support projects run by local voluntary and community groups. It is hoped the schemes will have a positive and lasting impact.
Among the others to benefit is the Hertfordshire Practical Parenting Programme which is getting £4,275 to fund the Change Together project.
This will finance home visits to provide intensive support to children, young people and their families where there has been an issue with anti-social behaviour.
The Hatfield Road Day Care Group, in St Albans, is getting £4,418 to modernise and expand its drop-in services to the elderly.
A campaign group helping St Albans City FC reach out to all members of the community is also being given a helping hand.
Stand By Your Saints (SBYS) will get £2,366 to make the side’s Clarence Park ground more accessible to the elderly, the disabled and the very young.
The money will be used in part to pay for wheelchair and pushchair ramps on to the terraces, soft play equipment and improvements to the toilet facilities.
SBYS co-chairman Michael Hill said: “The Council grant is going to give us quite a lift. It will help us achieve our objective of making Clarence Park a more accessible stadium that can serve the whole community.”
Details of the funding are to be given to a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on Thursday 20 October.
The Cabinet is to request that £25,000 from the Council’s charity funds is set aside to help settle Syrian refugees in Britain, subject to Grants Panel approval.
It is committed to helping the Government achieve its aim of settling 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the next five years.
This year, three charities secured Council funding of £715,000 spread over three years to support their local activities.
Citizens Advice – which advises people about their rights and responsibilities – has secured backing of £99,130 a year over the next three years.
The Open Door Charity – which helps people sleeping rough in St Albans – was awarded £71,000 and the Centre for Voluntary Services, £68,490, on the same terms.
This money is coming from the Council’s Strategic Commissioning Fund which helps organisations that provide services of long-term benefit to the District.
In addition, the equivalent of £69,000 worth of support is being given to community groups that use the HUB at the Civic Centre.
Seven local organisations helping the most vulnerable were given grants totalling £300,000 over three years from the Community Partnerships Fund.
Councillor Beric Read, Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Localism for St Albans City and District Council, said: “The Council remains committed to half-a-million pounds of grants despite the pressures on our budget. We have delivered again this year.
“These are very good causes and the community as a whole benefits greatly from the work involved. Vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the disabled, those with mental health problems and rough sleepers are among those we will be helping.
“It seems sensible to give out our largest grants over a three year period as this allows the relevant charities to plan ahead.”
Councillor contact:
Councillor Beric Read, Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Localism for St Albans City and District Council.
Mob: 07956 220264. Email: Cllr.B.Read@stalbans.gov.uk
Contact for the media:
John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, St Albans City District Council
Tel: 01727 296130
E-mail: john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk
Note:
For more details about the charities involved, please see their websites.
Mind in Mid-Herts: https://mindinmidherts.org.uk/
The Hertfordshire Practical Parenting Group: https://hertfordshireppp.co.uk/
The Hatfield Road Day Care Centre: https://www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org/BabiesandToddlers/BandT.htm
Stand By Your Saints: https://www.stalbanscityfc.com/stand-by-your-saints/
Citizens Advice: https://citizensadvicestalbans.org.uk/
The Open Door Charity: https://opendoorstalbans.org/
The Centre for Voluntary Services (now Communities 1st): https://www.communities1st.org.uk/