Help for the community
Voluntary and community groups can apply for grants of £500 to £5,000 from a fund run by St Albans City and District Council.
The Council’s Community Grants Fund has £70,700 to distribute this year and applications can be made from Monday 8 May until Friday 30 June.
Money is available for projects and activities that benefit the local community and help deliver the priorities of the Council’s Inclusion Strategy. That aims to build a community in which everybody is able to take part and contribute.
The fund is administered by the Council and the St Albans Centre for Voluntary Service (CVS). It has distributed £435,000 since 2011.
Among the 18 projects that were funded last year was the building of a Coffee Cabin to support unpaid carers. This is a drop-in meeting place at a peaceful spot in the Camp ward.
A self-help and social group for people with M.E and Fibromyalgia also received a grant along with a community choir and a youth club in Batford, Harpenden.
To find out how to apply for a grant, representatives of groups are invited to a launch event on Tuesday 16 May.
This will be at the Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street, St Albans, from 5pm to 6.30pm with advice also being given on the type of projects that are eligible for funding.
The CVS will also be hosting a number of advice surgeries to discuss project ideas and how to complete applications.
Emma Edgell, the Council’s Community Partnerships Manager, said: “The Community Grants Fund supports a broad range of voluntary and community groups delivering worthwhile projects in the District.
“We hope we can follow on from the success of past years and identify projects or activities that can benefit from our help.
“Anyone running a community project or activity that could qualify for our support should come along to our launch event or one of the surgeries
hosted by the CVS.”
For further details about the fund and to download an application form, see the Council’s website: https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/grants
Details about the CVS surgeries and other advice is available on the CVS website: /www.volunteerstalbans.org.uk/ (This external link is no longer available but the local CVS is now called Communities 1st and more information can be found here: https://www.communities1st.org.uk/node/43)
The Council’s Inclusion Strategy can be viewed here: www.stalbans.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/departmentsPoliciesPlans/vision/
Contact for the media:
John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 296130
E-mail: john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk