LOCAL organisations have been awarded grants from Frome Town Council totalling £35,000 in the latest round of funding.
The council’s Grants Committee met on Wednesday 7th February at Frome Town Hall to hear from applicants.
“A total of £35,000 was available, with a maximum grant per organisation of £3,000. If all 20 applicants had received the full amount requested, the total sum would have been £57,560, so there were some tough decisions to make,” said a spokesperson for the council.
16 organisations were successful in this round of grants. A range of project types received grants from the committee between £1,000 and £3,000, many of which aim to improve emotional well-being, such as the Frome branch of Journeyman Mentoring Network Ltd, which received £3,000 to support mentoring for disadvantaged teenage boys.
Focus Frome also received £3,000 for a drop-in well-being cafe for young people. Parenting charity Frome Birth Talk received the maximum grant of £3,000 for a new support group for people affected by baby loss.
The other beneficiaries of this round were Shared Earth Learning, who received £1,995 for ‘Project Grow’ and adult well-being activities and Somerset Bus Partnership/FAVBUG, who will use a grant of £1,995 to promote using buses over cars in the local area.
Frome 1st and 7th Scouts received £1,995 towards renovation of the scout hut; ByWord Theatre received £1,000 for Frome Pub Theatre and Frome Autism and ADHD Parent Forum were awarded £3,000 for their parent support group.
SHARE Frome Library of Things received £1,995 for their children’s costume hire service launch; Frome Medical Practice on behalf of Frome Medical Centre received £1,000 towards an ‘Art in a Healing Environment’ project; and Frome Festival secured £1,995 towards the cost of a freelance fundraiser.
Evolve Music’s ‘Dads Rock’ project received £1,995; Young People Frome were granted £1,995 for Frome Multicultural Festival; Frome Families for the Future’s ‘Reconnecting with Rodden Riverside’ project received £3,000, as did The Good Heart’s ‘Kind Bank’. Last but not least, Super Roots Outdoor Kids CIC were awarded £1,995 for a Play Ranger-led ‘Campfire Club’ at The Mount.
Cllr Anne Hills, who sits on the grants committee, said, “These grants make such a difference to small organisations, who are, in turn, making a difference to others in our community. It’s fantastic to be able to help them grow and support their activities. There are always more good causes than there are funds, but we hope to be in a position to support the people who weren’t successful this time in the future.”
Any organisation awarded £2,000 or more will need to wait two years before applying to the fund again for the same project.
Frome Town Council will work with community groups and organisations to help support them through the application process for grants. Information about future funding opportunities is at www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/grants.
You can watch the February grants meeting on FTC’s YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDRyVOgo00c
