THE winner of Frome Town Council’s first participatory grant of £10,000, has been awarded to Frome’s Missing Link project, which was the people’s choice.
The announcement was made at the Mayor’s charity tea dance and was the finale to a very successful year for the town council’s community grants scheme
The Missing Link project will be receiving the £10,000 grant for the construction of a multi-user path from Welshmill to Whatcombe. This will complete a north to south riverside path through the whole town which will provide a flat and pleasant route for all residents to use for exercise and recreation with access to open countryside. This moves the project closer to finally joining up with the national cycle network.
This year, Frome Town Council’s community grant scheme received over 70 applications and the council was delighted to be able to provide funding for 52 organisations supporting projects working towards making Frome a more sustainable, vibrant and participatory community. Wherever possible, these projects involve working with other groups, increasing creative activity and improving a general sense of well-being while also benefitting the environment.
The £100,000 community grants fund has now been spent and applications are now closed until April 2013. Roughly one-third of the money was spent on overarching community projects; one-fifth on each of the arts and youth-related work; and smaller proportions on events, sport, disabled people, the elderly, health, community education and the environment. A full list of grants is available on the town council website.
Councillor Peter Macfadyen, who chairs the external affairs committee said, “Support to voluntary organisations is at the core of this council’s policy. Not only have we increased the grants fund by 50%, but also introduced the Civic Fair to enable networking and contact with the public by groups; dedicated staff time to this area; and funded specific support for groups to increase their fundraising skills and knowledge. As a town council we can and should focus on working with those who help themselves and others in the community.”
