Community projects to get funding boost (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Community projects to get funding boost

11:00am Saturday 14th July 2012 in News By Ian Craig

COMMUNITY projects in the Cotswolds are set to benefit from £100,000 of extra funding.

At last week’s meeting of Cotswold District Council’s cabinet, councillors decided to pump the funding into its Community Projects Fund, which helps build and maintain community facilities including village halls and play areas.

The fund has also been used to ensure the needs of children, the elderly and the disabled are met through facilities such as disabled ramps.

Council leader Cllr Lynden Stowe (Con, Campden-Vale) said these changes would allow the council to continue to fund a wide range of projects.

“We are using our own capital receipts to finance this scheme so taxpayers will not have to pay a penny towards it,” he said.

“In an era when finance is hard to come by, I am very pleased that we have been able to find a way to boost this particular fund.”

The cabinet also ruled to reduce the amount the council will contribute to projects from 35 per cent to a maximum of 25 per cent, meaning projects can apply for a maximum grant of £10,000.

Cllr Stowe said this would encourage projects to seek funding from other sources, potentially bringing more investment into the Cotswolds.

“That will mean a little more work with some of the communities such as helping them find more funding, but it will make the money work a little bit harder,” he said.

“This has been a first class scheme over the years and has been widely welcomed by the communities where it has been used.”