VOLUNTARY and community groups across the borough have had an early Christmas present in the form of more than ￡1.4 million of financial support.
Members of Woking Borough Council (WBC) made the pledge at a meeting of the council’s executive committee last Thursday, and approved a grand total of ￡1,422,741 for Woking’s volunteer sector.
Among those celebrating is the Woking Citizen’s Advice Bureau, which was awarded more than ￡265,000 for the upcoming financial year to continue its good work across the region.
Woking CAB is the largest advice-giving service in the borough and provides general advice to local people on a wide range of issues such as welfare rights, consumer rights, employment, housing, family and personal matters.
Homeless charity the York Road Project was awarded ￡20,808 towards the cost of its daytime drop-in service for 2011/12, to enable the shelter to continue providing drop-in and café facilities during the day to homeless people and those on low incomes.
The funding comes as the result of the council’s community grants scheme for the forthcoming financial year, an annual scheme through which councillors have the task of picking the worthiest local causes.
Cllr Gary Elson, portfolio holder for grants to voluntary groups, was happy with the decisions reached by the council.
He said: “I’d like to congratulate all the successful voluntary groups and organisations that have been awarded financial assistance for the forthcoming year.
“These projects play an important role in providing valuable community benefits to local residents, and by supporting these worthy causes, they can continue, and improve, their invaluable work.”
Earlier this year 46 different groups and organisations applied for the council for financial help, with each individual application reviewed against the council’s grant criteria.
Council Leader, Cllr John Kingsbury, said: “This is excellent news for the community.
“Despite the difficult financial climate the council faces, we have been able to protect our services and the provision of financial support for vulnerable people.
“The voluntary organisations in the borough are a vital part of the “Big Society” the Coalition Government is seeking to achieve, and we will continue to work with them to improve the lives of all people in the borough.”
Other groups successful in their bids for funding included domestic abuse service YourSanctuary, which was granted ￡16,000 a year for the next three financial years, and Home-Start Woking, which was awarded half of the ￡10,000 it applied for.
Unsuccessful applicants included Pyrford Village Hall, which asked for ￡25,000 for a new roof in an attempt to cut down energy costs, and the Brookwood-based Cadence Drum and Bugle Crops, which had its request for ￡10,000 for new instruments turned down.
Groups can apply for grant funding for the financial year of 2012/13 as of next July.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.
