Community groups urged to apply for Rotary cash

Father Christmas and his helpers from 2010

The Rotary Club of Middleton is inviting local charities and worthy causes to bid for cash donations of up to £500 as part of its Dragons' Den initiative.

The Club is set to hand out the proceeds from its annual fundraising and is urging community groups and organisations to get in touch and apply for cash for their projects.

The Club raises around £11,000 a year through its various activities including, Christmas street collections with Santa and his sleigh and other fund gathering initiatives.

Much of the cash is distributed within the local community, to charities, groups and individuals seeking financial support for a broad range of causes.

"But there must be many needy causes within the local community of which Rotary is not aware, and there must also be many people battling to raise funds for worthy causes who have never thought of approaching their local Rotary club for backing," explained Tony Gardner, organiser of the Middleton Club's initiative.

"So we decided to invite people into the Dragon's Den to put forward their case for receiving funding from the Club up to a maximum of £500.

"The Rotary Club already backs many charities, groups and individuals within the local community but we hope this initiative will bring many more to our attention, so that we can widen the support we give," added Mr Gardner.

The route to securing the support of the Rotary Club of Middleton starts with the completion of a short, simple application form which had to be submitted by 5 November, 2011. The form is attached below this report.

Each application will be considered by a committee before selected bids are invited to make a brief presentation to an assessment panel. Cheques will be presented to successful applicants at the Club's meeting early in the new year.

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