Funding available to support vital community work

St Peter's Multicultural Healthy Living Project

Community groups in Rochdale are being encouraged to apply for funding to help develop and expand their valuable work.

The latest figures show the Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund has already helped allocate over £190,000 to social action projects in Rochdale in the last two years, and more than £325,000 is still available for the borough.

Among the schemes to have benefitted from the Fund are:

• 'People the Petrus Community Project' will be tidying up gardens and creating window boxes and hanging baskets in the spring for local residents. They are currently in the planning stage and setting up a referrals system to help get them started on their very much needed work.
• The Newbold Luncheon Club continues its good work thanks to the Community First funding. The luncheon club provides a meal, along with activities and games fortnightly on a Friday.
• The Mencap Social Inclusion Project has created a new garden area complete with seating, hanging baskets, flower beds, vegetable plot and a brickwork BBQ built by the residents/staff and Groundwork Trust. The shed has been given a makeover and the communal area has hosted its first gathering which was enjoyed by all those in attendance.
• The Turf Hill Wardens Project is educating young people from Turf Hill about community and environmental issues, including recycling, cleaning up litter, vandalism, graffiti, personal safety, healthy eating and growing food, and engaging with and respecting older people. This is being carried out with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.

Now community groups are being invited to apply for a share of the £16 million funding still available from the Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund by visiting www.cdf.org.uk/neighbourhoodmatchedfund and finding details of their local community panel.

The Community Neighbourhood Matched Fund is a catalyst for new activity. Ten per cent of projects have been established since it launched and the programme has reached new community groups, 38% of whom had not received public funds before. 

Most projects benefited from 292 volunteering hours on average, building on the goodwill which already existing in communities as 91% of existing projects already had regular volunteers.