Community groups from all corners of the peninsula have benefited from the first wave of “Your Wirral” funding.
Administered by Wirral Council and Wirral Partnership Homes, Your Wirral offers grants of up to £5,000 for community or voluntary groups to fund one-off projects or events.
The initial £300,000 that was on offer up until the end of March has now all been spent and organisers say they have been so overwhelmed with the response they are not accepting any more applications for this year’s fund of £500,000 until September 2008.
“The volume of applications has not surprised us because we already know there are many groups in Wirral who are doing lots of good work in their neighbourhoods,” said Brian Simpson, Chief Executive of Wirral Partnership Homes.
“What has been particularly pleasing to see is the diversity of the groups that we have been able to assist so far and the geographical spread we have achieved.”
A look at some of the groups who successfully obtained funding from Your Wirral up to the end of March demonstrates just how invaluable it has proved in helping local people bring to life some of their imaginative ideas.
• Wirral Community Transport, based in north Birkenhead, received more than £3,500 from Your Wirral to purchase the necessary kit to start producing its own bio-diesel in order to make its vehicle fleet more environmentally-friendly.
• Funding of £5,000 from Your Wirral enabled the Friends of Flaybrick Memorial Gardens to stage an exciting project for local youngsters. Using actors playing the part of historical Wirral figures, pupils from 10 schools took a detective trail around the gardens. There was also a public performance.
• Tranmere’s Komyokan Aikido Association was awarded £3,400 from Your Wirral to help it stage a two-day festival at Easter and inspire more people to get involved in the discipline. Japan’s leading Aikido teacher joined Wirral’s mayor at the festival at Leasowe in March which was attended by 200 people.
• The Wirral Sikh Association was able to stage a Sikh Community Engagement and Maghi Celebration event on February 23rd thanks to Your Wirral funding of nearly £5,000. The event, which was also supported by Wirral artists the Singh Twins, was attended by more than 200 people who enjoyed entertainment and top quality food and drink.
• Retired seafarers from all over Wirral got together at an afternoon tea party in March thanks to a grant of £446 from Your Wirral. The event took place in West Kirby and was organised by the Friends of the Sea charity. It allowed former mariners, who had served in either the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy or Royal Fleet Auxillary to meet up and reminisce about their days at sea.
• The West Kirby URC Toddler Group was successful in its application for funding of £4,700 to enable it to replace toys and equipment that were in desperate need of updating. The group is incredibly popular with local families, with 210 children registered and more than 60 on a waiting list.
Alan Stennard, Director of Regeneration at Wirral Council, said: “Since we launched Your Wirral at the end of November 2007 we have received a tremendous number of applications from a wide range of voluntary and community sector organisations from across the whole of the Borough.
“Your Wirral has a set amount of funding available to award to groups within Wirral, some £500,000 for this year, and the large number of applications we have received clearly shows that this is a very popular scheme.
“We are now taking the opportunity to review the operation of Your Wirral to ensure that it maximises the opportunity for groups across Wirral to benefit from the fund. This means that we will be unable to consider any new applications for funding until September 2008.
“Unfortunately this means that at the moment we are not able to progress existing applications until the summer. We will be contacting people when the next round of the fund opens in September 2008 and at the same time we will also inform people of any revisions that may have been made to the terms and conditions of the fund.”
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For further information contact Alan Creevy, Press and PR Officer, Wirral Council, 0151 691 8039.
