Residents are being reminded there is still time to apply for a share of funding being made available to local communities.
Local community groups in County Durham are encouraged to apply for funding from the Your Money, Your Area, Your Views community grants fund. All 14 of Durham County Council’s Area Action Partnerships (AAPs) are currently running the fund but time is running out for groups to apply for a share. Groups have until Friday, 13 September to apply.
Each AAP has between £20,000 and £80,000 available and is asking members of the public to choose which organisations should benefit. In addition, the cash pot in five AAP areas has been boosted by a grant of £20,000 from the North Durham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Individual grant amounts differ from area to area ranging from £500 to £5,000 and will be made available for projects and initiatives that meet the priorities of the local AAPs.
The final decision on where the money goes will be made by local people at voting events taking place across County Durham in October and November. Similar events in the past have attracted hundreds of people so it’s also an excellent opportunity for groups to promote what they do and attract new members.
Cllr Brian Stephens, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “This is the last chance to apply and I don’t want any group who would like to apply to miss out.”
Dr Kate Bidwell, North Durham CCG’s clinical chair, said: “We are keen to support community based projects that improve health priorities and it’s great we can work with the AAPs in the north of the county to do this.”
Members of the public who attend the events will also have the opportunity to help the council decide how future savings in the authority’s overall budget can be made and also vote on what they think are the key local priorities that their AAP should be looking to address in the future.
Find out more by logging on to: www.durham.gov.uk/aap or emailing: aap@durham.gov.uk or telephoning 03000 262 056.