Published on 10th December 2013
Residents in the St Peters ward and The Moors estate in Cheltenham are celebrating the first funding success from the Big Local project.
The Local Trust has agreed plans for the first phase of the project which will see £20,000 awarded to the area. The funding will be used to employ two part-time workers and to create a community funding pot from which small community projects will benefit.
The Big Local project targets areas that may not have been successful in gaining lottery funding and resources in the past. Each chosen ‘Big Local’ area will receive at least £1 million Lottery funding over the next ten years. St Peters and The Moors estate will receive this funding as well as support, training and networking opportunities which will help residents develop plans to improve their local area.
Local residents have embraced the Big Local project by working on a voluntary basis. One resident created the website, another looks after the twitter account, four residents have delivered leaflets to homes and a further five residents volunteered to supervise the Big Local community events where they’ve worked with other residents to collect their views.
Paul Channon, Chair of the Big Local steering group and local resident said: “We’re delighted to receive this money which will really help us develop the next phase of our project. The two workers will help us engage with more local residents and recruit volunteers to help coordinate and run community activities. We are really keen to make sure that other residents feel able to apply for these roles, and potentially use them as a springboard onto more sustainable forms of employment.”
David Manohar, Treasurer of the Big Local steering group and local resident said: “Over the past 6 months, we’ve been working really hard to engage with other local residents via a series of drop-in sessions, community fun-days and picnics. Through these events we have built up a sense of residents’ feelings about the area that have helped us develop the plans for the next phase of the project.”
“We now have a very active resident-led steering group and Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Homes and our Big Local Rep have worked hard to support us throughout this process. We are also pleased to have support from The Rock, Gardners Lane Primary School, Gas Green Baptist Church, Cheltenham West End Partnership and the University who have all offered their space and resources to support the project.”
John Rawson, cabinet member and ward councillor for St. Peters, said: “The residents have worked really hard to get to this stage so it is great news that they have secured this funding. I look forward to working with them on the next phase of the project.”
Press Contact: Tom Wheatly, web and communications apprentice, telephone 01242 775192, email: [email protected]
Notes:
The Big Local project targets areas that may not have been successful in gaining lottery funding and resources in the past. Each chosen ‘Big Local’ area will receive at least £1 million Lottery funding over the next ten years. St Peters and The Moors estate will receive this funding as well as support, training and networking opportunities which will help residents develop plans to improve their local area.
Local residents have embraced the Big Local project by working on a voluntary basis. One resident created the website, another looks after the twitter account, four residents have delivered leaflets to homes and a further five residents volunteered to supervise the Big Local community events where they’ve worked with other residents to collect their views.
Paul Channon, Chair of the Big Local steering group and local resident said: “We’re delighted to receive this money which will really help us develop the next phase of our project. The two workers will help us engage with more local residents and recruit volunteers to help coordinate and run community activities. We are really keen to make sure that other residents feel able to apply for these roles, and potentially use them as a springboard onto more sustainable forms of employment.”
David Manohar, Treasurer of the Big Local steering group and local resident said: “Over the past 6 months, we’ve been working really hard to engage with other local residents via a series of drop-in sessions, community fun-days and picnics. Through these events we have built up a sense of residents’ feelings about the area that have helped us develop the plans for the next phase of the project.”
“We now have a very active resident-led steering group and Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Homes and our Big Local Rep have worked hard to support us throughout this process. We are also pleased to have support from The Rock, Gardners Lane Primary School, Gas Green Baptist Church, Cheltenham West End Partnership and the University who have all offered their space and resources to support the project.”
John Rawson, cabinet member and ward councillor for St. Peters, said: “The residents have worked really hard to get to this stage so it is great news that they have secured this funding. I look forward to working with them on the next phase of the project.”
Press Contact: Tom Wheatly, web and communications apprentice, telephone 01242 775192, email: [email protected]
Notes:
- St Peter’s and the Moors Big Local website: http://sptm.org.uk and the Twitter account is: @BigLocalChelt
- For enquiries about Local Trust or Big Local please call 020 3588 0565 or email: [email protected]
- Big Local is administered by Local Trust using over £200 million in funding from the Big lottery Fund. It was launched in July 2010 to support the 150 small urban and rural communities to come together to make their areas even better places to live.
- More articles in the news archive
- Cheltenham Borough Council news RSS feed