OVER £6,300 worth of small grants were awarded to local groups and projects by Melksham Town Council last month.
Groups and charities that benefited from this round of funding – the first of four rounds for the 2021/22 financial year – included Wiltshire Mind, Bowerhill Residents Action Group, Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, Melksham 60+ Club, Melksham Community Meals, Group Five and Melksham Goes Wild.
The town council has recently changed its grants scheme – instead of one round of applications per year, the council will consider applications quarterly.
“This is to make the funding more accessible, especially to smaller groups, throughout the year,” say the town council.
The change to the grants process means that each quarter, the town council has a budget of £6,250 to work with – £25,000 has been budgeted for the 2021/22 financial year in total.
For this first round of grants, the 19 applications totalled nearly £17,500, resulting in some applicants receiving less than they applied for.
“We have a job to do!” say mayor cllr Jon Hubbard at last month’s finance, administration and performance committee, before councillors considered each of the 19 applications.
Some applicants had their grant requests deferred to another round of funding later in the year – Proud Melksham – the new local group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community – had their application for £750 deferred as they do not have a bank account yet.
And others were signposted to other means of funding, including AFC Melksham Disabled Football Club who applied for £250 for new footballs – the group was instead encouraged to apply to the Melksham Area Board for funding, and to come back to the town council if they are unsuccessful.
Second round of funding now open!
Melksham Town Council is now welcoming grant applications from community groups and charities that benefit the people of Melksham, for the second round of funding for this financial year.
The deadline for applications for the second round of grant funding is Monday 6th September.
The new application form is on the town council website, along with the policy explaining the process.
For more information please email: miriamzaccarelli@melksham-tc.gov.uk or call 01225 704187.
