Thirty-four projects across Dumfries and Galloway are sharing £407,015 of funding to help support communities and tackle the cost of living.
Round three of the Community Led Local Development Fund saw a total of 103 applications asking for just under £2.2million.
A Local Action Group (LAG) made up of representatives from the third, public, and private sectors again decided what applications were successful.
The LAG was supported by Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway (TSDG).
Harry Harbottle, chair of the LAG, said they were pleased to be able to offer the grants to organisations across the region.
“Many of these groups, mostly run by volunteers who are champions in their own communities, are in crisis dealing with vulnerable people suffering the harsh effect of our economic situation,” he said.
“A good few of these grants were for under £10,000 illustrating that, even with relatively small amounts of money, we can make a big difference and demonstrate value for money with the public purse.
“Unfortunately, the fund was seriously oversubscribed meaning that we could not help all the deserving causes. We are hoping that this fund will be continued next year at a level more commensurate with the need we see across Dumfries and Galloway. We will continue to lobby government to make that happen.”
One of the successful organisations is Home-Start Wigtownshire with £5,868 going towards extending a Family Support Coordinator role to provide holistic family support.
Claire McKie, Senior Coordinator, said: “This is a vital staff role, which includes supporting parents during the Perinatal Mental Health period. Helping to ensure parents living in Wigtownshire get the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life, we work with families to build confidence, improve health and wellbeing, strengthen relationships and connect with their communities.
“The fund’s support will help us ensure children have the best possible opportunities to flourish, by nurturing and supporting families in our community.”
Another organisation to benefit is Auchencairn Initiative with £2,532 to improve accessibility in the community garden with wheelchair friendly paths and safety improvements.
Phoebe Marshall, from the group, said: “We are making paths more even for wheelchairs and pushchairs, improving the woodland steps and putting up handrails. We are also making the slippery bridge safer, highlighting the edges of the metal steps to help the partially sighted and putting five water butts flowing into each other on the side of the shed to save people scrambling down to the river for water in dry spells.”
The four priorities in this round were:
- Supporting community facilities and eligible organisations to contribute to the achievement of net zero
- Sustaining, improving, and adding initiatives in rural communities that are most isolated, most disconnected, most in need of investment or most likely to experience inequalities
- Helping communities to address the cost-of-living crisis and eradicate poverty for individuals and families
- Enabling communities to carry out research, community needs assessments and feasibility studies as part of local place plan development
The fund was open to charities, constituted community groups, co-operatives, public sector organisations, small and medium-sized enterprises, community interest companies, and community benefit societies.
Through partnership working with the LAG members, eight unsuccessful applicants were linked in with the Employability, Skills and Partnership Team at Dumfries and Galloway Council to discuss funding their employability projects.
For the full list of successful organisations click here: CLLD Round Three