Crawley Borough Council grants more than £10,000 to local groups

Grants of between £50 and £2,500 are paid out to groups who aim to foster greater levels of community activity through their projects and events for Crawley residents and visitors to the borough.

The latest grants are:

· Free Shop Crawley – £2,376 for mental health conference events and workshops for clients

· Crawley Swimming Club – £1,000 for enhanced training for coaches to enable the club to grow

· New Note Projects – £1,000 for music workshops with Crawley Open House residents

· Happy Hours Pre-school – £1,000 for safe play activities in Broadfield

· Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus – £1,000 for support services in Crawley

· Crawley Interfaith Network – £1,000 for project and event costs

· Melting Pot Project – £1,000 for English language support at Crawley Youth Centre

· Crawley Jumma Group – £1,000 for hall hire and activities for this women’s social and community group

· Swim-1st Triathlon Club – £691 for bursaries and promotional banners

· Phoenix Choir of Crawley – £500 to enable the choir to take part in community events.

Laura-Jane Wainwright, CEO and Project Development Manager at Free Shop Crawley said: “At FreeShop part of our mission is to offer opportunities that help reduce the social and financial inequality people face when they are in financial hardship.

“The small grant that we have been awarded by the council will enable us to work withDandelion Training and Development tooffer free mental health conferences to people who would not normally be able to afford these opportunities.

“This funding opens doors to support people the people of Crawley to have a healthy internal dialogue which will go towards equipping them to move on from financial hardship. The conferences are called 'Small Change, Big Impact' and will be available to our customers and those that external agencies refer to us.”

Crawley Swimming Club has been working closely with the ‘Learn to Swim’ programme run by K2 Crawley operator Everyone Active. The club has reached the point where it needs more staff to ensure that it can encourage those swimmers who have mastered basic skills to progress.

Gordon Dudman, the club’s Treasurer, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the small grant awarded by Crawley Borough Council. It allows us to ensure that our volunteers are trained and can become fully qualified swim coaches, allowing us to expand the provision of coached swim sessions to the young people of Crawley.”

Councillor Sue Mullins, Cabinet member for Community Engagement and Culture, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to award these grants to these deserving Crawley groups and to help them develop.

“Small grants are available all year round so I encourage local groups with good ideas to apply.”

The small grants scheme is open to all community groups and clubs whose activities take place in, or benefit, the Crawley area. Typically, the council awards a grant or funding contribution to most proposals that are eligible for support and also provides match-funding opportunities.

The application form and eligibility criteria are available at crawley.gov.uk/grants

For more information about applying, please contact Craig Downs, Funding and Commissioning Officer at Crawley Borough Council, on 01293 438763.