A councils partnership is celebrating dishing out more than £4 million to deserving causes over the past 18 months.
The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership has reached a huge milestone in its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) programme.
Over the past 18 months, the programme has supported an investment of £4.1m in 101 community facilities across East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland.
Community groups, hubs and even village play areas have all benefitted from the cash boosts.
Gosberton Youth Centre has been awarded £5,000 by Lincolnshire Community Foundation from the Bicker Trust
This investment consists of £1.9million in grants from Lincolnshire Community Foundation’s UKSPF funded GRASSroots Scheme, generating an additional £1million in match funding plus a further £0.6m in grants and £0.6m match funding from the main UKSPF/RPF programme.
Gosberton Youth Centre is among the facilities which has benefitted from a grant from GRASSroots.
Richard Baker, treasurer and trustee, said: “We were lucky to get a £24,000 grant which we mostly put towards updating the very run-down building.
Gosberton Youth Centre. Image: Google
“We had to spend a lot of money to get it to where it is now – but had we not received grant funding the building probably wouldn’t still be standing as it was at threat of being bulldozed.
“It’s terrific, we currently have about 200 children, both juniors and seniors, on our books so we’ve done really well.
“There’s a definitely a need out there for a youth centre and they’re coming from the village, Quadring, Donington and even Sutterton.
Coun Paul Redgate
“We’re also able to use the building for more than a youth hub now, meaning all of the community can come along.
“The funding has really made a big difference for us.”
Among the recipients of grants were Willoughby Road Allotments in Boston which received £21,000 from the GRASSroots scheme.
Paul Collingwood explained what it meant for the allotments to be given this funding, which was put towards installing 10 street lights and upgrading the on-site café.
“A lot of people walk through the allotments, mostly people who work at the hospital and school kids, and we wanted to make sure it was safer for them as they were often walking through in the dark,” he said.
“It was pouring rain when we installed the lights but we had members of the public volunteer to come and help – it was good to get the community involved.
“We do work with our local community as much as possible, whether it’s through school visits or social prescribing – we like being able to get people out in the fresh air as it’s great for their mental and physical health.
“Additionally, we wanted to upgrade our on-site café so we now have an all singing, all dancing bio waste unit.
“It’s been unbelievably helpful having the grant – we simply couldn’t have done this work without it.”
Angie Beal of Desire Change, a therapeutic community farm based in Old Bolingbroke, says the grant was the ‘answer to her prayers’.
“We are a small community farm and we do a lot of things outside but we were so restricted with our indoor space which we felt was really needed,” she said.
“We would struggle so much when it was wet or cold. We only really had a bell tent which was rubbish in the wind and you couldn’t fit many people inside it either.
“We were part-way through restoring an old farm building but we ran out of money. However, we then secured the grant and it meant that we could finish the work.
“We now have a warm indoor space where we can do crafting or just enjoy a cup of tea. It’s been the answer to our prayers and I can’t emphasise enough how much it has helped us.”
In a joint statement, Coun Anne Dorrian, leader of Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey Couns Steve Kirk, portfolio holder for The Coastal Economy, and Adam Grist, portfolio holder for Market Towns and Rural Economy, and Coun Paul Redgate, portfolio holder for Finance at South Holland District Council, said: “We are thrilled to have supported so many communities through the current UKSPF programme – and it’s wonderful to hear these heartwarming success stories.
“The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership had our local community initiatives in mind when we were awarded the funding because we knew how important it was to see them thrive.
“We are hopeful that through UKSPF, plenty of funding will be made available for similar projects in the future.”