Grants ranging from £470 to £10,000 have been approved by St Edmundsbury Borough Council for a wide range of local organisations, mostly serving the rural areas and Haverhill.
The largest grant, £10,000, goes to Barrow Village Hall - the full amount requested. The grant will help to fund various improvements, including its kitchen and access for disabled people. The Village Hall Committee and Parish Council have already carried out extensive improvement and repair works. Another village hall receiving a grant is in Thurlow, which will receive £1500 towards the £3000 cost of replacement guttering. Hopton has been granted £3500 towards the cost of replacing its play area at the village hall, including safer surfacing and fencing.
Arts grants included £500 to help the work of the Suffolk Digital Camera Network. This has 30 member groups across Suffolk who screen films at community venues, especially in the rural areas. A total of £1000 has also been granted for touring music and drama, taken to village halls and community centres by the Theatre Royal.
Anglia Ballet Company will receive £470 for workshops designed to reach a range of new people in various venues throughout the borough and Clare Music Festival was awarded £500, the maximum grant available. Environmental Art, which aims to run a week of taster events at workshops in East Town Park, Haverhill, receives £500 and Churchgate Sinfonia will receive £500 to develop a classical music orchestra if they can also attract external funding. Cavendish in Bloom has been granted £1500 for 2005/06, when council staff will work with the organisers to identify other sources of funding.
The Haverhill Summer Fun Play Scheme, which is based at Castle Manor Upper School and provides day care for children aged 4 to 13, asked for £2500, which was approved. The grant will help pay for the cost of extra workshops and new equipment. Activities include arts and crafts, soft play, computers, sports and cookery. The group also offers work experience opportunities for young people aged from 14 to 18.
Another play scheme, Pyramids, which operates a play bus in the rural areas received £540 towards the cost of taking the vehicle to Pakenham. The fully-equipped play bus visits various rural locations in isolated areas of Suffolk, providing two-hour play sessions.
Cllr Sara Mildmay-White, Cabinet member for Resources, said:
"Giving grants to such varied organisations demonstrates St Edmundsbury's willingness to work in partnership to deliver services, or to help others deliver services, across the whole borough. The groups which have been awarded grants reflect this council's priorities, such as improving the safety and wellbeing of our community, and I wish them all well with their projects."
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
