Purpose

At its meeting of 1st March 2023, Council, as part of the council’s 2023/24 budget, approved £40,000 for community grants in 2023/24.

The council’s Constitution affords the Head of Housing and Health, under paragraph 10.16.28 ‘To devise and administer arrangements for distributing grants to improve the health and wellbeing of local people’.

A grants application for community grants ran from November 2023 to January 2024, alongside the UKSPF-funded environmental sustainability and cultural activities grants application process.

A total of 33 applications were received which were assessed using the grants policy approved by Council on 18th October 2023.

Decision

Of the 33 applications received, fund the 18 applications which met the eligibility criteria and received the highest assessment scores. The grant recipients and amounts are as follows:
* Ore Projects - £3,000
* Bishop’s Stortford VIP Club - £500
* Always Bee You - £3,000
* Standon Sings - £2,000
* Buntingford Film Club - £3,000
* Hertford Swimming Club - £3,000
* Sawbridgeworth Cricket Club - £3,000
* Much Hadham Committee - £450
* Community Initiative - £1,633
* The Ware Drill Hall Association - £300
* Hunsdon Parish Council - £3,000
* Gilston and Eastwick Village Hall - £2,620
* Grove Cottage (Bishop’s Stortford Mencap) - £3,000
* Home-Start Hertfordshire - £3,000
* Ware Arts Centre (Southern Maltings) - £3,000
* Future Living - £1,688
* CHIPS (Children’s Integrated Play Schemes) - £1,918
* Brook Cottage Farm Riding for the Disabled - £1,911.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Not fund all or some of the applications listed above. NOT RECOMMENDED because the applications it is proposed to fund were eligible and received the highest assessed scores within the council’s approved community grants policy.
Option 2 - Fund the proposed applications. RECOMMENDED.