Wilmslow Town Council considered a list of grant applications at their meeting on Monday, 15th February totalling nearly £23,000 from local organisations, groups and sports clubs.
Snow Angels, which supports older people on Colshaw Farm is currently funded by the Health Lottery Fund but this is running out and they cannot reapply until the summer.
The Council decided against taking on the funding of the service full time but that they should at least give them the opportunity to continue to run until they apply to the Heath Lottery for further funding. They applied for up to £8950 but the Town Council decided to award them £3000 which would enable them to continue to with the project until July then they can re-apply to the Health Lottery Fund for further funding in August.
The funding will cover the salary of a part-time worker who recruits and trains volunteers to ensure that older people receive the support they need including dog walking, clearing snow, befriending and shopping.
Incredible Edible, a group of volunteers who take an unloved space, tidy it, clean it up and plant edible herbs, fruit, vegetables and flowers for everyone to see, smell and taste, were granted £1,871. The grant will cover the cost of plants, compost, publicity and insurance. In addition, the Community & Order Committee agreed to pay the RHS In Bloom entry fee which is £750 this year.
Cllr Gary Barton said "The Committee considered it as strategic part of what it does so the Community & Order Committee has earlier today agreed to fund the application costs of £750 which therefore leaves the amount as £1871. We've seen another Gold award to the In Bloom Committee I think we should definitely support this."
Lindow Cricket club applied for a grant of £5000 to go towards the construction of a three lane net system, an artificial-turf facility which would enable them to play at all times, even after adverse weather. Wilmslow Town Council awarded them £2000 towards the project.
Meanwhile, Wilmslow Cricket Club, who applied for £1000 towards the £3800 cost of buying two petrol rollers to maintain the cricket square, were awarded a contribution of £500.
Wilmslow Library applied for £850 to fund a variety of children's events and incentives to support the 2016 Summer Reading Challenge, which is a national scheme to encourage school children to keep reading over the summer holidays. They were actually awarded £1000.
Cllr Gary Barton said "Wilmslow Library each summer does a series of events to promote reading amongst younger kids in the area. They've come to us this year, they get some funding from Cheshire East, but obviously times are tight at Cheshire East and they want to run again a series of events and they do a summer reading list to encourage the children to read a number of books. I have previously given out awards, and I know Keith has as well, to those who have completed and it is an excellent event.
"They have put in for £850 which is an absolute bare bones assessment of what it may cost them. The Committee felt this would overly restrict their ability to reach kids and increasing their grant to £1000 would possibly enable them to put on extra events and certainly would cover any overspill on a very tight budget."
Tempo youth theatre group were also awarded £1000, having applied for £3000 towards the £30-34,000 annual costs of running the group and putting on their main show at the Evans Theatre.
Gary Barton explained "This is a grant to help them remain solvent as they take on the risk of putting on another show."
He continued "The Council didn't feel that it could stretch to the full £3000 at this time but wanted to help them to continue to perform and maybe they will come back to us in the future if there are any problems but it was also suggested that we would like them to look at other ways of sourcing their funding."
Additionally, Wilmslow Town Council declined one grant application from CVS Cheshire East who support voluntary, community and faith sector organisations to generate more income and plan how they use volunteers more. They applied for £1410 so they could run four open surgeries throughout the year.
Cllr Gary Barton explained "They provide an intermediary body to help guide people to where they might find a source of funds. The debate centred on whether that might be useful to the Council to have another organisation to help. It was felt that this is an uncertain return and if not agreed now it does not mean that in future we cannot go to the CVS but it was felt that the service offered didn't offer enough benefit to justify the grant so the committee decided to decline to invest in CVS."
Photo: Last year the volunteers from Incredible Edible were supported by 82 businesses, local schools, various organisations and local residents who all came together to ensure the town centre was blooming and they were rewarded with a gold award and Best Community Effort trophy. (l-r) Ian Baillee, Denise Valente, Maurice Palin, Diane Smith, Helen Yates, Matthew Jackson, Cllr Joan Fiztgerald and Ruth McNulty.
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Now, please see if you can get Barclays Bank give the building a lick of paint and Sainsburys to wash the canopy and remove growth growths - disappointing that ftse100 companies care so little.