Eleven local groups will share over £45,000 from the latest round of Sutton Community Fund grants to help them provide services and activities for residents of Sutton into 2017 and beyond.
The Community Fund programme, financed by Sutton Council and administered by the Sutton Centre for the Voluntary Sector (Sutton CVS), supports projects that benefit Sutton residents, meet local priorities and help build community and developmental assets in the borough.
The list of fund recipients for 2017 is as follows:
Surrey Youth Focus £5000
Knots Art £4595
RACE £1680
Refugee & Migrant Network Sutton £2662
Riverside Community Association £1975
Riverside Community Association £5650
Sutton Mencap £5467
Carshalton Beeches Baptist Free Church £3200
Gary Mason Charity £3000
In Unity Ltd £5000
St Teresa’s Church £5000
Together We Create £3600
A full list of the awards and how they will be used is below.
David Hobday, CEO of Sutton Mencap, said:
“We would like to thank the Sutton Community Fund for its award of a grant to Sutton Mencap. This funding will enable us to continue to offer our very popular Breakaways service, which provides weekend activities for adults with a learning disability, whilst giving parents and family members a break from their caring responsibilities.
Having a local grants fund which understands the needs of local communities makes a huge difference for organisations like ours and the people we support. We are very grateful to Sutton Council for their support through the Sutton Community Fund.”
Hazel East, Session Leader at Knots Art, said:
“A grant from the Sutton Community Fund means that we can continue to provide fun and exciting sessions for girls with autism and social communication difficulties living in and around Sutton. For many girls that attend this is their only social interaction each week and it is vital that they have a safe space in which they can make friends with others who understand the difficulties that they face. We are hugely grateful for the support.”
Cllr Simon Wales, Deputy Leader of Sutton Council and Lead Member for Finance, Assets and the Voluntary Sector, said:
“We want to congratulate the local organisations that have been successful in their applications. There is a strong voluntary sector in Sutton and this funding will go towards securing the future of these local organisations and supporting them to deliver their invaluable work in our community.
“We’ll be working closely with our partners across the voluntary sector as we strive to deliver brilliant and cost-effective services for Sutton residents in the years to come. The Community Fund grants will help them to prepare for this challenge.”
Applications for Sutton Community Fund grants of between £300 and £1000 from the next round of funding are open until Monday 3 April 2017. You can find out more on the Sutton CVS website here, and Sutton CVS will be happy to answer questions you may have or offer assistance completing the application form.
Notes to editors
The Community Fund awarded the following seven applications full grant funding:
1. Focus Surrey
Charity number: N/A Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: £5,000
This project will help children with ASD improve their communication, social and play skills, provide a friendly, inclusive and sociable environment for parents/ carers and siblings and provide training for tutors and young volunteers.
2. Knots Art
Charity number: N/A Company number: 8631074
Amount allocated: £4,590
Funding will support weekly social activity sessions specifically for girls with autism or social communication difficulties. Art, drama and games activities are tailored to support social interaction. They will also work closely with parents to find ways to explore issues relevant to the group.
3. RACE
Charity number: XT36173 Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: £1,680
Funding allocated to support the sustainability of ongoing group exercise within the community for up to 12 people with cardiovascular disease.
4. Refugee & Migrant Network Sutton
Charity number: 11050500 Company number: 08026961
Amount allocated: £2,662
Improving systems to allow more time giving advice to clients, reducing waiting times for clients and to improve monitoring of service performance.
5. Riverside Community Association Limited
Charity number: 1156422 Company number: 8555270
Amount allocated: £1,975
Funding allocated to help achieve the PQASSO quality standard Level 1, which will help the organisation run more effectively and efficiently.
6. Riverside Community Association Limited
Charity number: 1156422 Company number: 8555270
Amount allocated: £5,650
Funding will help them achieve the London Youth Quality Mark, Bronze Level: a leading quality standard for organisations working with young people in the voluntary sector. Organisations working in partnership under this bid include: My Time for Young Carers, The Springboard Project, In Unity UK and the Riverside Community Association.
7. Sutton Mencap
Charity number: 1080514 Company number: 03915936
Amount allocated: £5,467
Funding allocated to continue the Breakaways in-house service for a year. The service consists of alternate Friday night and Saturday day time groups for mainly younger adults with a learning disability. This bid aims to improve mental health and wellbeing through tackling social isolation, improve mental health and wellbeing for carers and help people with a learning disability play a greater part in community life.
The Community Fund awarded the following five applications partial grant funding:
1. Carshalton Beeches Baptist Free Church
Charity number: 1130318 Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: £3,200
Funding allocated towards providing a ramp for disabled access.
2. Gary Mason Rhythmical Charitable Foundation
Charity number: 1140518 Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: £3,300
Funding allocated towards the costs of hand drumming therapy session facilitation.
3. In Unity Ltd
Charity number: N/A Company number: 07808693
Amount allocated: £5,000
Funding allocated to support the delivery of a youth project held at the Phoenix Centre
4. St Teresa’s Church
Charity number: 235468 Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: Up to £5,000
Funding allocated to develop an older people’s project aimed at alleviating isolation, increasing intergenerational work and improving life skills.
5. Together We Create
Charity number: 1140617 Company number: N/A
Amount allocated: £3,600
Funding allocated to help reduce anti-social behaviour, unite the Hamptons Community and improve parental engagement and support the development of family boundaries, so as to ensure that there is a long-term change in the area.