£100,000 grants given to community groups by Craven District Council (From Craven Herald)

£100,000 grants given to community groups by Craven District Council

12:00pm Friday 8th February 2013 in News

Projects aimed at helping businesses in Skipton and Bentham have been the biggest winners in a pot of almost £100,000 handed out by Craven District Council.

Craven Connects, helping businesses on Snaygill Industrial Estate and Airedale Business Centre, has received £26,000 towards its £40,000 networking project.

Craven College has also received £17,500 towards Full Circle Craven – a £36,000 two year project focusing on Skipton, the Aire Valley and Malham – and Building a Better Bentham has received £20,000 towards its £68,000 project aimed at encouraging people to use the town centre.

Other projects to benefit from the Localism Reserve Fund of £95,000 include a children’s playground in Grassington, which received £5,000, and a sports project in Burton-in-Lonsdale, which received £7,950.

The fund, made up of 15 per cent of the New Homes Bonus received by the council from the government for every new house built or brought back into use between 2010 and 2012, was divided between groups and organisations which successfully applied to the council.

Groups were chosen either for their ability to build a stronger economy – supporting new and existing businesses to thrive and grow – or for the development and delivery of activities and services designed to improve the appearance and quality of neighbourhoods and public open spaces. Craven Connects is based on a successful project in Wakefield, and is designed to help firms in Snaygill and Airdeale Business Centre work together on issues such as crime, marketing, recruitment and training.

Building a Better Bentham, comprising a group of business people, was set up with the aim of improving the town and to promote its diverse range of products and services through workshops, a marketing campaign, networking and events.

Full Circle Craven, a Craven College project, is due to run for two years from March and is aimed at helping the long term viability of new and young businesses.

A spokesman for Craven College said: “The Full Circle programme of free business support comprises enterprise training, facilitated peer support circles – small groups who commit to meeting together on a regular basis to support one another in goal achievement, be each other’s critical friends, provide accountability and share successes, as well as offering support in accessing small loan funding.” It will also offer access to small loan funding through Women’s Employment, Enterprise and Training Unit (WEETU) - the college is the only organisation in the north of the country with a licence to run the programme which offers loans of up to £4,000. Councillor Linda Brockbank, lead member for empowering communities, said: “We are very pleased to provide funding to the successful projects as we believe that local communities should be supported to carry out projects which improve their local area.

“This is the reason that we used the New Homes Bonus to set up the Localism Fund and we are one of the only councils in North Yorkshire to use some of the bonus in this way.”

* The successful grant bids were:

Craven Connects – £26,000 

Full Circle Craven (Craven College) – £17,500

Building a Better Bentham – £20,000

Raikes Road Burial Ground restoration – £1,141

Burton Regeneration Group (Burton-in-Lonsdale) – £7,950

Bentham Passing Places – £6,000

Vantage 360 – £9,720

Grassington Playground Association – £5,000 Skipton in Bloom – £2,500