GROUPS in Keighley and Craven are sharing £11,890 following the first payout of the year by the Craven and Beamsley Trusts.

The sister charities recently approved around a dozen grants for community causes in Keighley, Kildwick, Cullingworth, Haworth and Buckden.

Beneficiaries included Dementia Friendly Keighley, the Peggy Wilson Playing Field Fund, Keighley Healthy Living, Small World Cultural Arts Collective and the Beamsley Project.

The Craven and Beamsley Trusts recently published their annual report for 2017/18, revealing that during that financial year they together gave 31 grants totalling £33,044.

The trusts provide their grants from an investment fund built up over many years through donations from community-minded people across the region, and the trustees still seek such income through wills, donations and fundraising.

One of the recipients of the latest round of grants was Dementia Friendly Keighley, which delivers activities such as exercise classes and social events for people living with dementia, their carers and families.

Their base in the Airedale Shopping Centre needed better signage so that people looking for help could find it easily. The Craven Trust has awarded a £993 grant to cover the cost of new signs along with printed stationery that can be used at events.

The Peggy Wilson Playing Field Trust, based in Kildwick, was set up in 1928 following the death of local child Peggy Wilson. Following community consultation, trustees recently developed a plan to create a nature-based space on the land.

The space will be used by people of all ages to get together, garden, grow and learn. The Craven Trust this month awarded £829 to the group so that they can get the project underway.

VITAL Projects based in Bradford recently approached the Craven Trust to ask for funding for self-advocacy training workshops for people in the Keighley area.

A spokesman said: “Mental ill health can have a detrimental effect on confidence and these workshops have been designed to recognise this and empower those who attend.

“The workshops help vulnerable people to find their voice. The Trust understood the impact this would have and awarded VITAL £1,400 to help fund the workshops.”

Other successful grant recipients in the latest round were West Lane Baptist Church for a kitchen refurbishment (£750), Cullingworth Village Hall for a lighting gantry (£1,083), Small World Cultural Arts Collective for refurbishment (£550), Keighley Healthy Living to create an information shop (£1,000), SELFA for trustee training (£630), and Buckden Village Institute to modernise the building (£1,500).

A new Cullingworth Village Hall is being built at a cost of £860,000 after villagers successfully applied for grants from a variety of sources as well as carrying out their own fundraising.

The new building on Lodge Street will replace the ageing and overcrowded Village Hall in Station Road, and its facilities will include a large hall with an adjoining small hall and catering kitchen, a permanent café, and a secure space to be used solely for Cullingworth Preschool.

Small World has for many years provided a range of artistic activities for children and young people in Keighley town centre, including music, crafts, visual arts and drama.

In the latest round of grants, the Beamsley Trust gave £1,000 to the Beamsley Project for bathroom refurbishment.

The Beamsley Trust also gave grants to eight individuals in need, to pay for items ranging from a new carpet to a training course.

The Craven and Beamsley Trusts’ annual report for 2017/18 revealed that during that financial year they together gave 31 grants totalling £33,044.

These included new tents for Skipton Guides, creating a community garden in Langcliffe, and buying a new boiler for St James’s Church in Silsden.

The Community Cougars Foundation used a £1,500 grant from the Craven Trust to help rugby league break down barriers in Keighley.

The Craven Trust teamed up with the Foundation’s manager Saima Hussain, the first Asian woman to play for Great Britain’s Rugby League team. She used the grant to coach disadvantaged local boys and girls in the sport.

A Craven Trust spokesman said: “Saima told us our grant helped improve the confidence and fitness of the participants, as well as building understanding and breaking down barriers between young people from different cultural backgrounds in the town.”

A grant for £1,000 helped the Golden Oldies group organise memory-evoking singalongs in Silsden, Embsay and Cross Hills.

The spokesman said: “This has proved to be of great benefit to older people living alone, and especially to those with dementia.

“The Golden Oldies decided to open a new group in Silsden and held a ‘taster session’ in the Methodist Church, which was attended by 50 people.

“Flushed with success, they applied to us for a grant to help them open more groups across Craven. We were pleased to donate £1,000.”

One attendee, Heather from Silsden, said: “It’s so enjoyable to sing old songs and lovely to meet new friends.”

Jill Webster and Katie Birks set up a new Girl Guiding group – the 7th Skipton St Stephen’s – to cope with growing demand from girls in the town eager for a taste of outdoor adventure.

But the group had no money to buy tents for their camping trips, and successfully applied for a £815 grant.

Some of the Guides had never been camping before, and the grant allowed the girls to focus their own fundraising on other good causes in order to learn how to support the wider community.

Visit craventrust.org.uk or call 07954 803327 for information how to apply for grants and what sort of things they can fund.

Groups can apply for help with most things including equipment, training and project delivery costs.

The Craven Trust would also like to hear from people willing to donate money so that it can build up its long-term awards pot and ensure money is available for grants for many years to come.