Council supports community groups with £28,302 funding grants

Within four months of inviting applications, the Small Grants Fund has now been fully allocated. The grant funding can help charities with revenue expenditure such as general running costs including staff costs:

• Oxford Hindu Temple and Community Centre project, £815 to contribute towards the 2019 summer mela.
• Asylum Welcome, £3,180 to contribute towards their donated bicycles project, which is the restoration of donated bikes, which they give to asylum seekers as a form of free transport.
• Film Oxford, £2,500 as funding to the organising and delivering of 6 community film events.
• Headington Action, £850 in order to contribute towards the Headington Festival.
•  Oxfordshire Play Association, £2,000 to go towards the organising and delivering of 2 play and activity days in Oxford.
• KEEN, £5,000 towards costs to provide social activities for disabled children and young people.
• Oxford Food Bank, £5,000 to contribute towards costs for running their vehicles, which they use to distribute surplus food to charities and community groups across the City.
• Oxford City Farm, £2,500 to contribute towards costs for their Partnership and Volunteer Coordinator.
• St Mary's Iffley, £848 to recruit 3 young people through Oxford Academy to participate in a short stone masons course.
• Oxfordshire Chinese Community & Advice Centre, £4,704 towards finding a part time trilingual project coordinator and part time English teacher.
• West Oxford Community Association, £500 to contribute towards the West Oxford fun day on 13th July 2019.
• Oxford 50+ Network, £560 to pay for transport for people who are isolated or have mobility issues to enable them to attend the Older Peoples Event and to contribute towards administration costs.

The Small Grants Fund is just one of a number of funding schemes from the City Council, which awards over £1.7million in grants each year. The Council funds community and voluntary organisations (CVOs) who provide services or projects that benefit residents and communities across Oxford. The city council prioritises projects which work towards a cohesive, safe community, tackling social inequalities and promoting a healthy environment, and those which involve people in the arts.

Councillor Marie Tidball, Cabinet Member for Supporting Local Communities, said “We are delighted to fund these twelve projects - there is such a wide range of activities reflecting the diverse nature of our communities. We recognise and value the contributions that community and voluntary organisations make and we’re very fortunate in Oxford to have such a wide variety of active groups all working to strengthen our community. These small grants can make a big difference, and it is important that the city council can continue to support the good work of these organisations through our grant assistance.”