Community Will Be A Lot Smarter Thanks To £55k Worth Of Grants

Published on: 21 Feb, 2013
Updated on: 22 Mar, 2013

A new scout hut, cycle shelters, a bootcamp, tea dances and play equipment are among the things community groups in Stoughton and Stoke have received funding for – thanks to £55,000 worth of grants.

Here's how to vote. Travel SMART's Becky Edwards with some of the electronic voting pads.

Here’s how to vote. Travel SMART’s Becky Willson with some of the electronic voting pads. Picture by David Rose.

The money comes from Surrey County Council’s Travel SMART fund and was awarded at a community day held at the Guildford Children’s Centre in Bellfields on Saturday (February 16).

Groups shortlisted for the grants made a short presentation at the event. People attending then had the opportunity to vote for the projects and schemes they wanted to see funded.

Voting takes place. Picture by Edward Cowley.

Becky Willson from Travel SMART said: “We were really pleased with how the day went. About 150 people turned up and 99 voted on the projects.

“The presentations were informative and fun and there was a great atmosphere with all ages interested in seeing what was happening in the area. It was especially encouraging to see so many young people involved. Feedback from the day has been very positive with lots of people liking the interactive voting.

“Hopefully the day will lead to more involvement and more applications for money in the next financial year. We have money for the area for the next two years so there will be several more opportunities to apply for money and vote on what gets funded.”

The 2nd Guildford (St Peter’s) scout group makes it bid to the audience. Picture by David Rose.

Among those who received grants is the 2nd Guildford (St Peter’s) scout group that now has £10,000 to help build a much needed new scout hut.

Voluntary Action South West Surrey is now able to continue and expand its Community Connectors project. It aims to connect volunteers with elderly people who may be at risk, or have experienced loneliness and isolation, with activities, services or maybe something new.

Carol Dunnett and Denise Graves from Voluntary Action South West Surrey make their bid on behalf of its Community Connectors project. Picture by David Rose.

It’s project co-ordinator Denise Greaves was delighted that its bid was successful. Speaking about the project and those who will benefit she said: “One elderly person who we are helping has not been doing much. An accident at work left him disabled and after discussing a few options and possibilities he said to me: ‘you’re the answer to my prayers’.

“Another person, who has been indoors for a long while, said to me she would like to ‘see something other than that’, and pointed to the view from her window. This grant means we can hopefully help many isolated elderly people in our community.”

St Peter’s Church was asking for a bike rack and was successful! Picture by David Rose.

The Deputy Mayor of Guildford, Pauline Searle, introduced each of those who gave a presentation for their group’s bid. She said in writing a reply to our previous story: “I would like to thank everyone who took part in this great community event.

“The Bellfields Community Choir got the event off with some wonderful songs and there were lots of tea and lovely cakes for all.

There was some great singing by Bellfields Community Choir at the start of the community day. It’s looking for additional members, by the way… Picture by Edward Cowley.

“Every group that took part were sucessful with their bids. We had some wonderful presentations with lots of good humoured interaction by all.

“Special thanks should go to Marc, Becky and all the Travel SMART team for all their hard work and remind residents from Stoke and Stoughton that this is an ongoing inititive with two more years of funding, so please get involved and come up with some projects that will be of a benifit for the whole community.

“I am certainly looking forward to the next round of grants.”

For a full list of those who applied for funding click here to see our previous story.