Just before Christmas 2021 the National Lottery Community Fund offered us a grant of just over £44,000. The grant will pay towards employing a part-time manager for the first three years of the Hub’s operation. We are extremely grateful for this grant and it will make a big difference to the success of the Hub.

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What is the Community Fund?

The Community Fund supports projects that work to make positive changes in their community. They look for projects that can test new approaches to issues in the community, their aim is to identify projects which:

• build strong relationships in and across communities

• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities

• help more people to reach their potential, supporting them at the earliest possible stage.

 

The National Lottery has high standards, to successfully receive a grant community projects must demonstrate that there is a need for the project, that the project will be well managed, viable and sustainable, and that it will deliver significant benefits to the community in which it operates. 

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We are very proud to have been given this award particularly because the process provides us with critical external validation that we are on the right track with our plans for the Hub. The National Lottery Community Fund told us that our application was very strong.

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We have now recruited a Manager for the Hub called Helen Ritchie. Helen has a wealth of experience in managing community and social projects. She will be working with volunteers, developing the range of support that is offered in the Hub, looking after the administration and maximising the utilisation of the space.