DDC allocates £120,000 to 101 community groups in the Winter Grants Scheme

DDC has allocated £120,000 to 101 community projects in the latest round of its Community Grants Scheme.

Community groups have received grants from £100 up to £2,000 to support activities that will benefit a community within the Dover District.

DDC recognises the immensely important role that local groups have played, and will continue to play, as the district slowly recovers from the pandemic. This money has been made available to help maintain and develop projects and activities that support the local communities.

Projects benefiting from the Winter Community Grants Scheme include:

• Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir (pictured) who were given £1,170 towards their Men United in Song charity project (in addition to an £882.50 summer grant)
• Deal Maritime & Local History Museum, who received £1,187.09 towards the purchase of IT equipment for visitors to use and archive local history collections
• Elvington Community Centre, awarded £1,900 to support a community lunch group called Let’s Eat
• Emmaus Dover Ltd, who were given £1,462.50 to support 1-2-1 counselling sessions for those who have previously been homeless
• Blossoms of Hope, awarded £1,800.00 to support their ‘Sow, Grow, Cook and Eat’ community project in Dover
• Sandwich Community Lights Committee, who received £1,700.00 towards the Sandwich Community Christmas Lights Parade and Switch on

David Rance, Chairman of the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir, said: "It was good to welcome representatives from Dover District Council to our rehearsal last night - particularly since they turned up with a giant cheque!  We’re extremely grateful for DDC’s generosity in awarding us not just one but two community grants to help finance our 'Men United In Song' project next year.  In this initiative, we'll bring together a group of novice singers, introduce them to the delights of singing - including a gala concert - and also raise significant money for Prostate Cancer UK.”

Cllr Trevor Bartlett, Leader of DDC, said: “We are delighted to be able to support our community groups and organisations with the popular Community Grants Scheme. This year’s scheme is the biggest one to date, and has played a particularly important role as we slowly recover from the pandemic. Our local groups and voluntary organisations are the backbone of our community and this funding will truly help them deliver projects that benefit those that need it most. We also thank everyone contributing to the Dover Lotto, whose funding helps local causes.”

For more information on grants and funding from DDC, visit: www.dover.gov.uk/communitygrants email: communitygrants@dover.gov.uk or call: 01304 872277.

Notes to editors:

The recipients of DDC Community Grants ‘Winter Round’ 2021 (as approved by the Appraisal Panel on 14/10/21)

The Summer and Winter rounds combined have seen a total of £198,946.30 being allocated to 184 applicants in 2021.

83 local groups benefitted from the summer round of funding and were awarded a total sum of £79,418.81. The overall amount allocated to grants for 2021 was £230,000 and included £7.5k from the Dover District Lotto (for every pound spent on the Lotto, 60p goes back into the local community).

Dover District Lotto is an exciting weekly lottery that raises money for good causes in the Dover district. All good causes supported by the lottery will benefit the Dover district and its residents. Visit www.doverlotto.com

All grants were awarded through the framework of the Dover District Council Community Grant Scheme. The grant funds are allocated across five areas (Sandwich & Area, Deal and Walmer, Dover North, Dover Town and Dover West).

Every application was allocated to one of these five areas, depending on the project location.

Applications were welcomed from community organisations and groups who are based within the Dover District, or who are seeking a grant to support activities that will benefit a community within the Dover District.  This includes:

•             Registered Charities

•             Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO)

•             Community Interest Companies (CIC)

•             Social Enterprises

•             Constituted Voluntary/Community groups

•             Constituted Sports Clubs/groups

•             Constituted Youth Clubs/groups

•             Constituted School related groups e.g. PFTA

•             Constituted Church/Faith groups