Totnes Town Councillors Increase Grant Funding Pot

Helping Support Local Community During Challenging Times

Following a record level of funding requests this year, Totnes Town Councillors have voted to increase the total Totnes Town Council Community Grant funding pot from £25,000 to £42,547.48. In the current round of grant applications, 23 organisations applied for funding totalling over £103,500. At the Full Council meeting on 10 June 2024, town councillors allocated the funding to local organisations including Totnes Caring, Jamming Station, Totnes Skatepark, Totnes Carnival and Food in Community.

Priority was given to projects that help to address core town needs as identified in the Town Council’s current strategic plan, supporting the community, the economy, and the local environment.

Totnes Town Council Clerk, Catherine Marlton, said: “When councillors looked at the level of need in the town, and the number of brilliant projects that can do so much to really help so many residents, they felt it was vital that we increased the value of grants this year from £25,000 to over £42,500. Even with this big jump in the amount we are giving out, we’re still very conscious that not everyone has got as much as they asked for. However, we will do what we can to help these groups to find additional sources of funding. For example, we hope our community grants might act as a spring-board for securing match-funding from other sources. We’ll also continue to publish our weekly-updated list of local, regional, and national funding opportunities on our website to help these groups to know what’s available and we’ll look at other ways we might be able to support these projects.”

The following projects have been awarded a 2024 Totnes Town Council Community Grant:
⦁ Bridgetown Alive – Sky Rise Festival 2024 – awarded £1,700 (50% of amount requested)
⦁ Totnes Rural Area Youth Engagement Project – Totnes Youth Leisure Night and Bridgetown Youth Group – awarded £8,750 (100% of amount requested)
⦁ Totnes Carnival – Totnes Carnival Summer/Winter programme – awarded £2,377.50 (75% of amount requested)
⦁ SASHA – Running costs – awarded £1,143.48 (100% of amount requested)
⦁ South Hams Community Action – Volunteer recruitment support for groups in Totnes – awarded £750 (25% of amount requested subject to further information)
⦁ Totnes Caring – Community intergenerational projects – awarded £2,446.50 (75% of amount requested)
⦁ St Mary’s Church – St Mary’s servery and community space – awarded £1,000 (50% of the amount requested
⦁ SPACE Youth Services – Totnes Summer Programme – awarded £1,000 (100% of amount requested)
⦁ Food in Community – Improving Food Security for Totnes residents – awarded £5,031 (75% of amount requested)
⦁ Totnes Skate Park – Totnes Skate Park fundraising project – awarded £8,000 (100% of the amount requested)
⦁ Leechwell Garden Association – Sustaining Leechwell Garden – awarded £2,000 (50% of amount requested)
⦁ Fusion – Warm Spaces Bouncy Fun (Oct 24-Feb 25) – awarded £1,461 (75% of amount requested)
⦁ Jamming Station – Family Chill Café – awarded £1,000 (35% of amount requested)
⦁ Citizens Advice South Hams – Totnes outreach and partnership with Totnes Caring – awarded £4,413 (50% of amount requested)
⦁ Bike Hub – Earn a Bike Project – awarded £1,475 (100% of amount requested – to be taken from Earmarked Reserves)

In last year’s community consultation survey, residents and business owners ranked providing funding to help local community groups to support local people as a very important function of the Town Council. Community groups were invited to apply for a grant during April 2024. Unfortunately, not all applications received the funding requested because the Community Grants were so oversubscribed.

In 2023, eight local community groups received a total of £25,000 in Town Council grant support.
If you’d like to find out more, go to www.totnestowncouncil.gov.uk email: reception@totnestowncouncil.gov.uk or call 01803 862147.