MORE than £120,000 in funding is set to be awarded to three organisations for sustainable community projects – if elected members give the green light.
Renfrewshire Council officers have recommended grants be allocated to Loud n Proud (£80,000), Thorn Athletic Community Trust (£24,840) and Your Community Your Space (£20,000).
It comes after they made applications to the sustainable communities fund which supports projects that promote or improve community collaboration, health and wellbeing, local spaces, economic development, biodiversity and the environment.
The pot was created after it was agreed in March last year the council should combine remaining monies from the community empowerment and climate change action funds. It was further bolstered by cash from the UK shared prosperity fund.
Three types of awards are available through the process, including small (up to £10,000), intermediate (£10,000 to £25,000) and large (up to £100,000) amounts.
Applications were assessed in September and earlier this month by a cross-service panel of officers established to consider the bids against funding guidance and criteria.
While three totalling £124,840 have been recommended for awards, seven have been deferred to gather further information and eight did not meet the criteria.
A report, which will be considered at next week’s communities and housing policy board, said: “The sustainable communities fund has been very popular since its launch and has attracted a significant number of applications.
“As the fund has now been in operation for one year, it is recommended that a formal review of the guidance is carried out.
“This review will provide an opportunity to reflect learning points from the first year of operation, and clarify guidance to support applicants as well as officers applying guidance when developing recommendations.
“This will be critical to ensuring that the remaining funding can be targeted to ensure maximum benefit for all local groups and organisations.”
The report also said the residual balance of available funding within the pot is £205,964 of revenue and £514,635 of capital.
Councillors will be asked to approve the latest awards at the board on Tuesday afternoon.
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