The next round of Community Initiative Funding, which supports West Sussex community groups and organisations, is now open and has been extended to support groups carrying out Coronavirus-related community work.
In addition, more than £26,000 funding, which was underspent in the 2019/20 round of Community Initiative Funding (CIF) for all West Sussex County Council County Local Committees (CLCs), has been transferred to support the work of the County Council’s community hub (COVID-19).
The community hub is supporting the most vulnerable residents across West Sussex who have been told by government they must isolate to stay safe. Find out more at www.westsussex.gov.uk/covid19communityhub.
The Community Initiative Fund supports local projects in two ways, depending on their size:
- The Micro Fund is for small-scale projects with a total value of £750 or less and can be applied for through the CLCs
- The West Sussex Crowd is a crowdfunding platform through which the County Council can contribute towards an element of a project or where the total project costs exceed £750
Cabinet Member for Fire and Rescue and Communities, Duncan Crow, said: “I’m pleased to announce the underspend of CIF funding from last year will go directly to help boost the invaluable work being carried out by the community hub. We are targeting help to those identified as being most vulnerable and ensuring they have ample provisions and support while in isolation.
“We also recognise that communities across the county have stepped up in these unprecedented times to help meet the needs of vulnerable people in their local area. As a thank you and to help support them, we are widening the criteria for just the next round of CIF applications for our Micro Fund and the West Sussex Crowd. I would encourage local groups to have a look and see if the funding available would help them in their vital work. By providing a small amount of extra money to groups, we will be able to help them expand and carry out even more help and assistance across the county.”
This could include projects directly supporting their communities in the current situation, such as voluntary organisations being able to support those self-isolating and groups providing support to the most vulnerable in West Sussex. The criteria for just the next round of funding will be widened to include applications for revenue spend, for example costs for training, staffing or room bookings.
In addition, Spacehive, which manages the West Sussex Crowd website, has said it is waiving the fee for any projects created on the community crowd funding website during this time.
The deadline to upload a project idea to West Sussex Crowd and apply to CIF for additional funding consideration is Thursday 28 May.
To find out the Micro Fund application deadline for the County Local Committee covering your project location or for any other enquiries, please email talkwithus@westsussex.gov.uk or telephone 0330 22 25075. For further information visit the ‘Community Initiative Fund’ page on the County Council website.
