WREN Grants are welcome Easter Gifts!
WREN Grants are welcome Easter Gifts!
There will be shouts of glee from Coton this summer, after a grant award of £24,860 was made by WREN towards a new viewing platform and picnic area at the new Countryside Reserve site. The new reserve is a strategic open space currently being developed to the west of Cambridge covering 120ha and offering an opportunity to the public to visit a green area close to the expansion of Cambridge.
The site is a farm owned by the Cambridge Preservation Society, who will be celebrating their 80th birthday later this year. Carolin Gohler, Chief Executive of CPS said "The Cambridge Preservation Society is delighted to hear of the tremendous support from WREN. At the heart of the Coton Countryside Reserve this grant will provide a lovely viewing platform overlooking the newly created pond together with seating, interpretation panels and the creation of nearby picnic meadow. It will enable visitors to enjoy wildlife and the local countryside in a pleasant area accessible to all. Once the planting is mature, it will be a wonderful space – somewhere to meet, rest, relax, chatter and picnic with friends before or after a countryside walk and to find out more about the local countryside and nature.”
This was just one of six projects in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough which have been boosted with grants totalling £100,980 in the latest round of funding from the Landfill Communities Fund of Waste Recycling Group Ltd, distributed by WREN.
Other projects supported include grants to children’s play areas at Fulbourn and Madingley, a community garden in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, and a grant to Ellington village hall. Oundle Road Baptist church in Peterborough also received a grant of £30,000 towards the new community hall, which will be built to the side of the church.
The grants made under the Landfill Communities Fund (formerly known as the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme) look to improve community life by enhancing existing facilities as well as providing new facilities, including play areas & village halls. In addition historic and religious buildings can also receive funding for restoration work. During 2007, WREN distributed over £300,000 to 15 projects in Cambridgeshire.
Sarah Gosling, WREN Project Manager for Cambridgeshire, explained: “Projects applying for grants from WREN are assessed by an individual panel of locally based experts in each county for their need, community benefit and support, sustainability and value for money. Each one of these projects demonstrated individual benefits to their community.”
The grants made under the Landfill Communities Fund (formerly known as the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme) look to improve community life by enhancing existing facilities as well as providing new facilities, including play areas & village halls. In addition, historic buildings can also receive funding for restoration work. Last year WREN also celebrated their 10th Anniversary, which has seen the completion of 4,000 projects receiving funding of over £100million in that time.
WREN are still inviting applications to their WRG Communities Challenge, with grants available between £75,000 and £250,000 for community projects. Applications must be in before the 30th May 2008. For further information, please see their website.
Organisations and community groups requiring funding for community projects should visit www.wren.org.uk to assess their eligibility or contact WREN on 01953 717165.
