In the running (From Borehamwood Times)

In the running

2:43pm Tuesday 15th April 2008

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Congratulations to Borehamwood councillor, Darren Solomons, who ran the London Marathon at the weekend in aid of his chosen charity, Children with Leukaemia, and well done also to all our other local marathan runners. That is some achievement.

There are many individuals, groups and organisations locally that give of their time to help others.

At last weekend’s annual Civic Dinner, the guest of honour, Lord Salisbury, spoke about people’s contribution to society. That was one of the objects of the Civic Dinner – an opportunity for councillors, officers, charitable groups and local organisations to come together to celebrate such work.

Among the 250 guests were more than 60 local groups from across the Borough. Four were chosen by the Mayor for a Civic award for the contribution they had made to Hertsmere – one of those being the 1st Elstree and Borehamwood Scouts group which celebrated its 100th anniversary just a few weeks ago.

It’s when you look at the guest list on an evening such as the Civic Dinner that you are reminded of just how much some people give of their time for our local area. From our towns alone the following groups were represented: Elstree & Borehamwood Green Belt Association, Hertsmere Crossroads, The Royal British Legion, the Otters Swimming Club for the Disabled, Elstree Productions Theatre Company, the local Talking Newspaper group, Home-Start, the Elstree & Borehamwood District Scouts, The Town Twinning Association, Worknet, the Elstree and Borehamwood Museum, the British Red Cross, Hertsmere Community Partnership, Borehamwood Athletic Club, the Elstree Film and Television Heritage Group, The Com.Unity Choir, Borehamwood Women’s Institute, Hertsmere Community Partnership, Penniwells Riding for the Disabled, and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to all groups and associations who help to improve and enrich the lives of our local communities.

The Council sets aside almost £370,000 a year in Grant Aid to local groups and associations of which around £317k goes to core funded organisations such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and just over £50,000 in capital grant aid. Recipients so far this year include the Borehamwood Athletic Club, the Crusaders Skater Hockey club, a local scout group, the local operatic society, table tennis club, Com.Unity Choir and so on.

Only the first tranche of that £50,000 has been awarded at this time and there is a further £38,000 available for grant applications during the year.

If you know of any local groups or organisations that need help, please get in touch with the Council. The cross party panel that sits to consider the applications will be meeting again in the months ahead.

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