£3 million in council cash boosts for groups (From Borehamwood Times)

£3 million in council cash boosts for local groups from Hertfordshire County Council

1:00pm Friday 8th February 2013 in News By Anna Slater

A total of £3 million has been given away by Hertfordshire County Council to worthy community groups and organisations since 2009.

Each of the 77 county councillors has a budget of £10,000 to spend every year on worthwhile projects in their area.

The "locality budget" was launched in July 2009, and been used to give non-contact boxing club Boxcleva a grant of £1,500.

Under the scheme, councillors have also handed money to a Hertfordshire based sexual abuse charity and autistic school Radlett Lodge was given £1,000 to buy equipment.

It has also funded a wide variety of local groups and organisations, enabling them to continue their work or start new projects to benefit people in their area.

This has included sports clubs, churches, music and theatre groups, environmental campaigns, counselling services and charities.

Chris Hayward, deputy leader of Hertfordshire County Council, said: "There are numerous local groups and organisations around the county.

"These are all, in their own way, serving the community and enhancing people’s quality of life - sometimes with little in the way of financial support.

"By allowing local councillors the discretion to allocate funds themselves, based on their local knowledge and experience, we have been able to give a diverse range of organisations the extra boost they need to carry on their good work or start up new projects."

The closing date for bids for this financial year is February 15. For more information on how to apply, visit www.hertsdirect.org and type 'locality budgets' into the search box.