Do you want to help decide on funding priorities for this community?

You may have heard of a new government funding programme called ‘Community First’ which includes a small grant match fund.

£30million has been made available nationally. Sheffield has been allocated £1,102,075 until March 2015.  There are 13 wards in Sheffield that have been allocated funding. These include –

• Beauchief & Greenhill – £50,865
• Gleadless Valley – £50,865

This is the full amount available up to March 2015, and local community groups are eligible to apply for £2,500. Before allocating the money to groups each ward must set up a Community First Panel of between 4-8 people, who live in the ward and are over 18, and must agree on a ‘Panel Partner’ (who can cover more than one ward).

Being a Community First Panel member is a voluntary role, but certain expenses will be paid.  There are a number of responsibilities which include

• identifying community priorities
• recommending projects for funding
• producing a website/webpage and keeping it updated with information on projects funded
• producing a Community First Plan by January 2013. 

The Panel Partner is an organisation that is part of the Community First Panel but will also –

• administer the expenses fund
• give support to the Community First Panel to ensure open and accountable processes
• report to the national accountable body (Community Development Foundation) whether funding has been spent in line with community priorities

The funding available to undertake this role is very limited

By getting involved you can ensure that your community gets the funding it needs to address local priorities and enable community groups to form and run activities.

The South Community Assembly is hosting a meeting on Thursday 12th January 2012, 2.00pm at the ‘One 4 All Centre’, Morland Road, Herdings, S14 1TD (link to map below), for people from both wards who are interested in being on the Community First Panel, or VCF groups who want to be the Panel Partner. The first part of the meeting will be an information sharing session. The second part will look at the formation of a Community First Panel and the identification of a Panel Partner.

If you would like to attend this meeting I would be grateful if you could contact me. I would also appreciate if you could forward this invite on to anyone you think may be interested in getting involved in the process.

Finally, please let me know if you have any specific needs to enable you to attend/take part in this meeting. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Martin

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=S14+1TD&hl=en&ll=53.343455,-1.435025&spn=0.009839,0.019248&gbv=2&safe=active&hnear=Sheffield+S14+1TD,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=m&z=16&vpsrc=6

Martin Hughes
South Community Assembly Manager

Sheffield City Council
The Courtyard
82 Sheldon Road
Abbeydale
Sheffield
S7 1GX
Tel: 0114 205 3281
Mobile: 07900 138884