£1m reasons to be cheerful
Selby map
CELEBRATIONS have begun after Big Lottery announced this week that Selby has a million reasons to be cheerful, with promise of a £1 million support grant.
On Monday Big Lottery revealed Selby is set to receive training and support to identify how to make it an even better place to live.
The scheme to regenerate deprived areas will be funded through a £200m Big Lottery investment and managed by Local Trust – the corporate trustee of charitable trust Big Local – to help 150 small urban and rural communities across England.
Town councillor Steve Shaw-Wright, one of a group that applied for the vital cash, along with members of Selby District Association of Voluntary Services, Groundwork Selby and executive director of Selby District Council, Rose Morris, welcomed the news to use the £1m over the next ten years to address needs identified by residents.
The Selby Times is also pleased to announce its full backing of the scheme and its intention to encourage feedback from the community to find out the specific areas the Selby public would like the cash to go towards.
Big Local is about bringing together all the local talent, ambitions, skills and energy from individuals, groups and organisations who want to make their area even better.
Areas initially identified as those needing help are Flaxley Road in Selby North and Abbots Road in Selby South, as well as smaller schemes including St Patrick’s Church Hall in Barwic Parade.
Coun Shaw-Wright said: “This is great news. Myself and others provided information about places in the town most deprived. This money will be of great benefit to the community and will also benefit Selby High School, which has many students from the Flaxley Road area.”
He added: “We have done a lot of hard work to get to this stage. However, there’s a lot more to do. We now need to work with people, particularly from the Selby North and South wards, to find out where they would like the money to be spent.”
Money will be spent on anything from starting up social enterprises and addressing unemployment to tackling social issues or providing more activities and services.
As well as funding for improvements, each area will receive a range of training and support from Local Trust and their national partners: Community Development Foundation (CDF); Capacity Global; CCLA; the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR); the National Association of Neighbourhood Management (NANM); Renaisi; Small Change; and UnLtd.
Chief executive at Local Trust, Debbie Ladds, said: “We are delighted to have further communities to support. We look forward to helping residents identify what matters most to them and how, with the support of a range of locally trusted organisations and our partners, we can support them over at least ten years to make their areas even better places to live.”
q What do you think? Email editorial@selbytimes.co.uk to tell us where grant aid could best be spent in funding zone.
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Weather for Goole
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 22 C
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Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
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