News ‘Love Where You Live’ grants for communities up for grabs

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) is encouraging community groups to apply for a grant of between £500 and £5,000 for projects that improve their local environment as part of a new ‘Love Where you Live’ initiative.

Applications are now open and will close on Friday 31 March. The ‘Love Where you Live’ grants aim to support small-scale environmental projects that encourage a sense of civic pride across communities and can include a variety of different projects such as:

• Community clean-up projects e.g. graffiti removal or tidying overgrown areas
• Litter picking
• Benches, paths and information signage
• Enhancing biodiversity
• Tree planting
• Wildlife projects e.g. habitat building, nature gardens and pond building
• Equipment and tools
• Seeds, bulbs, plants

Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid, MBC Lead Member for Communities and Public Engagement said:

Our ‘Love Where You Live’ initiative aims to encourage personal responsibility and positive action to improve the local environment. We want to encourage individuals and organisations to work in partnership within neighbourhoods to raise awareness and educate others around wider environmental and sustainability issues.

Applications are welcome from any non-profit making constituted group. Applications from schools will also be considered, but the funding must be used for community based projects. Anyone not part of constituted group may wish to ask a Parish Council or local ‘Friends Of’ group to apply on their behalf. To apply they must have a bank or building society account in the name of the group. Appropriate groups could include:

• A community group
• A friends of park group
• A nature reserve trust
• Residents Association

Lottie continues:

One of our key priorities is to keep Maidstone safe clean and green for all so this initiative is a great way to encourage local people to take a pride in where they live. Each group can apply for grants from £500 up to £5000 for an individual project. Outstanding projects may be awarded more if they significantly improve the local environment and benefit the local community. We hope to see lots of applications.

The closing date for applications is Friday 31 March, apply here: https://maidstone.gov.uk/grants-for-groups

To discuss any aspect of the Love Where You Live grant scheme before submitting an application, or if you need guidance to complete the application form, please contact us at VCSLiaison@Maidstone.gov.uk.

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