In for a penny with £738,000 for Liverpool community hub

Area:

North West England

Programme:

Community Assets

Release date:

23 3 2009

Residents of Penny Lane will soon be humming a familiar tune, thanks to a development grant to create a brand new social activity centre right at the heart of the local community.

Awarded to the Penny Lane Development Trust - Grove Mount Community Centre project, the grant comes from the Community Assets programme funded by The Office of the Third sector in the Cabinet Office and delivered by Big Fund, the non-Lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund.

The project will refurbish and extend a two storey disused local authority building on Penny Lane, which will provide a secure and accessible place for local residents and community groups to meet. The new facilities will include a multi-function community room, drop in centre, meeting rooms and office space. It will also create on site parking and landscaping to the surrounding area.

Cllr Colin Eldridge Board Member, Penny Lane Development Trust said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have been successful in our bid for public funding. This is a huge reward for the hard work and dedication of a small number of local people who have worked hard for the last 15 years to make this happen.

“It will mean that the local community will benefit from a fantastic local facility which can be enjoyed by everyone. To borrow the words of The Beatles, 'There beneath the blue suburban skies' will soon be our very own, public funded project for the whole of our community!"

Kevin Brennan MP, Minister for the Third Sector, said, “The Government is investing  £30 million across the country into excellent community projects such as Grove Mount Community Centre. Facilities such as these are much needed by voluntary and community groups, particularly during these challenging economic times when people are increasingly calling on community support.”

Helen Bullough North West Head of Region at the Big Lottery Fund, added: “The Grove Mount Community Centre is a fantastic project. It will provide an important local centre for people of all ages to come together and enjoy being part of the community.”

Further Information

Big Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• Community Assets is a non-Lottery programme funded by the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office.
• The Big Fund is the non-Lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) distributes lottery funding to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. It also uses its expertise in grant-giving to distribute non-Lottery funding. BIG has been appointed to distributed around £30 million of Government funding through Community Assets
• The aim of Community Assets is community empowerment. It will do this by facilitating the transfer of genuine assets from local authorities to the third sector for the benefit of the community.  Community Assets will bring about the following outcomes:

1. Local third sector organisations have greater security and independence, and are better able to meet the needs of the communities they serve.
2. Communities have more access to better facilities that respond to their needs.
3. There is more effective partnership working between local authorities and the third sector.

• The range of activities to be offered by the recipients of Community Assets in principle grants includes:

1. Holiday play facilities and activities for parents and pre-school children
2. Facilities for young people providing alternative education services, evening coffee bar, leisure facilities, professional advice and guidance, anti-gun and knife crime events
3. GP referrals, healthy eating service, facilities offering keep fit classes, group wellbeing activities, a wheelchair service, therapy and rehabilitation services
4. Adult education, training courses, addiction assistance, ICT facilities and employment opportunities in deprived areas
5. Lunch clubs and tea dances for the elderly
6. Theatre events, rehearsal space, music facilities, venues for music events, creative arts groups and experimental art exhibitions
7. Meeting rooms, office services and facilities for smaller local groups including BME communities
8. Workshops, training rooms and support to local business start-ups
9. New tourism and leisure destinations

• The Office of the Third Sector was formed (OTS) in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy. It aims to drive forward the Government's role in supporting a thriving third sector, and join up sector-related work across government: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.
• From 30 March to 23 June 2007 the Office of the Third Sector ran a public consultation on how Community Assets will work.  A wide range of local authorities and third sector organisations responded to the consultation. The Office of the Third Sector summarised the responses and explained how they will influence the final programme on 10 August 2007.
• The Community Assets fund was first proposed last year in the Pre-Budget Report (6 December 2006).
• http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/makingassetswork

Tags