Lottery ‘micro grants’ available to support ‘real people doing great things locally’

An Essex community forum has been awarded £7,000 to allocate in “micro” grants to support local people’s initiatives improving health, happiness and wellbeing,

The Jaywick Sands Community Forum has been working with the Big Lottery Fund on the scheme, which will support people with grants of £50-£1,000.

Forum secretary Gill Elkins said many of the best ideas to support the community came from “real people doing great things locally”.

“We are going to run a small funding scheme that would allow these ideas to be funded quickly, to capture the enthusiasm of the community, and easily, and enable people to make their ideas happen,” she added.

Residents and groups can apply directly to the Jaywick Sands Community Forum, with decisions made by a panel including lottery and local authorities.

Ms Elkins added: “We developed this idea as a result of knowing our community and residents well and listening to what they felt about getting funding for small projects or ideas.

“They told us they’d like to access funding easily and quickly, and were put off by forms and procedures. We feel that this project will allow us to help local people and groups build on the area’s strong community spirit and bring their ideas to life.”

For information on how to apply email forum-jaywick@sky.com or call 01255 221040.