First Thriving Communities Fund grants are agreed

The first grants under West Suffolk Council’s new Thriving Communities Fund have been agreed, investing over £260,000 into 44 separate projects.

The money will go to community groups, charities and other voluntary organisations across the district, as part of work to help deliver the council’s strategic priority for Thriving Communities.

Yesterday (Tuesday, February 4) the council’s cabinet agreed to recommendations from a Grant Working Party for grants totalling £266,733.

The funding will be paid in April to cover the year to March 31, 2026.

Donna Higgins, the cabinet member for Families and Communities at West Suffolk Council, said: “These are the first grants being paid under the new Thriving Communities Fund.

“Through this we are investing in projects to help people who are struggling with the cost of living, and initiatives designed to support people’s health and wellbeing including their self-esteem, skills and confidence.

“We are backing the delivery of youth activities, family support and work designed to help people of all ages who feel socially isolated and lonely.

“And we are helping fund specialist emotional and practical support for people that have experienced trauma in their lives – whether that’s domestic abuse, sexual abuse, or the loss of a loved one.

“Through all of this, we are investing in and supporting work to try to make life better for our residents across West Suffolk to help our communities thrive.”

The Thriving Communities Fund, which launched in July replacing Community Chest, is part of a package of close to £650,000 of community support for 2025-26 agreed by West Suffolk Council’s cabinet last year.

That package includes:

• £266,733 available under the Thriving Communities Fund for 2025-26;
• £200,000 a year for three years for Citizen’s Advice West Suffolk to support the council’s agenda to work with families and communities; and
• £179,200 under the councillor locality budget scheme. Each of West Suffolk’s 64 councillors has a locality budget of £2,800 a year to support community initiatives that will benefit residents in their ward area with grants available from £100 and above.

The Thriving Communities Fund was oversubscribed with 77 applications totalling close to £1 million.

While 23 of those didn’t meet the scheme criteria, the council was able to help 13 of these instead secure total of £58,639 community funding through money allocated to the council from the government under the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The Grant Working Party made up of a cross-party group of councillors, looked in detail at 54 applications and made recommendations for grant allocations to the cabinet.

Applicants to the scheme who either aren’t due to receive a grant or the full amount they applied for will be offered additional support including directing them to other grants within the council and other appropriate sources of local and national funding.