Grants from £275,000 Thriving Communities Fund to be awarded

Community grants of close to £275,000 that will benefit the lives of residents across West Suffolk are to be decided next week.

Initiatives to benefit the health and wellbeing of residents and to help people who are struggling with the cost of living, could receive grants from West Suffolk Council along with money for youth projects and work to support the victims of domestic abuse.

Members of West Suffolk’s cabinet will meet next Tuesday, February 3, to decide on the grants from the council’s Thriving Communities Fund.

The work the fund will help deliver is part of the council’s strategic priority for Thriving Communities.

The council’s Grant Working Party, which met three times to go through the detail of 53 applications, has recommended that the cabinet agree funding to 38 projects run by charities, community and voluntary organisations.

Donna Higgins, the cabinet member for Families and Communities at West Suffolk Council, said: “There are so many fantastic initiatives taking place to help improve the lives of residents in our communities across West Suffolk.

“While the fund can never stretch to cover everything, I recognise and appreciate the importance of all of the work being carried out by community groups, voluntary organisations and charities in our area.

“I’m also very grateful to the Grant Working Party for the many hours they have spent going through the detail of the applications.

“Their role has been crucial in making considered and balanced recommendations which I will take to cabinet to discuss and decide.

“Finally, the fund is just one of the ways that we support this vital work in our communities.

“Subject to Cabinet’s decision on the Thriving Communities Fund, we are already looking at other appropriate funding that is available to support many of these brilliant projects and initiatives.”

It is only the second year of grants under the Thriving Communities Fund which replaced Community Chest.

This year’s Thriving Communities Fund has seen a further £7,719 of uncommitted councillor locality budget made available, bringing the total fund to £274,452.

Jon London, the chair of the Grant Working Party, said: “I’m so grateful to everyone who took the time to apply.

“We had such a difficult job deciding between a wide variety of worthy causes.

“We’ve recommended supporting groups dealing with issues such as health and wellbeing, the cost-of-living crisis, bereavement, loneliness and isolation, as well as providing youth activities and specialist trauma support to victims of abuse.

“Unfortunately, we can’t fund every worthy cause and I’d encourage any group that was not successful to still apply again next year.

“We believe these recommendations will really make a positive change to the lives of people across our towns and villages and I look forward to cabinet’s decision when it considers our recommendations next week.”

The Thriving Communities Fund is part of a package of more than £650,000 of community support for 2026-27 that also includes:

• £200,000 for Citizen’s Advice West Suffolk (the second year of a three-year funding agreement) 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.

Below are the Grant Working Party funding recommendations. 

1.   Abbeycroft Teen Chill, Brandon. A weekly youth club for years six to 11 to reduce anti-social behaviour and provide a safe space for young people to meet. £3,281.

2.   Alumah Community Interest Company, Brandon. Curve programme supporting victims of domestic abuse £15,000.

3.   Art Branches Community Interest Company, West Suffolk. Supporting mental health of young people and 18-30s.£5,700.

4.   Bardwell Village Hall. A Welcome Space Café providing a meeting place, cost of living support as well as hot drinks, biscuits and cakes. £1,080.

5.   BME Suffolk Support Group (BSSG), Bury St Edmunds. Delivering cost of living support to individuals and families. £4,000.

6.   Breast Friends Community Interest Company, Bury St Edmunds. To support free kits for breast cancer patients £2,800

7.   Bridge Community Projects, Bury St Edmunds. To support delivery of community grocery, coffee mornings, senior friendship teas and specialist courses. £15,000.

8.   Bury Drop In. To provide a meal and support to homeless and vulnerably housed, twice a week. £17,500.

9.   CLASP Community Transport, Clare. Toward replacement minibus to serve the local community. £15,000

10.  Compassion, West Suffolk. To deliver two further domestic abuse programmes in Haverhill and a new initiative that provides domestic abuse support to young people. £6,060.

11.  Epic Dad, West Suffolk. Toward Stronger Together project providing health and wellbeing support families. £4,500.

12.  Families Together Suffolk, West Suffolk. Toward Learn and Grow health and wellbeing support in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill. £5,000.

13.  Haverhill Health and Wellbeing Hub. Towards a new health and wellbeing hub in town centre. £15,000.

14.  Haverhill Men’s Shed. To support growth of health and wellbeing support. £4,500.

15.  Hope After Suicide Loss, West Suffolk. Support services to people who have been bereaved by suicide. £4,005.

16.  Hundon Village Hall and Community Café.  To deliver Community Café. £1,512

17.  Lynward Colley Trust Community Interest Company, West Suffolk. Providing a new learning space for people aged 11 to 25 that are outside of mainstream education and/ or have learning difficulties. £5,230.

18.  Newmarket Charitable Foundation. For youth hub offering safe inclusive space offering emotional and practical support, mentoring, counselling, careers advice and more. £7,719.

19.  Oblique Arts, Newmarket. Project promoting active lifestyles, mental and physical wellbeing, community cohesion and accessibility to the arts for vulnerable groups. £2,760.

20.  Our Special Friends, West Suffolk. Funding for Animal Companionship Crisis Support. £7,500.

21.  PACT Parents Together, West Suffolk. Supporting parents and carers of children who are struggling with their mental health. £3,600.

22.  Phoebe, West Suffolk. Support for women in Newmarket who face abuse over their ethnicity. £9,500.

23.  REACH Community Projects, Haverhill. Toward work helping residents resolve financial, food and fuel insecurity £10,000.

24.  Restore Women’s Aid, West Suffolk. Children and Young People Domestic Abuse Support Service delivering services to young people who are struggling with relationships including unhealthy boundaries and coercive control. £8,150.

25.  River Lark Catchment Partnership, West Suffolk. Towards supporting water ways environmental project and its community engagement. £2,700.

26.  Rural Coffee Caravan, West Suffolk. To visit and support residents impacted by digital exclusion in the Fornhams, Great Livermere, Gazeley and Worlington. £5,000.

27.  Second Chance Stroke Survivors, Bury St Edmunds. Supporting independence and social bonds for people who have survived a stroke. £2,480.

28.  Steel Bones Community Interest Company, West Suffolk. Fitness clubs for amputees, supporting their health and wellbeing. £6,400.

29.  Still Good Food, Bury St Edmunds. To reduce food waste and support access to food that is past its best before date but is still good to eat. £10,000.

30.  St Mary’s Church, Haverhill. To provide a free drop in warm space where people can enjoy a hot meal. £6,000.

31.  St Nicholas Hospice Care, West Suffolk. For complementary therapy for palliative care patients, family carers and people who have been bereaved. £16,890.

32.  Suffolk Accident and Rescue (SARS), West Suffolk. Providing high level patient care and outcomes through SARS responders. £5,000.

33.  Suffolk Mind, West Suffolk. For Pay What You Can counselling service. £10,000.

34.  Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds. To enable theatre to offer programme to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Schools offering arts engagement for up to 3,000 young people. £4,000.

35.  The Offshoot Foundation, Newmarket. For free film making workshops in Newmarket for people aged 10 to 16 and up to 18-years for people with Special Education Needs or Disabilities. £5,500.

36.  The Voluntary Network, Newmarket. Supporting people aged 60 plus through companionship. £15,600.

37.  Volunteer Matters, Bury St Edmunds. For Ambassador Programme for 16 to 18-year-olds at West Suffolk College who speak English as an additional language (EAL). The project is designed to equip young people to become leaders for change through social action, supporting integration between EAL students and the wider community. £4,039.

38.  West Suffolk Hive Community Interest Company, West Suffolk. Health and wellbeing support through connection with nature and mindfulness and community support. £6,446.

In addition, £37,781 from the council’s allocation from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund earmarked for Community Safety and Youth Projects has been allocated to four projects which had applied to the Thriving Communities Fund.

In the case of Newmarket Charitable Foundation, the money below would top up its recommended Thriving Communities Fund grant to £8,000.

1.   Brave Futures, West Suffolk. Offering specialist support to 11 children agreed between five and 18 who are dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse. £15,000.

2.   Newmarket Charitable Foundation. For youth hub offering safe inclusive space offering emotional and practical support, mentoring, counselling, careers advice and more. £281.

3.   Suffolk Family Carers, West Suffolk. Wellbeing support for family carers, helping them feel less isolated, better equipped and more resilient in their caring roles. £7,500.

4.   SOS Bus, Newmarket. Continued operation of SOS Bus. £15,000.

Applicants who won’t receive money from the Thriving Communities Fund or the full amount applied for, will be offered support including directing them to other grants within the council as well as other appropriate sources of local and national funding.

One example of this is West Suffolk Council’s Communities Capital Fund which is funded using £80,000 from the money allocated to the council from the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF).

Thirteen applicants who weren’t put forward for Thriving Communities Fund are currently being considered for grants under the Communities Capital Fund.

The Thriving Communities Fund will reopen to applications in the summer.