Council awards community grants

Hertford Town Council have awarded Community Grants to four local organisations in support of their work in the town.

The council's Finance, Policy & Administration Committee met on Monday to discuss both Community Grants and New Homes Bonus Grants for a total of eight local organisations.

Each year, the town council sets aside an amount to help local people or organisations fund projects, purchases or repairs. Applicants must live within the parish and the money should be used locally and show a clear benefit to Hertford residents. The Grants are awarded quarterly.

At Monday's meeting The Sele School was awarded £1200 towards the cost of sending four Year 12 students to Japan to participate in the initiative UK-Japan Young Scientist Workshop Programme.

A further £1200 was awarded to Hertfordshire Festival of Music towards the cost of promotion of three events in Hertford at the Friends Meeting House and All Saints Church during 2020.

Hertford Quakers received funding of £1200 towards the cost of developing a range of materials to celebrate the 350th anniversary year.

Finally, Hertford Book Festival were awarded £1,200 towards the cost of delivering a book Festival in 2020.

The New Homes Bonus is a grant paid by central government to local councils to reflect and incentivise housing growth in their areas. The grants are distributed by local authorities to support and encourage a diverse range of improvement schemes and projects to meet the needs of Hertford Residents and businesses.

The committee discussed three applications for funding from Replenish Refill Store CIC, Groundwork East and Hertford Arts Hub.

All three applications were declined due to financial concerns.

This report was corrected on Saturday 11th January to reflect the fact that Keech Hospice Care were unsuccessful in their applicaion for a Community Grant.