Issue - decisions

The committee received a report from the Operations and Resources Manager.

 

Members asked the following questions regarding the grant proposals:

 

Councillor Price: Asked why officers were recommending no funding for the Kings Hedges Brownies (Ref: N18).

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that unfortunately grant funding could not be allocated for bursaries. However officers were recommending that the full cost of the Kings Hedges Brownies summer/autumn trips be awarded (Ref: N17) and it was therefore hoped that any income generated from the trips could then be put towards paying bursaries.

 

Councillor Price thanked the officer for the reply and asked that the Brownies be informed that any additional income generated from the trip could be used for bursaries.

 

Councillor Manning: Asked what checks and balances were in place for checking what specific grants had been spent on.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that all recipients of grants were required to sign a funding agreement. A Monitoring Report was then produced by officers and presented back to Councillors annually.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones: Noted that whilst officers had recommended no funding for the Little Acorns (Ref: N30) as under 5’s were under the remit of the Council, the Rainbow Playgroup (Ref: N24) were recommended to receive funding.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that, as the outside shelter proposed by the Rainbow Playgroup would benefit children that may not otherwise have access to outside play space, officers felt that it fitted the specific remits of the grants.

 

A representative from St Lukes Church and Community Centre highlighted the important work undertaken by groups such as the Little Acorns and urged the committee to consider allocating some funding.

 

Councillor Manning: Confirmed that he would have promoted the grants more widely if it had been made clear that the funding could be used for capital projects such as a permanent shelter (Ref: N24). 

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed there was flexibility, and capital projects could be funded providing they fitted within the remit of the grants.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones: Asked if those groups not allocated funding would be signposted to other sources of funding.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that other sources of funding such as the ‘Young Lives’ awards were signposted and the Cambridge Centre for Voluntary Services (CVS) and the Community Foundation assisted with this process.

 

Mr Bond: Confirmed that publicity for the grants had been very good and was circulated widely.

 

A representative from St Lukes Church and Community Centre felt that publicity could be more widely circulated with more guidance on applying for a grant.

 

These comments were noted.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones: Asked if the committee could consider reducing the amount allocated for Rainbow Playgroup by £500 and propose this for the Little Acorns. 

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that this would depend on the committee’s views on allocating funding for areas that were under the remit of the County Council.

 

Councillor Manning and Councillor Price confirmed that they were happy with recommendations as included in the officer’s report.

 

Councillor Brierly: Asked if the grant funding could be used for carer’s activities.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that ‘carer’ was a general term that could also relate to a parent or family member and was therefore within the remit of the grants.

 

Councillor Brierly: Asked what would happen with the remaining £298 left in the budget.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that it would be beneficial to retain some of the budget as smaller bids for activities such as summer trips may come in later in the year.

 

Councillor O’Reilly: Asked what advice was given to potential applicants about the specific remit of the grants.

 

The Operations and Resources Manager confirmed that all potential applicants were advised to speak with an officer prior to submitting their application. It would be as part of this process that they would be advised if their project fitted the remit of the grants. 

 

However, unfortunately potential applicants did not always approach the Council for this advice before progressing with their applications.

 

Councillor Price: Expressed his support for Red Hen (Ref: N25) application and emphasised the important work that this group undertook. 

  

This comment was noted.

 

Councillor Manning: Encouraged attendance at the May Day one off event on the land near the new Riverside Bridge (Ref: N29)

 

This comment was noted.

 

Members resolved (unanimously) to

 

Agree the proposed awards as detailed below:

 

Ref	Organisation	Purpose	Award
N1	18th Cambridge Scout Group	Catering equipment	£2,000
N2*	Arbury Carnival	2013 Carnival 8.6.13	£2,500
N3	Arbury Townswomen's Guild	Speakers for meetings	£250
N4	Bridho Society	Monthly meetings and trips	£1,000
N5*	Chesterton Community Association	Meetings and newsletters	£600
N6	Chesterton Community Choir	Room hire, music director	£220
N7*	Chesterton Festival Committee	Chesterton Festival 28-30/6/13	£3,520
N8	Chesterton Parents Group	Trip to Shepreth Zoo	£1,390
N9	Chesterton Parents Group	3 story telling sessions	£190
N10	Darwin Drive Residents Association	Multi cultural cooking exchange	£200
N11	Darwin Drive Youth Association	Sports, community activities, trips	£1,000
N12	Fen Estate & Nuffield Road Area Residents Association (FENRA)	Welcome event, leaflets events	£100
N13	Fen Estate & Nuffield Road Area Residents Association (FENRA)	Quarterly newsletter	£574
N14	Friends of Histon Road Cemetery	3 newsletters, website, posters, meetings	£1,000
N15	Friends of Histon Road Cemetery	Histon Road Cemetery History Day	£200
N16	Grovebury Ladies Club	50th anniversary event and 2 trips	£800
N17	Kings Hedges Brownies	2 trips	£1,490
N18	Kings Hedges Brownies	Bursary for 3 girls	£0
N19	Kings Hedges Family Support Project	Play worker for activities with older siblings	£500
N20	Meadows Centre Bowlers	Weekly 2 hour carpet bowls sessions	£1,116
N21	Meadows Children and Family Wing	Monday & Tuesday after school clubs	£2,000
N22	Not Quite Over the Hill Club	4 parties and 4 trips	£1,656
N23	Old Chesterton Residents Association (OCRA)	Meeting costs, AGM, campaigns, printing	£449
N24	Rainbow Playgroup	Outside shelter at playgroup premises	£1,000
N25	Red Hen	Toys and equipment and family trip	£800
N26	Romsey Mill	After school youth club	£1,000
N27	Sport Cambridge CIC	Summer holiday multi sports activities	£4,200
N28	St Andrews Hall	Chesterton Community Carols	£246
N29	St Andrews Hall	May Day event	£203
N30	St Lukes Church & Community Centre – Little Acorns	Baby toddler and carer's group	£0
N31	St Lukes Church & Community Centre – Everyone’s welcome	Fortnightly soup lunches, afternoon teas	£1,000
N32	St Lukes Church & Community Centre – Live Wires	After school activities	£250

 

* This committee approved N2, N5 and N7 awards in November 2012.

 

 

Budget available	£31,752
Total awards	£31,454
Budget remaining	£298