GreenSquareAccord doubles maximum grant available through Community Impact Fund
A housing association serving the West Midlands has increased the amount of funding which local charities and voluntary groups can bid for.
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Launched in October 2022, GreenSquareAccord’s (GSA) Community Impact Fund is an initiative designed to support customer groups, local charities, voluntary and community groups and organisations operating within our localities.
The total amount of grant now available through GSA’s Community Impact Fund has doubled to £2,000 per successful application.
Through the fund, the housing provider offers grants to projects that benefit their customers and the neighbourhoods they live in.
Recently, GSA‘s Community Impact Fund awarded:
A grant of £910 to it’s a Family Thing CIC, to provide creative, arts and craft out-of-school activities for children and young people aged 5-12 in Bilston.
£1,000 to Purposeful Active Living to facilitate strength and balance sessions for over 65s in Walsall
Redditch Entaco Cricket Club a grant of £1000 to provide new equipment and fund coaching for children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Last summer, GSA funded it’s a Family Thing CIC, a community organisation, to run the Creative Dreams: Bilston project providing creative, arts and craft out-of-school activities for children and young people aged 5-12 in Wolverhampton. Activities were led by a diverse group of practitioners from different disciplines, with the aim of creating access, improving opportunities and increasing wellness.
Natalie Haslam, Project Manager of It’s a Family Thing CIC, said: “If we did not receive funding from GSA, we would not be able to run the Creative Dreams: Bilston project.
“This project is hyper local, meaning we provide regular holiday/weekend arts activities (mostly for free) on people’s doorsteps, creating opportunities for children and young people to take part - all led by high quality artists.
“Our goal was to connect people (families, children and young people) together, promote social cohesion, reduce isolation especially for single parents, and contribute towards placemaking.”
Since it started in April 2023, GSA has awarded over £40,000 to over 40 projects through their Community Impact Fund.
The funding for the social landlord’s community investment schemes comes from social value rebates and donations from some of their supply chain partners in addition to a small investment from GSA.
Sian Every, Community and Investment and Social Value Lead at GSA, said: “It has been amazing to see how the fund has gone from strength to strength.
“Over the last few years, we have benefited our customers and their local areas by funding community clean ups, art projects and activities for young people to name but a few of the initiatives we’ve supported.
“It is very encouraging to see the maximum amount of grant available, per application, increase from £1,000 to £2,000. This has been made possible by the generosity of our suppliers such as Jewson Partnerships, Rexel UK, Abbey Group Services, SMS Environmental.”
Find out more about GSA’s Community Impact Fund at greensquareaccord.co.uk
