Community groups thrown £6k ‘lifeline’
COMMUNITY and voluntary groups serving the town have been awarded more than £6,000 in the latest round of council grants.
In the first set of payments in the new municipal year, Cheshire East Council approved the following:
East Cheshire Sub Aqua Club, based in Lower Bank Street, Macclesfield, were given £2,500 towards the £8,000 they need to refurbish the kitchen in their club house to support community events.
The grant was allowed after council environmental health officers visited and ruled the kitchen is no longer fit for purpose, meaning all food must now be prepared off site.
The club plan to cover the remainder with fundraising and through existing club funds.
Poynton Parish Plan Monitoring Group has been given £2,500 towards the £18,000 it is spending on building a heritage garden in the grounds near the library.
The group is trying to raise the money through fundraising, parish coun- cil, donations and other grant funders.
The 1st Sutton St James Scout and Guide group were awarded £536 towards new stage lighting at the Scout headquarters.
The stage is used at least 14 times a year, including its own Gang Show and fundraising concerts.
The Neuromuscular Centre, which serves people with muscular dystrophy across the whole county from its base in Winsford, was awarded £750 towards the £1,000 cost of setting up a wheelchair football team.
It wasn’t good news for other local groups, however.
King Edward Music Society of Macclesfield were denied £714 to buy four acoustic screens to protect the orchestral players ears from damage by excessive orchestral volumes, while Disley Arts Society were refused £350 towards their ambition to hold demonstrations and workshops for their new members.
Prestbury Choral Society were not given the £250 they wanted to towards the £439 cost to produce programme brochures and other advertising materials for their concerts.
Coun Paul Bates, cabinet member for communities, said: “Community grants provide a lifeline for many local groups who simply wouldn’t be able to survive, let alone thrive, without our support. What is really impressive is the tremendous community work that can be ‘unlocked’ and enabled by the provision of relatively small amounts of money.”