More than £65k for winter connections
More than £65,000 has been handed out to groups in Renfrewshire as part of the council’s Winter Connections programme.
The project involves organisations hosting events at warm spaces where people can connect with others in their community.
The initiative, which has received £80,000 in funding, has been a key component of the local authority’s cost-of-living response.
Groups interested in running the free events or activities, which are mostly on until March, have been able to apply for grants of up to £2,000.
An update to this Wednesday’s leadership board confirmed 37 bids – representing a total of £68,850 – have been approved so far.
These have included those from a range of organisations, such as Active Communities in Johnstone, Home-Start and Star Project in Paisley and community councils in Howwood and Linwood.
A report said: “The development of the Winter Connections programme has been a key focus for officers in December and January.
“As elected members will be aware £70,000 of funding was allocated from the Fairer Renfrewshire programme to support the delivery of Winter Connections activities, with an additional £10,000 funding allocated to OneRen to deliver activities.
“A Winter Connections funding process was developed at pace, with approvals being made from October 2022.”
It continued: “The funding is now almost fully exhausted, with the remainder being used to target gaps within specific communities.
“Work is also ongoing to evaluate the success of the programme, and to identify opportunities to build on the collaboration with local groups and organisations beyond the winter period.”
The programme was one of a number of actions given the green light at a leadership board last September, which also included money for winter clothing payments, an advice pilot in high schools and funding for community food initiatives.
Councillors hoped the broad package of relief measures – worth around half-a-million pounds – would provide some respite to those in need during the difficult economic climate.
Work is onoing to evaluate the success of the programme and to identify opportunities