Community’s £10k boost from kitty
EDEL KENEALY
Fernhill children will enjoy a holiday to Blackpool, a trip to see Santa and endless hours of football after £10,000 was dished out to community groups and volunteers in the scheme.
Ten groups and individuals secured funding for a host of community initiatives through the Fernhill Kitty.
Established by the Corra Foundation and South Lanarkshire Council, the kitty is being used to fund initiatives locals have identified as being important in a community survey earlier this year.
Groups and individuals submitted applications for cash and those assessed as meeting community priorities were invited to set up stalls at Fernhill community centre where residents could learn more about their plans and vote for the ideas they liked best.
The biggest winner on the day was Fernhill Playscheme which secured £3000 to take families to Blackpool, while Fernhill Youth Project was awarded £2000 to fund gym memberships for 16 teenagers.
A local woman’s bid to bring up to 150 people from the scheme to see Santa at M&Ds at a cost of £1277.50 was also successful.
And three football clubs won support including Fulham Boys Club and Fernhill Soccer School who will use the money to train volunteers to become qualified football coaches. Fernhill United also succeeded in its £630 bid for football strips.
Smaller groups such as Scope and Enable, who work with people with additional support needs in Fernhill, also secured funding for music therapy and bowling sessions respectively.
Children’s activity club Rockets secured £200 to refresh its equipment.
A final group called Communities Together, which aims to foster community spirit in Fernhill through gala events secured £327.50 towards its plans for a Christmas gala.
Jayde Morton, chairwoman of the Fernhill Kitty Committee – made up of council officers, councillors, residents and representatives of community groups – said the everyone was “ecstatic” to see so many ideas receive the backing of local people.
Jayde explained more than 300 people cast their allocated five votes during the open day, ensuring the projects funded were truly supported by locals.
She said: “The key thing to come out of the survey we did earlier this year was the community wanted to get people to come to events to get to know each other better in a bid to remove social isolation amongst residents.
“These projects will definitely help to achieve that.”
Jayde added: “It was so positive to see how many people were engaged. If we were to do this again for a community kitty – and I would love to see this run next year – I think it could go much further and I know that’s something we are very determined to pursue.”
Many of the groups who campaigned for funding through the kitty process have also benefitted from increased exposure and advertising in their work, with many organisations gaining more members and volunteers thanks to the experience.