Each of your 30 Councillors have a 'ward budget' of up to £3,000 to help community projects. We spoke to three recipients about how the grant funding has helped support their project and also benefit the local community.
The Member Ward Grants scheme is open for the 2024/25 financial year
Hythe Triangle
We spoke to Ashley from the Hythe Triangle Community Garden about the project and what the funding was able to achieve.
Can you tell us a little bit about the project?
The Hythe Triangle Community Garden was formed in 2016 following a round of community fundraising used to secure the purchase of the land, which sites at the junction of St Leonard's Road and Albert Road in Hythe. We are a charity led by 6 local trustees.
How will the ward budget scheme go to help your project?
The ward budget scheme, combined with donations from the community, enabled us to buy trees, wildflower seeds and employ a local contractor to undertake much-needed repairs to a section of the boundary wall that forms the Triangle.
How has/will this project benefit the residents of Hythe?
We provide a space for community gardening for Hythe residents. Our project welcomes anyone and promotes social cohesion and aims to prevent isolation by bringing people together regardless of the ability or background.
What sort of work does your project do for our local community?
We are custodians for The Triangle which is a grade II listed former animal pound at the heart of the south Hythe community.
Can you tell us how local residents can get involved with your project?
During spring, summer and autumn, we host regular gardening events. These are publicised on our notice board and on various social media platforms. People can just turn up on the days and get stuck in and there is always plenty to do. Residents can also support our fundraising work.
What are some of your hopes/aims for the future of the community project?
People may not be aware of our project so we constantly strive to involve more people from across the community. We are hoping to work with schools, other community groups and potentially enable the site to be used for social prescribing.
Why do you think the ward budget scheme is important for local communities?
The ward budget scheme provides vital support to community groups that in turn support residents that would otherwise have fewer opportunities to be active in the community. We noticed that ward budget scheme funding empowered other people to donate and become involved in our project.
Cllr Whybrow awarded this project £300. She said: "I am delighted to be able to support this project which has both brought the local community together and improved a previously neglected part of Hythe's heritage."
Sunflower House
We spoke to Jon from the Sunflower Coffee House about the project and what the funding was able to achieve.
Can you tell us a little bit about the project?
Sunflower Coffee House is a simple idea to allow anyone to drop in, find out more about what we have going on, to talk with friendly people if they are looking for help & signpost the best options.
Our aim longer term is to help strengthen our community's' confidence and establish something similar to a first stop shop arrangement.
How will the ward budget scheme go to help your project?/ How has the ward budget scheme gone to help your project?
Very simply, the ward grant received covered the core costs of heat, light, refreshments which then allows us to build volunteer capacity and trial the scheme.
How has/will this project benefit the residents of Folkestone Central?
There is plenty of evidence that many people are already facing hardship and more lies ahead: having safe spaces, points of human contact will be critical and we can create a win-win situation where we also welcome participation and engagement at Sunflower House in our training workshops, activities and work.
What sort of work does your project do for our local community?
We offer well-being activities, personal development and simple training workshops - such as Makaton, emergency first aid, wellbeing walks. We also hire the space to groups who offer affordable activities for families, such as Karate, Yoga, dance and drama.
Can you tell us how local residents can get involved with your project?
We have a simple contact form on the front page the sunflower house website - click on what you want to do and we get someone to respond as soon as possible.
What are some of your hopes/aims for the future of the community project?
We want to continue to develop our vision of this wonderful community building.
Why do you think the ward budget scheme is important for local communities?
The scheme can and often does serve to pump prime community activism - it would be interesting to assess the value of the "match funding" along with the community commitments of time and energy which have developed or been sustained as a result.
Cllr Davison awarded this project £300. She said: "It's great to be able to support community schemes like the wonderful Sunflower house which is growing into a community hub for many vital local projects. The drop in sessions have provided space and time for ideas and conversations to develop and it will be brilliant to see these coming to fruition."
Sellindge Tennis Club
We spoke to Caroline from Sellindge Tennis Club about the project and what the funding was able to achieve.
Can you tell us a little bit about the project?
The Sellindge Tennis Club has two tarmacadam, floodlit tennis courts. Early on in 2021, the club had a change in committee and along with the increase in members, the committee identified that the two courts were in dire need of resurfacing, having not been resurfaced in over 20 years.
To provide a flavour of the issues, primarily because there was no weed membrane surrounding the courts this caused the roots of the surrounding conifer trees on one side of the courts to crack the tarmacadam. As the courts were not in good condition, they became slippery when wet and, in addition to many years of wear and tear, the root damage had contributed to the tarmacadam becoming loose and uneven.
As a committee, we were eager to address the condition of the courts by resurfacing them with some of the cost covered by the club's sink fund.
How has/will the ward budget scheme go to help your project?
The ward budget helped to contribute to the total costs of replacing the court surface in November 2021. This contribution along with fundraising and grants by other means allowed us to resurface them fairly swiftly.
Early on in 2021 we were also provided with monies to support some on site signage to drive membership. From April 2021, we went from 38 members to 244 members including 100 juniors.
How has/will this project benefit the residents of North Downs East?
Many of our local residents now enjoy playing tennis. We've introduced many to the sport from as young as four right up to those who are now in their retirement. By resurfacing the courts we have been able to continue to promote tennis in the local community in a safe environment.
What sort of work does your project do for our local community?
Not only do we offer tennis coaching and membership of the club, our coaches offer free tennis coaching throughout the academic year to the following primary schools: Sellindge, Lympne, Brabourne, Smeeth, Stowting and Mersham.
We've also been able to encourage those children on free school meals to come along and have free tennis coaching during the Easter and Summer 2021 holidays and have grant monies to do the same in summer 2022. We have strong connections with the Caldecott Foundation and last year offered up our courts for funded coaching to some of their residents.
Finally, outside of playing tennis we run a full range activities and events throughout the year including quiz nights, race nights and free tennis via the Sellindge Sports and Social Club Open days all open to the community encouraging friendships, community spirit and encouraging social interaction.
Can you tell us how local residents can get involved with your project?
If local residents are interested in joining our tennis club they should head to Sellindge tennis club website.
What are some of your hopes/aims for the future of the community project?
We have now secured funding from the Roger De Hann Charitable trust and Sellindge Parish Council for new fencing which will be installed at the end of June. We hope to continue the momentum of improving our facility for our members and to encourage even more local residents to pick up a racquet, meet new friends, have fun and all at the same time help to support better health outcomes.
In March 2022 - Sellindge Tennis Club won LTA Kent club of the year for the vast improvements we've realised over the last year. Our level 5 coach (one of only 6 in the county) was also highly commended for the work he and his team have done over the year at Sellindge Tennis club.
Why do you think the ward budget scheme is important for local communities?
The ward budget for us was important as it allowed us to more quickly address our immediate facility improvements. Without it we'd have never been able to resurface our courts in 2021.
In addition, with the help and support of Cllrs Susan Carey and Jenny Hollingsbee we've been able to tap into other funding such as the Reconnect scheme which has really made a difference to us as a club not more importantly those children in our local community.
Cllr Hollingsbee awarded this project £500. She said: "Sellindge Tennis Club has worked tirelessly in reforming the Club and recruiting new members, which resulted in the need to improve the two Courts. We were delighted to support the Club with funding for new signage and to resurface the tennis courts. We also linked them in with the 'Reconnect fund' which enabled work to take place with Primary Schools and vulnerable families. Congratulations to Sellindge Tennis Club, which in a very short space of time, achieved the LTA Kent Tennis Club of the Year 2021."