Community Grants

84^th Leicester (Littlethorpe) Scouts were awarded a £4000 Green Grant in March 2022 to replace old fluorescent lighting and storage heaters with more energy efficient solutions.

Paul Cooper, Honorary Treasurer of the groups says: "The old and inefficient storage heaters have all been replaced by new modern and energy efficient storage heaters. We have replaced our old fluorescent tube lighting with new energy efficient LED lighting. We expect our energy costs to be reduced by at least 35% over the coming years, which is very important as energy costs have increased and forecast to increase more. We estimate this will save at least £800 per year at current costs. The new devices have an expected life of 10+yrs for lighting and approximately 20+yrs for the heaters. These cost reductions will mean that we can continue to provide a valued community facility, where we balance off some of the cost increase with a reduction in consumption; the result will mean cost increases to be passed on to our users and their families will be significantly less."

Countesthorpe Academy was awarded a £4000 Capital Grant in December 2022 to resurface an area of outdoor space to make it a suitable place for physical activity/play. 

Chris Ripley, Facilities and Programme Lead at the Academy says: "The funding has supported Countesthorpe Academy to transform an area of the school that is now used at break and lunchtimes as a suitable play area for students to be physically active and creative through play. The new play area has already started to improve the health and wellbeing of students currently on-roll at the Academy. The school is already seeing less instances of disrespectful and intimidating behaviour and more instances of positive social interaction and physically active play. All students within the Academy are benefitting from the positive change in culture on site".

Whetstone Good Neighbour Scheme was awarded a £500 Revenue Grant in June 2022 to fund a social event for residents supported by the scheme and who are experiencing isolation and loneliness. 

Louise Hathaway, chair of the scheme says: "The benefit was overwhelming - seeing people swap phone numbers, laughing and having the feeling of being part of a community. Some of the people had not been out since before lockdown as they were too scared to come on the event we held last year. Being able to have conversations with people face to face, discuss fears and gain connections made them feel human again.  As a scheme we are so grateful to you for supporting us with this. We have a mixture of ages and they have all sorts of disabilities, a lot with Cancer and undergoing treatment, or dementia. Without the funds we would struggle to get people together, so thank you all for your support and funding". 

Thistly Meadow Primary School was awarded a £500 Everyone Active grant in January 2022. 

Amanda Gordon, Business Manager at the school says: "The project was to run an after-school fitness club aimed at improving the fitness and mental well-being of a group of pupils who have been particularly badly affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. In total, 30 children participated in the sessions. These children were invited to attend based on their needs, to support their mental health, improve their fitness levels and confidence. We found that we had to split the sessions into two halves during the term so that more children could participate. The children were very enthusiastic about the sessions and it made a real difference to them. Due to the popularity of this project it is something we would like to continue if funding can be sourced."