3 February 1998

Charities Board announce 87 grant awards in Wales

Across Wales 87 voluntary organisations and charities have been awarded grants totalling £201,164 in the latest round of Small Grants announced by the Charities Board. The announcement was by Chairman of the Wales Committee, Tom Jones, at a press conference in Pontypool today.

"The Small Grants scheme is an on-going programme to provide grants to organisations which are in immediate need of money to fund particular projects. The diversity of groups awarded today reflects the wide range of applications for Small Grants," said Tom Jones. The Eating Disorders Group based in Pontypool received £3,880 towards promoting awareness and training; in Flintshire the Holway Amateur Gardeners Club received £584 towards setting up a gardening equipment loan scheme for use by the elderly and disadvantaged residents; and the all-Wales group Child Safe Wales received £1,600 towards a seminar and promotions throughout Wales. Groups for the elderly, playgroups and community halls throughout Wales also received grants ranging between £500 and £5,000 to further their work in their communities.

Tom Jones added, "Groups from all over Wales are receiving these awards today and this is an opportunity to pause and congratulate all those who work very hard for their various causes. In the voluntary sector, there is a tremendous diversity not only in the nature of the work being done but also in the size and organisation of the charities. The public in Wales will be very aware of the strength of the voluntary sector on the grass-roots level. Their success is a credit to hard work by volunteers and the generosity and support of local communities. Through the Small Grants scheme the Charities Board aims to help and accelerate the development potential of the groups by offering funds for elements such as equipment, training, publicity, feasibility studies, events, volunteer expenses, building repair, education and seminars, etc. It is therefore not the sum of money as much as what a group can achieve that is significant with a Small Grant. I am very encouraged that collectively the Small Grants awards are enabling the development of a stronger and more confident grass-roots voluntary sector in Wales."

Charities Board Wales Director, Roy Norris said "Wales was the first to pilot the Small Grants scheme and it has paid good dividends to those who took up the challenge and made applications. To date 745 groups have been awarded £1.7 million in Small Grants in Wales. The popularity of these grants can be explained by the fact that the money is distributed to identified local projects in a short and straightforward application process. The current results reflect the quality of the submissions with a one-in-two success rate. There are always opportunities for those who have not been awarded grants to try again."