Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Over £2.5 million is available.

More than £2.5 million is available for local community projects thanks to Wiltshire Council and its partners achieving Government-set targets last year.

It is a great opportunity to get funding for projects which are both important locally, and contribute to the aims of the new council and its partners. The Government has given Wiltshire Council £5.4 million in the form of a performance reward grant, and people can apply for a portion of that for local community projects through their local area board. Once approved by the area board, the applications will be decided upon by a panel made up of people from local organisations.

£1.6 million of the grant will be reinvested in the target areas that earned the grant, to take forward Wiltshire’s ambitions. Another £1 million will support some countywide initiatives to combat the recession under Action for Wiltshire.

The balance of £2.8 million is available over two to three years for bids from area boards that propose initiatives that are important to local people, as well as being inline with the council’s goals.

Wiltshire agreed a Local Public Service Agreement with Government that ended in March 2008. This contained 12 difficult targets that required a number of organisations to work together to achieve the improvement. The performance of the council and its partners against these targets earned a performance reward grant of £5.4 million. This is paid by the Government over two years, half in 2009 and half in 2010.

Sharon Britton, director of performance at Wiltshire Council, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Wiltshire Council to fund local projects that local people want, while also helping the council contribute towards its aims. I would encourage people to get in contact with their area board to discuss their project ideas and whether it may be suitable for consideration for this funding.”

Local people should approach their area board to bid for funding, more information can be found by phoning 01225 713094 or visiting the rewards scheme web page. . Area board contact details can be found by visiting WC area boards.