Organisations working to address poverty in Leicester – such as schools, charities, community groups and businesses – can now apply to the city council for a grant of up to £10,000 to support their work.
Applications for Leicester’s Anti-Poverty Community Grants opened this week, with the council keen to hear from groups with new ideas that will help people through the cost of living crisis, as well as from those wanting to expand an existing project.
The council is particularly encouraging applications from anti-poverty projects that will benefit families and children, support mental health and target debt, help those who are digitally excluded, address the poverty experienced by those in work, and that have a sustainable theme.
Ideas could include a re-use project that collects, cleans and repairs outgrown school uniforms, before passing them on to families who need them, a scheme to recycle white goods and make them available to those who would struggle to buy them, or a service that helps vulnerable people complete grant application forms.
Deputy city mayor Cllr Sarah Russell, who leads on the city council’s anti-poverty programme, said: “Leicester is fortunate to have a very active community and voluntary sector that does incredible work to support people.
“By providing these grants, we will help an even wider network of organisations to provide support to even more individuals and families, as they struggle with rising food and fuel bills.
“We welcome bids of all sizes, whether it’s a community group seeking £2,000 to improve its food preparation and storage areas, or a scheme led by a charity and supported by a local business that needs £10,000 to trial a new small-scale project.
“This programme shows our determination to support local people through the cost of living and energy crisis. Working with our partners, we will do all that we can to tackle poverty and mitigate its impact on Leicester.”
Full details about the scheme, eligibility criteria and the application form are available at leicester.gov.uk/anti-povertygrants
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 7 December.
