Riverside has awarded grants to three groups in Runcorn to help support people during the Covid-19 crisis.
When we launched the Community Chest Fund – an annual £50K fund which is supporting our regeneration project in the Halton Lea area – lockdown had just begun.
With that in mind, we made our application process more flexible, allowing groups to bid for funding to support Covid-19-related projects, as well as more long-term schemes which would positively impact the community.
So, while we’ve had eight tremendous bids, the more long-term of which are still being judged, we’ve acted quickly to release funding to three of them which are designed to provide support straight away.
The first award goes to Four Estates, a volunteer led charity, who have been given £2,000 to support their foodbank and household items service.
The second goes to Sew Halton, a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, who are awarded £5,000 to fund a virtual, online sewing course for adults and children which the group hope will brighten up lives over the summer.
The third award goes to the Queen of Hearts Foodbank providing vital food supplies to those most in need during this difficult time. They have been given £1,000 to continue to support our residents in Halton Lea.
Dean Butterworth, Riverside’s regional director for Liverpool City Region, said: “We’ve worked closely with Four Estates and Sew Halton throughout the initiation phase of our regeneration project in Halton Lea so we were delighted to be able to continue to support them further through this year’s Community Chest Fund 2020.
“We hope these projects will help to spread a little cheer and create some real community togetherness during what has been a tricky time for everyone due to Covid-19.
“We’re grateful to all of the excellent bids we’ve had to the Community Chest Fund and I look forward to being able to award further funding once the remaining bids have been judged.”
For more information about Riverside’s Community Chest Fund, please visit www.riverside.org.uk/haltonlea