Exeter Decides again – £500 on offer to improve your community

People in Exeter with great ideas to improve their local area can take advantage of a great opportunity – to bid for council money to turn their ideas into reality. Grants up to a maximum of £500 each are on offer to communities across the city and members of the public will decide who gets the money.

The funds are available as part of My Neighbourhood PACT, a pilot project in eight areas of the city to empower communities to bring about positive change. The city council is committed to involving residents in making decisions about issues that affect their neighbourhood.

Cllr Laura Newton, Lead Councillor for Housing and Community Involvement, said: “This is a second opportunity for residents across the city to apply for a My Neighbourhood Community grant. The first round was in May and ten groups were successful in securing funding to put their ideas into action.

To apply for the community grants, you don’t have to live in one of the eight My Neighbourhood PACT areas, you just need to convince a panel and Exeter residents that the money will be spent on something that benefits your community.

Laura said: “We want to find innovative ways to involve residents in decisions affecting their community and these grants are a great way of doing that. Ultimately, it comes down to a public vote to decide who’s successful – the people of Exeter will decide how and where the money is best spent.”

In total £15,000 of council funds has been earmarked to give out in three rounds of community grants. £5,000 is on offer in the second round – in grants of up to £500 each. Full details and application forms can be found on the My Neighbourhood website. The closing date is Friday, July 2.

Applicants will be invited to attend a special Exeter Decides event on Saturday, July 17 in the Guildhall. They’ll be asked to make a short presentation to a panel and members of the public. It will then be up to Exeter residents to decide which proposals receive funding.

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