Active Parishes Promoting Local Communities

Promote your local community 

Community Lincs has £250,000 available to organisations, individuals and communities throughout Lincolnshire through the Active Parishes Grant Programme. The only excluded area is the city of Lincoln This programme supports: 

• Activity that enhances the community in a way that allows local business to flourish
• Provision of training to help individuals increase their employment opportunities
• Setting up of local networks for a community or specific group
• Development and production of local business directories or websites
• Initiatives that enhance the local economy (e.g. improved signage, better shop frontage, information boards)
• Empowering the community to shape their local area; providing skills training to improve motivation and confidence skills of local people to enable them to speak up for their communities

  What’s on offer?

Grants of up to £10,000 are available subject to the provision of match funding of 25% or more. All we ask is that there is evidence to show that the projects have the backing of the local community.  

Who can apply?Examples of the type of groups who can apply are:

• Completely new community organisations
• Existing community organisations
• Local small  businesses including Social Enterprises
• Community Led Plan Steering Groups
• Parish Councils
• Village hall committees

• Saxilby produced a Community Led Plan in 2006 that identified the need to promote local businesses and tourism in the village. The Parish council has been awarded a grant of £2,737 to develop a tourism strategy and produce information boards that will be placed at prominent locations in the village promoting services that local businesses have to offer.
• A local businessman in a market town in the north of the county has joined forces with several other businesses to promote and support business activity in the town. They plan to do this by developing a business directory, creating a forum, holding networking meetings and facilitating training and information to businesses that sign up to the forum. Having developed a constitution, the forum will be able to apply to the Active Parishes programme for funding to support their suggested activities.
• A Social Enterprise in Gainsborough that works with disadvantaged young people has been awarded £10,000 to develop a motorcycle workshop providing young people with the opportunity to undertake accredited training courses alongside basic literacy and numeric skills. In addition there will be the opportunity to learn to ride the bikes!

• Provision of local facilities e.g. local shop, community post office, café, market
• Community broadband connection
• Training facility that can be used by local groups and businesses
• Heritage/ Tourism centre
• Improvements to the visual appearance of your high street
• Setting up local business clubs