Community will lose out as small grants programme is axed

The small grants programme run by Arun District Council has fallen victim to its cost-cutting regime.

The axe will fall next March to mean applications will still be accepted for the final months of the handouts.

Among those to benefit from a grant last year was the Bognor Community Action Network.

It received 5,000 towards its summer town show. Development manager Carol Fullick said: "It's really disappointing.

"A lot of small voluntary organisations really do rely on help like that to function. Without it, a lot of them could find they are unable to hold activities or even fold.

"A small amount of funding goes a long way in the voluntary sector. It makes a big difference.

"At the end of the day, it's the community which is going to lost out because there will be less for them to enjoy if the organisations can't put on events.

"It's a shame because people make a contribution through their council tax and they will receive less benefit from it."

Norman Dingemans, Arun's cabinet member for economic and cultural development, said its tight financial regime meant it had to look at all its funding for the voluntary and community sector.

"Research shows more than 60 per cent of voluntary and community organisations never approach the council for funding," he said.

"Financial support is one way of helping these organisations, but there are other ways to help them thrive.

"We are currently carrying out a pilot study in Arun to establish what kind of support would make the most difference to these small, but vitally-important, community groups."

Arun would continue to put 17,000 annually into a joint small grants scheme run by the Arun Wellbeing and Health Partnership alongside the county council and health service, he said.

The district council was also committed to keeping its funding for organisations such as the Council for Voluntary Service-Arunwide, the district's two Citizen's Advice Bureaux, two community transport organisations and the Arun Volunteer Centre.

This amounted to about 184,000 a year and included a guarantee of more than 110,000 a year for three years for the local CABs which helped them to secure extra funding.