Community Pride

Given the unprecedented arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, during spring 2020, Cheltenham Borough Council pooled its annual community pride fund with funding from Gloucestershire County Council to create a joint pot – the Community Resilience Fund.

This £100k fund has since supported 51 local voluntary sector agencies and community groups to support vulnerable people during the Covid-19 crisis, helping them to cover additional costs they incurred due to increased activity or functions that they had insufficient resources to meet. The fund also enabled support to be given to recovery efforts within communities, particularly projects that built on what we’ve valued most during the crisis whilst working to ensure that post-crisis Cheltenham is a place where everyone thrives.

“We all recognise how isolating this pandemic has been, especially for those who are even more cut-off as a result of their deafness so our sincere thanks to the Cheltenham Community Resilience Fund for enabling us to carry out this project in order to further support our local deaf and hard of hearing communities” - GDA, £1302

“I just wanted to thank you for our meals today, what you are doing is making a massive difference. I know my family can eat this week so from the bottom of my heart thank you. Honestly, I sat in the kitchen I cried cause I have food for everyone now” - Recipient of The Long Table ‘Feeding the 5000 project’, £2000

“Thank you to the council for their support and for facilitating the work that has made a real difference” - Youth for Christ Gloucestershire, £770

“Absolutely wonderful! Thanks so so much - our families will be completely delighted, and we’re of course over the moon too” - Cheltenham Autism Support, £1700

Unfortunately all funding has now been allocated but please do get in touch with the community services team if you have any questions or require guidance or advice on other local support available.

Funding is still available from other sources including:

• Gloucestershire Coronavirus Quick Response Programme A rolling grants programme that will accept applications of up to £5,000 which will aim to provide decisions within 2 weeks. 
• Gloucestershire Coronavirus Recovery and Resilience Programme A programme awarding larger grants of up to £10,000 with applications to be submitted via online application form (to enable the collection of more detailed applicant information) for an initial deadline of 16 September and panel meeting at the beginning of October.