£1-million funding win for St Peter’s and the Moors

Organisations who work in Cheltenham as part of the town’s Positive Lives and Positive Participation Partnerships Groups agreed unanimously to put the area forward for consideration by the Big Local programme, as it has missed out on other regeneration funding programmes.

The Big Local programme is funded through a £200m Big Lottery Fund investment and aims to make communities across the country even better places to live. It is a new kind of investment that builds on the strengths, ideas and initiative of local people.

The scheme is completely resident-led so it will be entirely up to people living in the area to use the £1m for the things that matter to them, and projects and services that will have the biggest impact on the needs they identify. A map showing the area which will benefit from the funding can be found on the council's website.  

Residents will need to come together to spend the funding, which can be used on anything from starting up social enterprises and addressing unemployment to tackling local issues or providing more activities and services for people locally.

Councillor Peter Jeffries, Cheltenham Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing, safety and communities said: “We are thrilled that the St Peter’s and the Moors area has been chosen to be a part of this exciting scheme. The great thing about this programme is that the residents themselves will be able to prioritise projects and decide how best to use the money.’’

Angela Gilbert, Manager at GAVCA Cheltenham said “This is fantastic news for the local community. We know that when communities work together, great things happen and we look forward to supporting local residents make the most of this opportunity.

Charles Welsh, Head at Gardners Lane Primary School, continues: “The whole of the local area has been given a golden opportunity to further fashion its identity, celebrating the riches within for everyone of all ages who live in St. Peters and the Moors. It’s great that this is for local residents, and that it will be driven by local residents for the legacy of local residents.”

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Notes:
About the area
St Peter’s and the Moors is a community of two estates living alongside the Tewkesbury Road dual carriageway, largely surrounded by new industrial estate developments. The area includes parts of three borough council wards; St. Pauls, St. Peters and Swindon Village.

The road and commercial environment present challenges to the creation of a natural sense of community spirit, which is being nurtured by the work of local organisations such as Gardners Lane Primary School and Children’s Centre, The Rock youth club, Cheltenham West End Partnership, the Elms timebank project, Saracens football club and Gas Green Baptist Church. This is a great base on which to develop new and entirely resident-led initiatives with a £1m investment from BIG Lottery Fund’s BIG Local programme. 

About Big Local
The funding for St Peter’s and the Moors comes from the Big Local programme. Funded through a £200m Big Lottery Fund investment and managed by Local Trust, Big Local is helping 150 small urban and rural communities across England to make their areas even better places to live. Each Big Local area will receive at least £1m Lottery funding to spend over the next 10 years, enabling residents to identify priorities that matter to them and take positive action.

Managed by Local Trust, Big Local is targeting areas that may not have been successful in gaining funding and resources in the past. Each Big Local area is receiving at least £1m Lottery funding over the next 10 years, along with support, training, and networking opportunities, to help residents develop plans to improve their area and empower them to find solutions that work for their communities.

Local Trust is the corporate trustee of Big Local Trust, a charitable trust with charity number 1145916 established by the Big Lottery Fund and Local Trust to fund Big Local. Local Trust works closely with Big Local areas and partner organisations to support residents to help them make best use of Big Local and their funding.

Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. Full details of the work of the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards are available on their website.

About local councillors
Borough councillors representing the area are:
- Swindon Village – Cllr. Paul Massey and Cllr. Bernard Fisher
- St. Pauls – Cllr. Andrew Lansley and Cllr. John Walklett
- St. Peters – Cllr. John Rawson and Cllr. Pat Thornton

County Councillors representing the area are:
- St Marks, St Pauls and St Peters – Cllr. Chairman Sheppard and Cllr. Mike Skinner

To contact the Big Lottery Fund Press Office, call: 020 7211 1888 or out of hours: 07867 500 572.
More information on Big Local is available at www.localtrust.org.uk