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The Community Initiatives Fund is now closed to applications. The next round will be launched in June 2009 and will be announced in the press as well as Making the Links newsletters and on this site.
You can still find details of each CIF scheme (CIF, Youth and Highways) under the relevant heading on the menu on the left-hand side.
Essex County Council is, we believe, the only authority to be running a grant scheme on this scale and of this type. It really is unique. When this fund was started, we knew it would make a real difference to people's lives, but we didn't quite realise how much!
In the first four rounds, the CIF gave £5.5million to 730 projects. These projects were worth more than £48million and may well not have gone ahead without the kick start of the CIF funding.
CIF (Highways) has given £1million to 128 projects across Essex.
Cllr John Jowers, Essex County Council Portfolio Holder for Localism, and the brains behind the initial concept, said of the scheme, “This fund really has gone from strength to strength. Communities throughout Essex are working together to come up with really good, imaginative schemes which will help their local area. The fact that the awards panel is made up from members of those communities is what makes this scheme different to all others, and makes sure that the funds get to where they really are needed.”
Lord Hanningfield, Leader of Essex County Council, has been inundated with letters of thanks from organisations that have received funding. He said "We are delighted to have been able to distribute thousands of pounds to valuable community projects across the county - big and small - and reward the phenomenal hard work and dedication of local residents."
The Funds are managed by Beverly Davies who set up the scheme in Colchester, back in 2003, when Cllr Jowers first had the idea. Beverly now administers the CIF portfolio on behalf of Essex County Council, with the support of the Area Co-ordinators at County Hall.
Beverly's contact details are:
Tel: 07929 543523
Please feel free to contact Beverly at any stage of the application process - she is happy to answer any queries or provide advice wherever necessary to assist you in submitting a strong application.
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