County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Website: www.familyhub.org.uk

The group established in 2007 to support family services such as childcare, parenting support, activities for the young, and training opportunities.

The grant will be spent on rent (in a school) and administration costs in setting up the project allowing them to expand their particular area of activity.

The beneficiaries will be those families requiring child care, children and young people themselves, and those seeking training opportunities.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The group came together this year to set up and run a viable and sustainable community shop owing to the closure of the commercial shop in March.

The grant will be spent on new equipment needed to set up a shop.

The immediate population of Nenthead (400) will benefit from this project being the only shop within the vicinity of 5 miles but of particular benefit to elderly and less mobile residents owing to the lack of a regular bus service.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Walton Lea Project is a horticultural employment project established in 1998 for adults with learning difficulties from the Warrington area. Plants, fruits and vegetables grown from their own walled garden are sold to the public. Other locally sourced produce is also sold as part of the project.

The grant will be spent on staff salaries, training, vehicle costs and advertising required to launch a mobile local produce shop. It will also be used to launch a farmers market in the local area.

The intended beneficiaries are residents of Appleton Thorn who want to access local produce. The village lost its own commercial shop over 4 years ago. The elderly and less mobile will particularly benefit from this project owing to the nearest alternative shop being over 2 miles away, and the village lacking a regular bus service.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £6,000

The Organisation Formed in 2006 with purpose to establish a sustainable community shop/venue to replace the private business that closed in 2006. The objective is to provide essential services to the local community, to help the community survive and to promote its economic and social regeneration. Post Office, Library and information services including a meeting room/surgery space will be provided for district and regional outreach services.

The Grant will be used as a contribution to the land and building costs.

Beneficiaries are residents of Witherslack and surrounding villages along with tourist trade and passing business.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The organization  was set up with the purpose of providing childcare and respite services to the Longtown community when the Previous nursery closed in 2006. The nursery also provides Creche facilities for parents/carers who access training or further education courses through locally based organisations.

The Grant will be spent on the salary for a much needed administrator position lasting approximately 18 months.

The beneficiaries will be families the longtown community and surrounding area requiring childcare in particularly disadvantaged groups and parents on low incomes.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Credit Union is a financial co-operative formed with the purpose of allowing the local community access to affordable and fair financial services, providing both benefits to the individual and also raising the economic health of the community. The project will promote the benefits of the Credit Union to the rural population as a whole.

The Grant will be spent on promotional materials, volunteer training and volunteer recruitment.

The beneficiaries will be the immediate and surrounding rural community, with focus on those with a low income or who have limited access to financial services.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Website : www.sound-wave.info

SoundWave’s mission is ‘transformation through music.’ They will be facilitating three projects with their grant money;

1. Cumbrian Wayang – A community band, developing a unique musical collaboration between the Indonesian gamelan orchestra in Egremont, and the lithophone housed in Keswick museum;
2. Young Music Leaders – young volunteers from rural communities aspiring to develop a career in music.
3. Adult learning/CPD - Training and Professional Development, supporting existing rural based musicians to develop their skills, qualifications and job opportunities.

These projects will create opportunities for career experience, self-confidence building, sustainable work contacts, opportunities for young musicians in rural areas as well as enhancing community quality of life, cultural experience and local pride. Beneficiaries are potentially over 3000 people across the county in the areas of the greatest rural deprivation.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £6,000

A group formed to develop sustainable farming in Cumbria and give their members greater purchasing power through purchasing co-operatively. Members pay a fee to join, receive goods at the lower rate and pay a 2.4% duty to the co-operative.

The planned activity is to continue to provide services and to promote the benefits of the association to the local farming community, therefore increasing membership. Grant Money will support the employment of a much needed administrator and office worker.

Beneficiaries will be the farmers and farming communities of Cumbria and the population that have access to their produce.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £ 7,000

Alston Wholefoods is a co-operative which specialises in providing local customers and visitors with reasonably priced high quality wholefoods.

We are supporting their Healthy Eating and Local Produce Community Programme. 35% of the population in Alston is below 60% of the GDP. This indicates a high level of poverty-related health issues. Access to, and information about healthy food choices are very relevant in this community.

The project involves the running of monthly healthy eating promotions on affordable produce such as whole grains, gluten free products and pulses. Postcards, point of sale posters, leaflets and recipe cards will be distributed in the shop and other suitable public centres. Promotions will be supported by local press advertising campaigns and website.

The grant will be used for set up costs, advertising and promotion, essential equipment (cheese cabinet, till) and administration fees.

Beneficiaries include the general population of Alston and surrounding areas.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £9258.40

Maryport and District Credit Union are an established credit union, formed with the purpose to provide an alternative form of finance promoting savings and safe and sensible borrowing to people who either live or work in their common bond area.

The grant is being used to cover an existing post (that is running out of funding) of 6 hours a week to be focused on promoting the benefits of the credit union and increasing membership in two rural communities on the target list. This activity is already underway and membership is increasing as a result, but further work in this area (an estimated two years) will enable membership to be increased further, thus making this post and the service sustainable.

The beneficiaries will be all members of the community who live or work within the common bond area.

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £9, 987

Website: www.caremart.co.uk

Caremart is an existing operator of older persons care services, and plans to extend a toenail clipping service into 5 rural communities. This project builds on an existing service they are delivering in nearby Pendle and Burnley.. The forecast income will allow them to employ more staff and extend the service to 5 further rural communities.

The project provides high social benefit to elderly people in a deprived area, and aims to be economically sustainable within one year, with small surpluses projected thereafter, enabling for continued growth across the rural parts of the county. The grant will be used for marketing costs, essential equipment (e.g clippers, gloves etc), Office costs, recruitment, training, insurance and administration.

The beneficiary group will ultimately be to older persons over 55, particularly those on lower incomes and those with limited access to transport

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The purpose of ‘Village in Partnership’ is to improve the environmental, educational, health, social and economic life for the residents for residents in rural villages in South Lancashire.

This project is the set up and running of a small charity shop and café area in Eccleston. The income from this business,will be covenanted to the charity, improving the financial viability and sustainability of the Charity in the long term. The project will also provide employment, training and volunteering opportunities to run the shop and café.

Grant Money will be used for rent, advertising and salaries.

The beneficiaries will include disabled people, unemployed people and those seeking training opportunities who will be encouraged to volunteer and learn new skills. Other groups will include people on low incomes who may wish to purchase good quality items at reasonable prices.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Rossendale trust came together in 1973 to create a caring community which places the special needs of people with learning difficulties and their families at the centre of everything it does. The Trust provides a home in a secure, homely environment; it also provides day services for residents, tenants and the wider local community.

The Trust provides services delivered through two centres, these centres allow participants to enjoy activities such as land management, animal husbandry, walking, music, arts and crafts, computer activities to mention a few. With the benefit of the Community Enterprise Grant the Trust will increase the range of activities available to people with learning difficulties and a new promotional leaflet will increase awareness of the services offered, helping ensure sustainability. In addition a new position for a part time Amenities Co-ordinator will be created leading to greater use of the day services and creating more opportunities to enjoy other social activities.

This Community Enterprise Grant will help the organisation to renew its promotional literature, increase their experience in terms of services provided, increase the numbers of beneficiaries, increase their income and in time increase the number of careers to participants.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Beckermet nursery aim to provide quality affordable childcare in a rural area which is not well covered by mainstream services. The nursery is currently used by 59 children and the committee is made up by the parents of these children.

The rented premises currently used by Beckerment Nursery are no longer suitable for needs as it has no outdoor play space. The Community Enterprise Grant will be put towards the cost of the groundwork’s upon which there will be purpose built day care facility building. The new building will allow the nursery to extend the age range of children to allow babies and they will be able to provided separate sleep room. Other services will use the building to provide outreach surgeries - local midwife, health visitor and speech therapist. There will also be older persons social group run by the nursery staff, it is envisage that interaction between the elderly and the children will lead to joint gardening, history and craft projects.

It is envisaged that there will be over 250 direct beneficiaries per year. The project as a whole will increase childcare services in terms of ages, number of children taken in, and the number of hours services are available. The result will be an increase in community cohesion.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Alston Moor Group came together in 2007 with the purpose of encouraging businesses on Alston Moor to compost their food and garden waste and to create a facility for them to do this effectively.

With the aid of a Community Enterprise grant the newly established social enterprise will be able to set up a composing site with an In-Vessel Composter, and wormeries. The group will initially work with the business community in Alston, and collect compostable waste, saving local businesses and social enterprises fees in waste disposal and in turn, making money from sales of compost. It is envisaged that the project will grow and will eventually take in residential waste. The organisation will be managed by volunteers, and local businesses will take part in the scheme through a membership scheme. It is the aim that the organisation itself will be economically sustainable.

This is an interesting social enterprise with good social, environmental and economic benefits to community. Currently recycling facilities in Alston for businesses are negligible and this scheme will benefit local business.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £9,763.64

Chrysalis provides dynamic opportunities to enrich the lives of adults with learning disabilities in a friendly and supportive environment. Chrysalis has a central resource base from where a range of activities are sourced and provided throughout North Cumbria. Activities include Independent living skills, Arts, Sailing Holidays, short breaks to name a few. Chrysalis also run two successful social enterprises in the town centre ‘Chrysalis Whole foods’ and ‘Crumbs Café’.

The Community Enterprise grant will allow Chrysalis to employ a part time coordinator, the co-ordinator will work to improve the commercial performance of the shop, thereby safeguarding its activities and widening the benefits it can offer to stakeholders. It is envisaged that as the project evolves the position of co-ordinator will become self financing through increased revenue from Chrysalis Wholefoods.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Whitehaven Credit Union aims to provide people who live or work in the Whitehaven areas access to savings and affordable loans to improve quality of life. They also aim to get children in the habit of saving and ultimately managing their money wisely through junior savings schemes.

The Community Enterprise Grant will be used to cover an existing post and extend Development Officers funding. The continued funding of the above posts will help increase the membership and so help Whitehaven Credit Union take a step further towards obtaining self sustainability.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £8,500

Eden Community Outdoors (ECO) is a organisation which supports youth initiatives in Cumbria. This project has been developed by a group of teenagers (under 16) with support from ECO and will develop a community owned café for all community members but will be managed by the youth themselves with support from ECO.

This Project was devised for several reasons, primarily to provide a service that serves good, cheap and healthy food to young people in Appleby, and the wider community. The Community Enterprise Grant will enable the group to purchase cooking and kitchen utensils also decorate a currently unused room within the community centre currently leased by ECO. The activity will provide part time employment for at least 20 young people and help them to develop new skills and expertise. The café will also provide a safe environment for young people to go to outside of school hours.

This is an interesting project aiming to be economically sustainable, and will provide high social benefits to the youth as well as providing training opportunities.

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Croston Community Centre Committee is a Registered charity which was set up after a significant fundraising drive to purchase the building and save it from a housing redevelopment scheme. The committee is now working hard to raise enough money to totally refurbish the property, which has essentially remained unchanged for eighty years.

This project will be done in four parts. This application applies to part one of the project, which is the development of the offices, meeting rooms and internet café. The income gained by renting these facilities will help to cover running costs of the building and will also provide income to maintain the building. The rest of the building will be refurbished in the near future to provide a kitchen, toilet facilities, cloakroom, and office for Centre Staff, storage areas, a stage and a meeting hall for community groups and activities. The Community Enterprise Grant is one of a number grants from different bodies, which will allow this project to move forward.

A large number of groups already use the building, including scouts, beavers, cubs, over 60's and the mums and tums group. The number of people who will be able to use the other facilities is in the region of 5,000 per year. Every resident of Croston is a member of the Community Centre.

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Lords House Farm was established in 1993 to raise the quality of life of disadvantaged people by providing a physical and supportive environment where beneficiaries can experience a range of animal and environmental related activities.

The Community Enterprise Grant will be used to expand Lords House Farm’s existing activities to develop a craft workshop alongside their existing horticultural unit to produce simple recycled and natural wood based products for sale. In conjunction with this they plan to grow a range of fruit and vegetables both mature and in plug form that will be taken to local day centres, local outlets and farmers markets as well as being available at Lords House Farm.

Whilst engaged in these activities the beneficiaries will have the opportunity to be involved in project planning i.e. identifying the range of goods and produce for sale, the costing and marketing of the products, the interaction with the public during sales, budgeting and planning, understanding of the need for recycling, identification of sources of materials and not least the education and skills element of the project will promote further engagement through the experience of success and increased confidence.

This is a project with high social benefits - aiming to support people of all ages with physical, mental, and behavioural problems.

County: Lancashire & Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Growing with Grace is a social enterprise and small organic food co-operative based in the Forest of Bowland serving Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire.

The business has three interdependent components: a greenhouse vegetable growing operation covering two acres, an organic shop, and a year-round bag-delivery scheme. Based on an ethos of 'local food for local people' and by combining shared ownership, shared decision making and salaries based on need, this co-operative provides equitable employment and actively promotes sustainability through practice and education.

The Community Enterprise Grant will be used to appoint a Project Worker to develop the organic home delivery scheme in rural areas of Lancashire and Cumbria. There will also be presentations and talks to local groups and organisations illustrating the full cycle of food production from seed to doorstep.

The benefits of this project are to consumers in rural communities without access to shops within their own community or without access to transport.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £9,821.60

Fit 4 Life (Cumbria) is a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides high quality, low cost exercise facilities for people with chronic disease, especially Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), and those at risk of developing chronic disease.

Fit 4 Life will use the Community Enterprise Grant to set-up and run Weight Management Classes to help people lose weight and improve their fitness. The classes will be mainly exercise based with a strong focus on education and nutritional advice with the aim of reducing participants body weight and improving their diet and physical activity levels.

The group aim to run five courses over the space of a year with each course lasting ten weeks.

People with a Body Mass Index of over 30, will benefit from this enterprise. This group of people are often reluctant to participate in regular gym sessions when these are the people who are in most need of intervention.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The group aim is to provide a cost effective and self sustaining savings and loans co-operative for those living and working in Chester and District, to encourage greater financial literacy among members and contribute towards alleviation of poverty within the common bond area.

As a result of the Community Enterprise Grant, Chester Credit Union is reaching out to rural communities in the common bond area specifically targeting the Tarvin, Tattenhall and Waverton areas. In partnership with the Citizen Advice Bureaux, the aim is to expand the service by raising the awareness of low cost loan availability, savings, including young savers, and financial advice and literacy to people in these rural areas.

The grant has specifically been spent on:

• Funding a part time Training Officer to train volunteers for loans ,savings, joining procedures and referrals for advice on Debt, Welfare and Housing
• Advertising with flyers to homes and local newspaper adverts
• Recruiting and training volunteers to man the collection/advice points
• Organising awareness meetings and activities with village organisations

This service will provide clear social and economic benefits to an area deficient in economic activity, and the activity will assist the organization to increase financial viability.

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

This is a newly established social enterprise which will form the trading arm of an existing and well established social enterprise – Jigsaw, part of Trinity Partnership . The project aims to carry out an intense marketing drive in order to increase food sales on behalf of three supported agriculture projects.

The supported agriculture projects, which the CIC will ultimately support, are focused on supporting disadvantaged groups of all ages, incomes, abilities etc. The marketing activity associated with this project intends to develop the investment of Corporate and Social Responsibility from organizations such as supermarkets to both purchase food from the CIC as well as support the learning programmes which are planned to take place in Whalley and through employment following accreditation.

The Community Enterprise Grant will be used for marketing including website set up, development and maintenance, advertising. promotions and event launch. The marketing campaign is intended to increase inward investment from the private sector, raise awareness of the services provided by the CIC and ultimately increase produce sales.

County: Cheshire
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Walton Lea project is a horticultural employment project ostensibly for adults with learning difficulties from the Warrington area; providing skills, life chances and opportunities. The project is based within a Victorian walled garden, where plants and fruit and vegetables (rare and heritage varieties included) are grown and sold to the public.

An additional, but existing garden centre has been leased by the Walton Lea Project from Warrington business park so as to increase the capacity of the organisation to support more adults with learning difficulties and also to extend their product range to sell.

The Community Enterprise Grant will be used to support a mobile shop and delivery service (selling affordable plants, flowers, fruit and vegetables etc). In particular, grant is being used to fund a part time van driver and also to purchase a wooden insulated store for the storage and preparation of delivery orders. Beneficiaries will be primarily older people and those without cars in the area - approximately 20% of the population of this area fall into this category.

Whilst a small start up grant was required to equip the businesses, income from the Garden Centre and its mobile shop, as well as ongoing income from the PCT will meet the core costs of running the gardens and their operations.

County: Lancashire
Grant Awarded: £10,000 each project

Furniture Matters is an existing social enterprise based in Morecombe which collects, restores and sells unwanted furniture at low cost to households on low incomes. The charity employs volunteers and staff from socially excluded backgrounds simultaneously offering volunteer and training opportunities and diverting thousands of tonnes of re-usable furniture and household goods away from landfill.

Owing to a new contract with Lancaster City Council and a resulting over supply of furniture, Furniture Matters received two Community Enterprise Grants to establish set two new outlets in rural Carnforth and Garstang.

The project will enable more people to take part in training opportunities as well as provide an outlet and increased market for the surplus of furniture. Once the initial set up costs have been covered by the Community Enterprise Grant, the new shops will be fully sustainable and will cover their own operational costs through sales.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

Ambleside Parish Centre was opened in July 2006 for the use of the Church and the wider community in Ambleside. The centre was built as a result of local fundraising owing to their being no other local amenity centre in Ambleside.

The centre has been popularly received and is well used by local community groups – over 30 groups, but the centre is not being fully utilised by external bookings for private functions, meetings, weddings and conferences which have the potential to bring in additional revenue. Owing to the under occupancy of the centre, the Community Enterprise grant was sought to develop and initiate a marketing strategy which will increase the use of the building to over 60% occupancy and to improve the governance of the organisation.

The award will specifically be used to employ a Marketing Development Co-ordinator who amongst other activities will create an easy access web-site and design and disminate a range of marketing materials including leaflets, fliers and an annual report.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £10,000

The Kirkgate Centre is a volunteer-run arts and community centre based in the market town of Cockermouth and is run for the benefit of local people in and around Cockermouth. The centre provide professional, high quality arts activities including weekly films, professional theatre, live music, dance, comedy and lectures – much of which attracts people from not only the immediate area but also from further a field in North and West Cumbria. The Kirkgate Centre is also available for community groups to hire and hosts adult education classes, health and fitness groups, parent and baby groups, and youth drama and dance classes.

The Centre has been assisted through the Community Enterprise Award to fund a Development Manager’s position to develop additional income generating activity in accordance with identified need carried out through recent market research. The Development Managers post replaces the role of Marketing Manager and will enable the centre to cope with an increase in business and to implement a business plan and longer term financial strategy.

County: Cumbria
Grant Awarded: £9844.00

Pub is the Hub provides advice and guidance, and encourages rural pub owners, licensees, and their local communities to work together to support, retain and locate local services where possible within the pub whilst often improving the viability of the business itself. Pub is the Hub is the only advisory body working directly with licensees and rural communities, and linking private and public sector partners, to support rural regeneration objectives and maintain the role of the pub in providing village services.

The Community Enterprise Grant will build on a pilot project and will employ a Local Development Advisor to assist the development of new pub-based rural community services. The adviser will work with pub companies, owners, licensees and communities, to assess and advise on the potential to develop pub-based community services, with a focus on retail services and the supply of locally sourced goods.

The project will provide enterprise support to 10 rural pub-businesses, and assist in the development of at least three new community enterprises.