Shared Prosperity: Four new grant schemes launched by Wrexham Council totalling £4.8m

Wrexham Council are looking for initial expressions of interest for a range of small – but still substantial – local grants as part of their Shared Prosperity Fund allocation.

As we reported earlier this month Wrexham Council oversaw the distribution of the overall £17.5m Shared Prosperity Fund in Wrexham, with the local authority being allocated £8.8m of that mainly for further council administered funds. The outcome of those administered funds is now public, with four grant schemes now open for interest.

Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Council and Lead Member for Finance, said: “This is fantastic news and we want local businesses, groups and organisations to take full advantage.

“If you have a project that could benefit Wrexham and your community, please take a look at the criteria and consider putting in an application.

“We want this money to work hard for Wrexham, and so we need to hear from people with good ideas that can really make a difference.

“These opportunities don’t come around very often – please make sure you don’t miss out on applying for these grants.”

The four schemes that are open for expressions of interest are:

People and Skills Fund
This will support projects that help adults improve their maths, employment and IT skills.

The aim is to help people improve their employment prospects, and the fund is open to community groups, charities, social enterprises, schools (as long as the project benefits the surrounding community), community councils and public bodies.

Sites and Premises Fund
This will provide grants for a wide range of design, feasibility and viability studies to help find new uses for existing properties and sites, including brownfield sites.

The aim is to breathe new life into under-used or disused buildings and land, and the fund is open to land and property owners, prospective developers, businesses, social enterprises and investors.

Communities and Place Fund
This will support community projects that strengthen local pride, including events and activities, access to local amenities, and improvements to local facilities and open spaces.

It will also support innovative approaches to crime prevention and community safety.

The fund is open to community groups, charities, social enterprises, community councils and schools (as long as the project benefits the surrounding community).

Wrexham Business Grant
The purpose of this grant is to encourage financially viable Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME’s) in Wrexham County Borough to start-up, expand or improve performance.

The scheme can support, as a reimbursement, up to 50% of the costs for eligible capital and / or specialist revenue expenditure projects.

The grant amount you request must range from £3,000 to £50,000. At least two of the grant scheme’s set objectives must be met, with outputs being proportionate to the grant value requested.

More details can be found on the council’s website.