Council grants cut - the winners and losers
Adam Hewitt • Published 15 Jan 2010 13:30
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Readibus, which helps disabled people and those with restricted mobility get around, has long been supported through a massive council grant
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STRUGGLING community groups have had requests for extra funding turned down as council bosses slim down budgets.
The total that Reading Borough Council spends on supporting the voluntary sector has fallen for the first time in years, from £2,665,962 last year to a planned £2,605,298 this year. Almost all new applications have been refused and some groups have seen a cut in longstanding funding.
But the council boasts that it is maintaining a relatively high level of funding for 82 voluntary organisations, considering the economic climate and cost-cutting across all of its departments.
Borough communities leader Cllr Bet Tickner said: "Reading Borough Council's generous support to the voluntary sector, sustained over many years, enables voluntary organisations to provide a great range of services to Reading's residents on which so many people rely.
"The council is proud of this record, knowing this level of service is not available in neighbouring boroughs. Personally, I want to congratulate all voluntary organisations in Reading who justly take pride in the enormously valuable work they do."
The council also provides £403,488 worth of help in kind for groups, such as free use of buildings or council staff expertise.
Some other groups are getting funding by being paid to provide council services, rather than getting money as a grant.
The majority of the organisations which get ongoing funding asked for more this year, but nearly all had to settle for the same amount they got last year or slightly less.
Of the 10 groups asking for funding which got none last year, eight were refused outright.
Two were successful; the Ryder-Cheshire Volunteers' buddying scheme for disabled people got £7,500 of the £9,000 it requested and the Oxford Road Wrightchoice community sports association got £2,000 of the whopping £53,100 it asked for.
All the grants are subject to approval at Monday's Cabinet meeting, but this is usually a formality.
Big winners:
- Berkshire MS Therapy Centre in west Reading asked for a grant of £5,000, but got cash and tax relief worth £9,000
- Reading Voluntary Action got £200,788, just under the £203,000 it requested
- Reading Citizen's Advice Bureau got a £163,915 grant and free accommodation in its council-owned premises at The Oracle worth about £50,000
- Readibus got the biggest grant, £389,703 - but that is still a £43 fall on last year.
Big losers:
- Churches in Reading Drop-in Centre gets a provisional £10,548, but is on a 'warning' that its non-judgemental open door policy is potentially unsafe and can create a dependency culture. The council's report says "Payments will not be released until some measurable progress has been made."
- Reading YMCA got help worth £2,618 last year and asked for £50,000 this year, but had its grant request refused.
- Siri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara got £5,076 last year but this year failed to get its application in on time, so gets no funding.
- A full list is available at: www.readingchronicle.co.uk
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