Nearly £3,000 has been awarded to two community groups following the Letchworth Area Forum recommendations on 28 February.
Garden City Samba was granted £400 towards their commitment to provide several free performances to local charities and good causes. As part of giving back to the local community, each year this group of around 20 drummers, playing powerful Brazilian carnival music, perform for free to local community groups who otherwise might not be able to afford their fee. For instance, last year they performed for Stand-By-Me children’s bereavement charity, the Letchworth Make Lunch food project and a Letchworth Lions event raising money for Ukraine. The money will help fund the events which consistently go down well with groups and the general public.
Alison Fairchild, Secretary of Garden City Samba, said: “We are really grateful for this grant which will give us the opportunity to take our music out into the community and support more local good causes.”
Letchworth Garden City Bowls Club was granted £2,500 towards a stairlift at their clubhouse at Norton Common. The building has changing facilities, storage, and toilets on ground floor, and the social area, bar, kitchen and viewing area are on the first floor, which at the moment are only accessed by a steep flight of stairs. A stairlift will help current members and visitors to get around the clubhouse and hopefully encourage others with mobility issues to join, enabling full enjoyment of club activities.
Tony Sinclair, Club Captain, said: “Bowls is enjoyed by all ages, but being less physically demanding than most other sports, is regularly played by men and women for the gentle exercise and social activities that clubs such as ours provide. The installation of a stairlift in our clubhouse at Norton Common will ensure our less mobile members can enjoy the full benefits. The stairlift will be installed before our open day on 4 May when we hope many people will come and join in.”
Cllr Alistair Willoughby, North Herts Council’s Executive Member for Community & Partnerships, who approved the funding under delegated decision, said: “It’s great to enable Garden City Samba to spread their high-energy rhythms of Brazilian Carnival to local groups, which can really lift a community event. And it’s fantastic to help members of our local bowls club at Norton Common access the full suite of facilities at their clubhouse.
Cllr Tom Plater, North Herts Council’s Letchworth Area Forum Chair, added: “These groups are providing important additional services to our local community, to help boost people’s health, wellbeing and overall quality of life.”
£2,060 was also awarded to Home-Start Hertfordshire to help support local families.
The next Letchworth Area Forum is due to take place on 5 June.
*subject to completion of the necessary formalities
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