Applications flood in for our latest £10k Ragdale Hall Community Chest

The Melton Times has once again partnered with the award-winning Ragdale Hall Spa to allocate money from the fund to local community groups, charities, sports clubs and schools.

The Spotlight Theatre Group has asked for £500 to help members perform a Community Celebration Event in October at Melton Mowbray’s St Mary’s Church.

It was founded only in September last year and has already raised money for local charities and groups – if the Ragdale fund supports the community show all ticket sales will go to local causes.

Melton’s Performing Stars Academy has applied for £500 to help repair the ceiling in its largest dance studio at its Space 2B Studios, on George Street.

The money would help group continue to provide a venue for more than 300 children and adults to develop themselves and to perform and prepare for various stage shows.

An application has also been received from Storehouse, the Melton Foodbank based in Nottingham Street, which is feeling increased pressure in the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The service would like £500 to help it provide a lifeline for homeless and disadvantaged people, giving out food bags to those who are most in need in the community, including people waiting for a benefit payment to arrive or struggling to survive on a very low income.

Great Dalby Pre-School would like £300 from the fund to make vital repairs to wooden sleepers in their garden – they are now rotten and becoming a danger for the children to use.

Lots of young children from Melton and local village attend the pre-school and the garden is used throughout the year and provides a healthy environment for them all.

A request for a £500 donation has come from Melton and District Money Advice Centre (MADMAC) to pay for five new office chairs.

The free debt advice centre has helped thousands of local people deal with money and budgeting issues and staff have used second hand chairs for the decade it has operated.

Oakham Young Farmers Club, which meets at Somerby, would like £500 to help fund weekly activities so they are accessible to all.

The club has 20 members aged 12 to 28 and organises weekly meetings with activities ranging from laser quest to farm tours to public speaking.

If you are applying for a share of this year’s fund please specify how much money you require to help the judges make final decisions on where the donations go this year.

You also need to tell us what the money would be spent on and how many people in the community it would benefit.

We want to help as many groups and organisations as we can so requests must be limited to between £100 and £500.

Applicants need to email [email protected] and include a contact name, telephone/mobile number and a brief outline of what your group does.

Applications must be made before the deadline of Thursday May 7 and a panel of judges will then sit down to decide who will receive a share of this year’s fund.