Two weeks left to apply for share of 10K Make It Happen fund

The Melton Times has teamed up once again - for the 15th year - with Ragdale Hall Spa, which is putting up yet another £10,000 to be allocated to community groups, charities and clubs.

A panel of judges will decide where the cash will be donated from the dozens of applications we traditionally receive.

We will be publishing details of all the applications for the 2020 scheme and first up this week is Melton Breast Cancer Support Group, which has requested £300.

They would like to give each new patient who attends group sessions a £25 parking pass for Leicester Royal Infirmary.

This would help 12 women going through the treatment with their transport costs.

An application for a £500 grant has been made by the U3A Silver Tones singing group, which gives singing concerts at residential homes.

The money would pay for a new keyboard, which is desperately needed to replace the ageing existing one.

Melton Mencap would like £750 to help them organise a cycling event for members.

The event would be part of their popular summer scheme and involve two or three sessions with 20 people taking part in each session.

All disabilities would be catered for, including wheelchair users.

Melton and District Money Advice Centre has applied for a £500 donation.

This charity, which provides free debt advice to hundreds of people across the borough, is moving to new premises and needs the money to pay for furniture and equipment.

Beneficiaries of Make It Happen from last year have been telling us how their donation has helped them.

The Belvoir Cricket and Countryside Trust received a grant for £365 to pay for a tournament for around 150 schoolchildren at Knipton, with medals and a trophy presented at the end.

Michael Cooke, the trust’s community fundraiser, said: “Ragdale Hall’s Make It Happen community fund has helped us enormously in a number of ways in recent years.

“We have received grants to support out-of-school Kwik Cricket coaching to help get children up and active from an early age and to establish an annual tournament among some of the schools we work with.

“We have received funding to send our volunteers on courses and Ragdale has also funded a sun shelter for our popular Cricket and Countryside Education Days on the Belvoir Estate each summer.

“Another good thing about Make It Happen is that it is so straightforward to enter, you simply need to think carefully about your project and how many people will benefit.”

To apply for a share of the £10,000, simply fill in the coupon in this week’s issue of the Melton Times and return it to our office to: Make It Happen 2020, Melton Times, Pera Business Park, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE13 0PB.

Alternatively, you can email your application to [email protected] giving a brief description of how much money you require, what it will be used for and how many people it will benefit. The deadline for applications is Thursday, March 26, at 5pm.

Cheques will be presented at a special event at Ragdale Hall Spa on the evening of May 28.