A big cheer from Melton for Make It Happen 2016

A partnership between Ragdale Hall and the Melton Times, the awards allow groups and organisations to apply for grants towards projects that benefit the community.

This year, we received 38 applications and judges made the difficult decisions on which would be successful. In total, 22 were given grants from the £10,000 chest, put up by Ragdale Hall.

Melton Times group editor Mark Edwards said: “I must sincerely thank Ragdale Hall for their continued commitment to this community event. To provide £10,000 for people in Melton borough to ‘make things happen’ is a wonderful gesture.

“Ragdale Hall is very much a part of that community, of course, and it was great to see its hundreds of members of staff involved in seeing all the entries and pointing the judges towards ones which were either close to their hearts or they felt were particularly deserving.

“We had 38 applications this year and were able to help out 22 of them, which is excellent news indeed.”

The 2016 Make It Happen award recipients are:

** Melton Drop In Club asked Make It Happen for £300 to help pay for day trips for up to 50 people, many of whom live alone.

** Melton Mowbray Child Contact Centre is a support group which offers a warm, safe and friendly environment for absent parents to be able to spend two hours of quality time with their children. They asked for £500 to replace toys and games, and to contribute towards running costs.

** Oasis Family Centre received £650 towards outdoor learning and community experiences for nursery-age children.

** Parents’ Solution Circle was presented with £400 to help with the cost of running the support group for parents/carers of children/young adults with special needs or behavioural problems, and to buy a new projector.

** Asfordby Football Club is raising money to buy a life-saving defibrillator for its ground – and Make It Happen contributed £500 towards it.

** Home-Start Leicester, Melton and Rutland, was given £500 to train up five of 10 volunteers who will help to support families in need.

** The Baldocks Lane Play Area Project received £250 to replace a rusted metal bench with a new one in the community’s park.

** Wellbeing Arts, a group for individuals with mental health problems, asked for £500 to keep a treasured art group running, which they describe as ‘a lifeline’ to members.

** Melton and Belvoir School Sport and Physical Activity Network received £500 towards its project ‘Work It Wednesday’, a six-week project targeted at 14- to 25-year-olds to increase physical activity levels.

** The 1st Long Clawson Scout Group asked for £450 to provide equipment for camping trips taken by its 60 children and leaders.

** Melton Mowbray University of the Third Age drama group received £500 to put towards new microphones and sound equipment.

** Seva Solutions, which provides one-to-one training programmes to show older people how digital technology and the internet can benefit them and help reduce isolation, was given £600 to run a ‘Digital Inclusion and Empowerment’ project.

** Belvoir Cricket and Countryside Trust was presented with £500 to send two volunteer coaches on an England & Wales Cricket Board course to gain a certificate in coaching children’s cricket.

** Melton Mowbray District Scouts received £500 to buy archery equipment for its campsite.

** Springfield Circle Community Group asked for £250 to pay for a Christmas meal for its elderly members.

** The Great Dalby Playground Project, formed by parents and grandparents, is raising money for a new playground, and we have awarded £500 towards the cost of a toddlers’ play train.

** Voluntary Action Melton asked for £450 for its gardening scheme. The grant will go towards a service and two new tyres for the scheme’s van.

** Melton Breast Cancer Support Group asked for £200 to buy car parking cards for members to use at Leicester Royal Infirmary when they go for treatment.

** Shopmobility Melton, which provides scooters and wheelchairs for hire, asked for £500 to help keep the scheme running.

** Bradgate Flats in Asfordby, a sheltered housing scheme where meals are provided for elderly and disabled people from the village as well as residents, received £500 to upgrade kitchen equipment.

** Yoga teacher Ann Cluskey was awarded £500 to help her put on classes for cancer sufferers and their carers through the Helen Webb Coping with Cancer organisation.

** Mowbray Rangers Football Club received £614 for two mini goals to replace the old, dilapidated goals at the football ground.