First applications in for £10,000 Melton community cash fund

A football club and a village community group are the first applicants for a share of this year's £10,000 Make It Happen scheme.
Young footballers at Bottesford FC, which has applied to the 2018 Make It Happen fund for a grant to pay for new goal posts EMN-180219-120041001Young footballers at Bottesford FC, which has applied to the 2018 Make It Happen fund for a grant to pay for new goal posts EMN-180219-120041001
Young footballers at Bottesford FC, which has applied to the 2018 Make It Happen fund for a grant to pay for new goal posts EMN-180219-120041001

After we launched the 2018 edition of the cash fund for needy causes last week the applications began to flow in.

The Melton Times has teamed up again with Ragdale Hall Spa, which has paid out £120,000 to community groups, clubs and charities in the Melton area since the initiative began in 2005.

l Bottesford Football Club has applied to the scheme for a grant of £612 towards the cost of a new set of goal posts.

Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001
Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001

The club, which has 300 players and 50 volunteers, recently tripled the size of its existing site on Nottingham Road by raising £14,000 to convert a farmer’s field into extra pitches and £564,000 for a new clubhouse.

The Make It Happen cash would pay for goal posts for the increasing number of junior teams at the club.

Club vice-chairman Nicholas Dobney said: “The increase in the number of teams has increased the demand on the club funds for kit, equipment, pitch maintenance, etc.

“And whilst we plan our budget each year to ensure that the player subs cover the annual expenditure, there are always some large priced items that are essential to the operation of the football club, but sometimes difficult to fund.”

Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001
Bottesford FC junior team coaches, Richard Newton and Nick Dobney EMN-180219-120030001

l Asfordby Hill Community Group has applied for £650 to help pay for an outdoor area for the children who attend youth group sessions at The Skittle Alley, which is at The Stute, Holwell Sports and Social Club in the village.

The group runs the youth meetings every Wednesday attended by up to 45 children.

Chair Donna Wainman said: “We would like to create an outdoors area for the children, which involves providing a paved area outside the back of the building which the children can then use all year round.

“The area is currently grassed and can get very boggy at times, making it unusable.

“This area can then be used by other groups which also use the building.”

To apply for a share of the 2018 Make It Happen cash fund, you can write a letter to us to: Make It Happen, Melton Times, 49 Nottingham Street, Melton Mowbray LE13 1NT, email [email protected] or fill out the application form below.

We need to know: your name; name of your group/club/organisation; your role within the group/club/organisation; your contact telephone number; the sum you are applying for; a brief description of the project/event you would use the grant for; how many people would benefit.

The deadline for entries for this year’s scheme is Thursday, March 22.

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

Make It Happen is open to community and voluntary groups and sports clubs only, not individuals, and publicly-funded bodies are excluded.

To qualify, groups must be non-profit making organisations based and working within the Melton Times circulation area.

All previous applicants are welcome to apply again.

The applications will be judged by Ragdale Hall Spa and the Melton Times editor and their decision is final.

Being featured in the paper is no guarantee of being offered funds.