Town council awards grant funding

Thatcham Town Council has awarded almost £8,000 in grants to local charities and organisations

ALMOST £8,000 in grant funding has been awarded to local charities and organisations by Thatcham Town Council.

Last night (Monday), the town council's grant committee met to discuss nine grant applications in the second round of applications this year.

These included applications for money towards rent for the Pied Piper Pre-School, money towards running and maintenance costs at Thatcham Town Cricket Club and money towards sports and safety equipment for the Crookham Common Athletics Track.

All nine applications were successful in being awarded the full amount requested, with the Pied Piper Pre-School receiving the highest sum of £3,600.

After the meeting, treasurer Mireille Willan was delighted that the money had been awarded to the pre-school, and said it would help provide much needed funds to help the pre-school continue at its current location at the Methodist Church Hall in Chapel Street.

Mrs Willan is also the project manager for Thatcham Vision, which was awarded £1,500 in grant funding towards the cost of a volunteer fair in Thatcham, likely to be held in the spring.

She said she was incredibly grateful to the town council for awarding the money, adding that it would hopefully help local community groups to gain more volunteers, while also allowing volunteers to help local organisations, rather than those further afield.

The grant awards were as follows:

Burdwood Baby and Toddler Group - £250 towards hall hire and equipment

RSPB - £430 towards the running costs of the Young Rangers group at the Nature Discovery Centre in Thatcham

Thatcham Vision - £1,500 towards the cost of a volunteer fair in Thatcham

Peter Allen Memorial Lectures - £500 towards an LCD projector

Crookham Common Athletics Track - £452.87 towards sports and safety equipment

Pied Piper Pre School - £3,600 towards rent

Thatcham Town Cricket Club - £500 towards running and maintenance costs

1st Thatcham St Mary's Scout Group - £475 towards camping table and benches

Vitalise - £186 towards subsidy of a Thatcham resident's respite break

Total amount awarded - £7,893.87