Peterborough groups celebrating following community fund award

Dogsthorpe Infant School and Deep in Friends Club were both handed grants, with a total of £55,000 handed out to 35 good causes across 16 counties.

Dogsthorpe Infant School has been given £1,000 to help kick-start an ambitious project that will see the development of an outdoor play area.

The scheme will result in the installation of large play equipment and it is hoped the outdoor area will improve the social skills of pupils.

Deep in Friends Club has been handed £100 to pay for new craft materials to support the work of the popular group.

Andra Fisher, from Deep in Friends Club, spoke of why they applied for a grant from the Community Dividend Fund.

She said: “Deep in Friends, based in Deeping St James, was delighted to be chosen to receive a Community Dividend Fund grant.

“We are a small club of mainly retired members who meet fortnightly for various activities.

“We are looking forward to using our grant to fund crafting activities. Plans have already been made for pumpkin carving at Halloween and making Christmas crackers for our Christmas functions.”

Grants of between £100 and £5,000 are handed out every three months to a wide range of applicants.

The fund guarantees that at least one per cent of the Society’s trading profit is reinvested in local communities in a bid to help projects to thrive across its trading area of 16 counties from the Midlands to the east coast.

Martyn Cheatle, Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative, said: “I would like to urge all of our members to get in touch and put forward a community cause close to their heart for the Community Dividend scheme.”

People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/ or heading in store to pick up an application form.

Potential applicants have to have been a Central England Co-operative member for six months, the project should be in the trading area of a Central England Co-operative store and all applications will need a referee.