News Community groups funds bid denied
Three out of four community groups which applied for three-year funding from Goole Town Council have been told they cannot have any.
The Hinge Centre, The Green Team and the Goole & District Coalition of Physical Disabilities have been turned down for core funding amounting to more than £60,000.
The council's decision comes as a major blow to all three groups, particularly the Green Team and the disabilities group, which have both hinted recently that they may have to close if they can't find alternative funding channels.
Elaine Pittaway, the Green Team's project co-ordinator, said she was disappointed not to get any funding but added: "Obviously, there isn't the money to go around and Goole Town Council have always been very supportive. We're very grateful for the past funding they have given us."
Last month we told how the Green Team - which provides gardening services for the elderly and vulnerable people - was so cash-strapped it feared it might have to cut services and ultimately be wound down within a year.
The funding crisis that has beset the charity - which provides services on a 10-mile radius around Goole - means it will now have to remove services from Newport and Gilberdyke.
The group had applied for £5,000 for the first year of a three-year service level agreement with the council, and hoped to claim a similar amount in the following two years.
The Hinge Centre, which applied for £4,300 a year as part of its three-year service level agreement, had hoped to use the money for a mentoring project for young people.
Martin Crossland, the Hinge Centre's strategic development manager, said the charity had had to put on hold the Young People's Volunteer Peer Project because of the council's decision.
He claimed the council had "got the protocol all wrong" by encouraging the centre to apply for a three-year service level agreement instead of a one-year grant.
"I think it's absolutely disgusting," said Mr Crossland. "I just think it was a cock-eyed way of doing it.
"We had 10 young people wanting to participate - that was a major achievement to get them interested. But now we've got to put the project on hold until we can get funding from elsewhere."
The Goole & District Coalition of Physical Disabilities had applied for up to £30,000 but was also turned down.
No one from the charity - which provides mentoring, advice and mobility aids for disabled people - was available for comment at the time of going to press this week.
But last week the Goole Times spoke to Cliff Woolass, the group's president, who said the charity had been handed a lifeline by a West Yorkshire-based charity that should ensure its short-term future.
The Wakefield-based Charles and Nancy Sykes Trust gave the disabilities group £5,000.
However, Mr Woolass said the group was still finding it hard to stay afloat without core funding from the council.
"We're very grateful for this kind donation and it's bought us some time," said Mr Woolass. 'It won't cover everything for the next 12 months but it will buy us some breathing space. We had got really close to closing.'
The only successful bid was by local transport group Goole Go Far, which will be given a one-off grant payment of £1,869.
The council says that amount is all that remained from its budget for supporting community groups in the area.
Brian Robertson, clerk to Goole Town Council, admitted the council's pot for grant-aid to local community groups was running dry.
"We decided that we would only support one of these groups with what was left with the budget," he added.
"We have got to make these hard decisions and look to prioritise our spending."
The decision was made during a meeting of the council's Policy and Resources Committee last week, following recommendations by a working group which had been set up to look into funding levels for each group.
Published on 10th July 2008 in News.
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