By Monica Jones
Shepperton Studios has just launched a new community fund. It is open to local organisa-tions or individuals, non-profit and voluntary organisations including charities, social enter-prises, and community groups. This is a great chance for many areas of the community to apply for a much needed cash injection.
The fund is a not insubstantial £500,000 to be distributed over 10 years. It is to be spent IN Spelthorne for the benefit OF Spelthorne. If you have a project that needs funding, read on.
There are three groups which will be the pri-mary focus: Youth Development, Community Development and Under privileged/disadvantaged individuals and groups, who have no other source of funding.
So, maybe you are a small sports club and you need some new kit. Maybe you are a men’s club and you are looking for a piece of equipment. Maybe you are looking at putting on a community event but need a cash injec-tion. As youth is such a focus, this looks like a great chance to get funding for the young-sters of the borough. Could we get a youth club up and running again?
Whether large or small, don’t hesitate. This is for the community and we need to take full advantage of it.
The fund itself is being run by the Communi-ty Foundation for Surrey. They will take the initial applications and submit them to a panel at Shepperton Studios who will make the final decision.
The first round of funding closes in April 2022, with allocation of funds in July. Details of how to apply are on the website: www.cfsurrey.org.uk/applyforfunding
If the thought of filling in forms to apply for a grant is enough to put you off, then don’t des-pair! There will be workshops put on to help you with the application process. We will publish updates on workshop dates in this publication to make sure you are kept in-formed.
If you have any questions and want to speak to a human being however, try the contact points for the Community Fund for Surrey:
Tel 01483 478092 or email
info@cfsurrey.org.uk
Just to clarify, this fund is additional to the 106 Statuary Requirements that the Studios has undertaken as part of the new develop-ment. It is also additional to any current fund-ing that local groups may already have from the studios. It is also additional to any other funding a group or individual may be getting from other sources.
The Fund forms part of the Studios’ Set For More programme which is a long-term com-mitment. An exciting element of this initiative is a plan to create the biggest careers fair for film and TV to encourage both youngsters or more experienced applicants who can retrain and repurpose skills within the film business. More to come on that in due course.
