Endowment fund for local groups launched

 * At the launch of the new fund at Ruthin Craft Centre are, from left, Cllr Hugh Evans, leader of Denbighshire, Tom Barham from the Community Foundation in Wales, Councillor Jeanette Chamberlain Jones (chair of Denbighshire), Hywyn Williams, Corporate Director - Communities Denbighshire County Council and Lisa Kellett, Chief Executive of the Community Foundation in Wales.

Community and charitable groups in Llangollen and the rest of Denbighshire are being invited to bid for a share of a new £280,000 endowment fund.

The Denbighshire Community Endowment Fund will award around £10,000 in education grants each year.

The funding comes from dormant funds identified by the county council, which has asked the Community Foundation in Wales to identify how the cash can be used locally.

The foundation will work with local people to advise on grant making decisions, and support the education of young people.

The fund will provide a long-term source of funding for community and charitable groups across the county and will gather donations from people wishing to top it up.

Grants will be made under five broad themes - enabling young people and promoting education, enterprise and lifelong learning; building cohesion and confidence in communities; improving physical and mental health; nurturing heritage and culture and protecting our environment.

Liza Kellett, chief executive of the Community Foundation in Wales, said: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with Denbighshire County Council.

“By working together, we can make sure that the funding is targeted effectively but we also the fund to grow so more local groups can benefit in the future.

“We invite people living in the county to consider gifting a donation to their communities. Local giving for local action really does make a difference.”

Councillor Hugh Evans, leader of Denbighshire County Council, said: "In an exercise to review the education budget line by line, we realised that we had 57 dormant charitable funds, some of them small.

“The total fund value amounted to about £280k. Making much better use of such a substantial fund is critically important to us, and leaving such funds dormant was not an option.

"When we were contacted by the Community Foundation in Wales, we became really enthusiastic about contributing the monies to create this education -focussed fund for Denbighshire.

“We now have a very good way forward, the money available is going to be invested well, funding will be released to just causes within our communities, and that will, hopefully, reap benefits to our residents, now and for years to come.”

Anyone interested in donating to the fund should phone the Community Foundation in Wales on 02920 536 590.or visit WWW.CFIW.ORG.UK