Over 100 community groups across County Wicklow are to share in €282,686 funding received by Wicklow County Council under a special Government scheme.
County Wicklow received the funding as part of a €9m fund allocated by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD.
This funding is being used to support community groups impacted by COVID-19 by providing small grants for community groups affected by the Pandemic and will support facilities such as community centres, men’s and women’s sheds, parish halls and youth centres.
The Community Activities Fund is supporting groups, particularly in disadvantaged areas, with their running costs such as utility or insurance bills, as well as with improvements to their facilities.
Groups will also be able to use the funding to carry out necessary repairs and to purchase equipment such as tables and chairs, tools and signage, laptops and printers, lawnmowers, canopies and training equipment.
The once-off fund is allocated under the Department’s Community Enhancement Programme and is administered locally by the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs).
At the Wicklow LCDC meeting this week, under the chairmanship of Cllr Pat Kennedy, the full amount of €282,686 was allocated to 122 community groups across the county.
Cllr Kennedy welcomed this significant dispersal of funding to so many diverse groups across all the Municipal Districts and thanked all the groups for their continuing work to enhance their areas.
Chief Executive of Wicklow County Council, Mr Brian Gleeson, added his own thanks to the myriad of community groups doing such valuable work in their neigbourhoods and thanked the Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys TD and all her officials for their continuing support for the county.
