£1m ‘Community Chest’ for Liverpool residents

Communities across Liverpool are being given the chance to take control of their future thanks to a new £1 million city council improvement fund.

Designed to empower residents and groups to become the driving forces for change within their communities by encouraging them to apply for cash-aid, the Mayoral Inclusive Growth Fund will support grass-roots initiatives and help individual communities tackle the specific issues they face.

As part of the investment, £550,000 will be devoted to projects that address issues of deprivation, support children and older people and contribute to the city’s local economy, while a further £150,000 has been set aside to encourage crowdfunding initiatives for community-based projects.

The remaining £200,000 will be used to devise a sustainable food strategy for the city. This will include setting up a series of food collection points and community pantries across the city that will be used to support people and families facing extreme hardship.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “Our communities face many challenges and we believe that the people best placed to meet them are those who live in our communities. They know best what will make the difference and we want them to come forward and take control.”

“We must also accept that, as the council’s funding from central government continues to be cut, we can’t tackle these alone. The council works in partnership with many groups and organisations and this new fund will be a way of extending that network and enable residents to take an active role in shaping the future of our city.”