Inclusive Communities Fund – First Sandwell Grants Announced!

by Libby Mahoney

Heart of England Community Foundation are pleased to announce that the first grants have been awarded from the Inclusive Communities Fund with £572,843 awarded to ten Sandwell organisations.

One the first grants to be awarded is a grant of £200,000 to Active Black Country for water safety lessons for thousands of school children, teaching them how to stay safe around water and vital survival skills if they get into difficulty.

Thanks to this substantial grant, Active Black Country will work alongside local authorities, leisure operators and aquatics partners including the Association for Physical Education, the Canal and River Trust, the Royal Life Saving Society and Swim England to develop a programme of lessons in and out of the water for 80 schools alongside community family sessions. Thousands more in the area will get access to a new water safety website which will have resources for teachers, parents and community groups.

The Inclusive Communities Fund was set up to help to ensure the positive and long-lasting legacy from the 2022 Commonwealth Games is felt across the region by supporting locally-led projects that will unite communities across the West Midlands and promote the benefits of being more physically and mentally active.

Inclusive Communities grants were also awarded to the following Sandwell organisations:

  • Fantastic Journeys CIC for their arts, culture and creativity project.
  • The Dorothy Parkes Centre for their mental health and well-being project.
  • The Salvation Army for their mental health and well-being project.
  • Cape Community Care Day Centre for their mental health and well-being project.
  • G.A.P Entertainment C.I.C for their arts, culture and creativity project.
  • Ideal for All for their physical activity and sport, mental health and well-being project.
  • Oldbury United FC CIC for their physical activity and sport, mental health and
    well-being project.
  • St Albans Community Association for their mental health and well-being project.
  • The Albion Foundation for their physical activity and sport, mental health and well-being,
    arts, culture and creativity project.

Remember you can access SCVO’s free funding support services funding portal and digest – for more details visit www.scvo.info.