£6 million to go to local community and voluntary groups

More than 80 community and voluntary groups in Hackney will receive funding next year to run services for local people worth a total of £6.2 million.

Nearly two thirds of the money - £3.7 million over two years - will be used to fund Positive Activities for Young People, a programme commissioned through Team Hackney.  These range from entertainment skills training from well-known local providers such as Hoxton Hall and Rising Tide, to sporting and outdoor activities run by the Laburnum Boat Club, the North London Muslim Community Centre, and the Hackney Marsh Partnership.  

The rest of the money, just under £2.5 million, will be used by The Hackney Grants Programme, administered by the Council, which received applications this year from 200 groups.  Among the 63 groups who have been recommended for funding are Age Concern Hackney, the Arcola Theatre and Hackney City Farm.  Community centres and umbrella groups, such as the Jewish charity Interlink, the Hackney Hindu Council, the Hackney Cypriot Association and Day-Mer Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre, will all receive funds.

Both programmes were over-subscribed by more than three times the available budget, and at least 150 groups applied across the two programmes. All applicants were scored according to how well they showed they could deliver both good services and value for money in line with the needs of the people of Hackney.  

The selection panel for the Positive Activities for Young People programme included representatives from the Police, schools, the Council, the community and voluntary sector and, for the first time, two members of Hackney’s Youth Parliament.

The panel for the Hackney Grants programme included people from all service areas including schools, housing, youth services and children’s services.  Final decisions on the programme were made at the Council’s cabinet meeting on December 15^th.

Laburnum Boat Club

Has been operating from its base on the Canal in Haggerston for 25 years.  Will provide young people with canoeing, powerboating and dinghy sailing training, the chance to qualify for awards such as lifeguarding, first aid, expedition leadership and Duke of Edinburgh Award, and other activities like rock climbing, narrowboating and orienteering, during school holidays and all-year round.

PAYP and Hackney Funding Programme

Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation)

Based in Stoke Newington, the HCEO offers activities for elderly people of Caribbean descent.

Hackney Funding Programme

Rising Tide

Is based just behind Ocean, Mare Street, and has been providing studio facilities, instruments and training in performance and music making for young people in Hackney for ten years.  Will recruit music ambassadors to involve young people throughout the borough, with music sessions also on offer at five youth clubs.

Will provide activities during term-time and school holidays.

PAYP

Hands Inc

Set up in 2001 by two complementary  therapists, Hands Inc is based in E8 and has run art therapy and other programmes in schools, community groups and Council-run services such as the Youth Offending Team.

PAYP

Hoxton Hall

Has been entertaining local people since 1863.  Activities for young people include training in theatre, music, art and dance.

PAYP

Day-Mer Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre

Set up in 1989 in Stoke Newington to serve the needs of London’s Turkish and Kurdish communities, Day-Mer provides advice and information for the community six days a week and supports people with care needs at home.  The Centre also runs.   youth activities after school, at weekends and during the summer holidays.

Hackney Funding Programme

Community Centre for Refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

This Centre in Haggerston will run a series of health seminars and will offer sessions advising members of this community on how they can make the best use of local health services.  Physical exercise classes and health promotion events will also be on offer.

Hackney Funding Programme

Twist

A new provider for Hackney, the Twist Partnership is based at Holywell Lane, EC2, and will work with teenagers who are at risk of offending, to build leadership and social action skills.  This will include working with young people of similar ages in Sierra Leone to improve their communities, using links with the British Council and UNICEF.

PAYP

18.12.2008