More than 80 local groups and charities benefit from £1.2m worth of community-boosting grants

More than 80 groups across the county have been awarded grants thanks to the new-look Nottinghamshire County County’s Local Communities Fund 2026-8 (LCF)

Groups were asked to provide evidence that their projects will make a difference in their communities.

Eligible community groups who provide a wide range of resilience and prevention services were able to apply for a range of grants, these included:

• One-off capital grant of up to £20,000 to help improve local facilities

• Two-year large revenue grants, of up to £50,000, to help towards running costs such as bills or staffing costs. Successful groups were able to demonstrate financial stability during the two-year funding period and also that they would remain financial resilient would after the funding ends.

• Small revenue grants of up to £5,000 to help towards running costs and bills.  

Councillor Jody Stoll, is the council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health. He said he was proud the council is continuing to help communities thrive by financially supporting community groups and charities. He said:

“We want to encourage healthy and sustainable communities by financially supporting community groups and charities via this new two-year programme.

“All applications have been vigorously assessed to ensure the criteria is met and each project demonstrates its community impact and long-term benefit to residents.”

Some of the groups set to benefit from the large revenue grants, endorsed by the local county councillor, includes:

£22,332 will go to Citizens Advice North Nottinghamshire (CANNS) to help  maintain and develop its existing advice service by funding client support advisors/trained volunteers to provide early triage and generalist advice, outreach and events, delivering accessible support and crisis prevention for residents in Bassetlaw and Mansfield.

£24,800 for Family Action Mansfield to help provide vulnerable and low income families with access to healthy, low-cost food to help them stretch their limited budgets and support their health and wellbeing.

Home-Start across Gedling, Mansfield and Newark will receive three sets of funding, totalling £61,182, to provide range of support for vulnerable families with young children  to help give them the best start in life, through home visits and early intervention.

Oasis Community Church, Centre and Gardens Bassetlaw will receive £22,500  to provide activities, events, practical support and health and wellbeing support to all who need it in the local area especially those who are most disadvantaged,

Positively Empowered Kids CIC across Arnold, Netherfield and Killisick will receive £34,500 towards delivering prevention and early intervention support to supporting at-risk young people.

The Social Action Hub in Blidworth will receive £28,763 towards funding  a dedicated volunteer co-ordinator help residents access local wellbeing support, build confidence and connection, take part in volunteering and social action, and progress into learning, skills and opportunity.  The group were also awarded a capital grant of £20,000 towards an upgrade to its community centre.

Your CVS will receive £31,592 towards a countywide programme providing organisational development, volunteering support, training, governance advice, partnership development to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

Groups to be awarded small revenue grants, backed by the local county councillor in the area, include:

Eastwood Volunteer Bureau and Food Bank.  £5,000 will be used towards a befriending service which provides regular companionship, friendly conversation, and social support to help reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing.

Upton Parish Council. £1,763 will be used to provide a warm hub and a place for residents to meet and socialise at a time when older residents have nowhere else to meet up on a regular basis.

The Sherwood Forest Trust, Mansfield. £4,950 to help fund work to increase community engagement in the Oak Tree area.

Some of the groups set to benefit from capital grants for projects endorsed by the local county councillor includes:

The John Godber Centre in Hucknall. £20,000 towards work to install an air-conditioning system to ensure regular groups and classes can run all year round.

Newark Town Council will receive £20,000 to upgrade Collis Close play area, to ensure that this recreational space is safe and fit for purpose.

Ranskill Parish Council will receive £15,000 to help fund improvements at Ranskill Park including installing the new equipment.

Improvements to the revised, two-year Local Communities Fund include: 

-To help organisations that have previously been unable to meet the funding criteria, a new foundation grant will be available for new or recently set-up groups to help them get established and help position them for more funding opportunities in the near future. This is in addition to getting general support from the council’s communities’ team.  Successful recipients of this new grant will be announced soon.

-To speed up the application process for capital grants, groups will be able to apply without having their match-funding finalised but will need to provide evidence if and when they are successful in their application.

-To free up more funding towards projects which offer community resilience, the Local Communities Fund will no longer fund projects such as village or gateway signs.  

Those groups who were unsuccessful in this funding round will be contacted by council teams to explain why they didn’t meet the criteria and give feedback to help them if they decide to apply again when the next round opens in the coming weeks.

They’ll also be encouraged to sign up for free funding workshops which continue to be offered to all community groups. These sessions offer practical advice and tips to increase the chances of funding applications being successful, whether it’s for a council scheme or wider funding.

A funding toolkit also offers further tips and guidance to charities, community groups, and voluntary organisations to help prepare for a wide range of funding opportunities.

Details of the workshops and toolkit are here: Funding toolkit and workshops for the voluntary sector | Nottinghamshire County Council

Full details listing all the successful groups is available here: Decision Details: Local Communities Fund: Large Revenue, Small Revenue and Capital Grant Fund Recommendations