Tap in to new community pot by helping bring communities together

Date article online: 20/06/2007

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) will be awarding five grants of £200 to voluntary tenants and residents groups, who have developed projects to help communities come together and work together. The new award is part of the Communities First programme which was launched by RBH this year to recognise, reward and promote individuals and groups who make a positive contribution to their local communities.

RBH, the organisation who manages council housing across the borough, want you to tell them what you’ve done, so that they can consider you for the cash. This can then be put to an event or activity on the estate to build on what you have already achieved.

These new awards recognise the commitment of tenants groups in bringing different sections of their communities together. Groups could benefit by encouraging as many different sections of their community to join in activities and events together; elderly, young people, disabled people, men and women, people from different ethnic or religious backgrounds and people who have responsibilities as a carer for a relative.

Sue Kershaw, Communities First Coordinator, said: "We want to publicise this well ahead of time, so that when people are planning estate events, they can think about who lives locally and how they can involve them and make the events more attractive to them. Encouraging everyone to get involved in estate schemes helps to improve understanding and encourages greater respect for one another."

The closing date for applications is 14 September and you can find out more or ask for an application by calling Sue on 01706 273829 or going on to the website:

• www.rbhousing.org.uk/communitiesfirst