Community Projects Seek Votes to win Suffolk Coastal Business & Community Award

Community Projects Seek Votes to win Suffolk Coastal Business & Community Award

As part of the Suffolk Coastal Business & Community Awards, the public are invited to vote on the Enabling Communities Award. The finalists for this award have been shortlisted from all the community projects that have received funding from the Suffolk Coastal Enabling Communities Budget or Exemplar Grant over the past 18 months.

Voting is open to the public until 28th February 2018 and you can cast you vote here. The winner will be announced at the awards dinner at The Hangar, Kesgrave Hall on 15th March.

Cllr TJ Haworth-Culf, cabinet member for Customers, Communities and Leisure at Suffolk Coastal, said: “Since we launched our Enabling Communities Budget scheme in December 2013, we’ve supported over 750 projects and community initiatives and 23 projects through our Exemplar Grants programme.

“Our four finalists represent just a handful of the diverse projects we’ve helped support in the last year and together support the breadth of our communities, including young and older people, protecting heritage and teaching crucial life skills. It’s now over to the public to vote for their favourite and decide which project has benefitted their community most.”

Find out more about Suffolk Coastal District Council’s funding opportunities here.

Overview of the finalists

Deben Community Farm (Melton)

Deben Community Farm in Melton works with young people to build awareness and understanding of how food is produced. They work with schools and families and create opportunities for disadvantaged individuals to gain social and practical skills by undertaking tasks on the farm. The Trustees and volunteers have taken a piece of land and worked hard to develop the facilities and stock for visitors and those undertaking skills training on the farm.

Kesgrave Computer Club

The community driven club started in 2017 and is run by four volunteers, meeting every Thursday morning. According to the Club Coordinator it provides a safe community space where local people could meet in a friendly setting and share their experiences, problems and issues concerning the use of computers in everyday lives. The group can help with everything from how to set up a new email, setting up a new computer, how to use the web safely and how to make better use of an iPad or a tablet. Anyone can come along and it’s free to attend.

The Long Shop Museum in Leiston

The Long Shop Museum has safeguarded the industrial heritage of the Garrett works in Leiston. It has become a significant tourist attraction, drawing many visitors to the town. This is complimented with a number of community events including a beer festival. Alongside this piece of Suffolk heritage, the museum takes a proactive role in projects that greatly benefit different sections of the community.  For example, it supported the creation of a Men’s Shed where men can come together to share their skills and collaborate on projects. They have also attracted funding to set up a young persons’ group to tackle social, physical and mental health difficulties using the museum’s workshops.

Aldeburgh Play Area Project

This project involved developing King’s Field Aldeburgh as an activity hub for the town. Many community events are held on the field, attracting visitors from afar. The play equipment is in close proximity to the community centre and on the home route for many local school children. The vision for King’s Field is for the this to act as a community hub, with new children’s play equipment, an outdoor gym,  community centre and sports facilities.

Pictured the 2016 winners, BRFA, for developing Sax Music Fest. Photo credit Simon Ballard.

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