Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie has welcomed Berkeley Trinity Community Hub and Library being granted £130,000 from the expanded £150 million Community Ownership Fund.
Ms Baillie wrote in support of the project and Levelling Up minister Jacob Young was also invited by her to visit the town recently to learn about plans for Berkeley.
The fund allows community groups to take ownership of assets and amenities at risk of being lost, enabling them to run them on behalf of their community.
“This is a good early Christmas present for people in Berkeley. The Berkeley books project team put together a good bid for money from the community fund for library and community hub.” said Baillie.
“Some Stroud district bids were sadly not successful but I understand some of the feedback has been useful. Many projects do not always win the grant at the first try but then go on to win after tweaking their bids.
“I remain hopeful that projects like Fromehall Mill, who I have spoken to today, will win support in future rounds of the fund.”
John Stanton, the chair of trustees for Trinity Hub and Library said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the Berkeley Books project has won our community ownership bid from Government. This has been a lot of work by the trustees with the Town council, councillors and our local MP supporting us. The district council has said it will look at CIL funding now too. It is a great endorsement of the idea for a community hub for all to enjoy. “
The fund has been revamped lately. Match funding levels have been lowered from 50% to 20% and the funding cap increased from £1 million to £2 million in the latest round.
It will be running until March 2025 with four bidding windows per financial year, so there is ample opportunity for groups to work on an application or reapply.
