Two Stevenage county councillors have given £1,000 to Herts Fire Cadets, and Baldock gets £2,000 for a wellbeing hub and an LGBTQ+ group. How to apply.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Fire Cadets have been given £1,000 by two Stevenage county councillors, and a new wellbeing hub for older people in Baldock has been given another £1,000, in the latest round of county council Locality Budget grants.
Hertfordshire County Council announced 12 grants worth £7,350 in total across the county on 9 October, in a press release sent to Stevenage Today. Three of them, worth £3,000, are in our patch.
Fire Cadets: £1,000 from the Bainbridges
Councillor Janet Bainbridge (Broadwater) and Councillor Doug Bainbridge (Old Stevenage) have jointly given £1,000 to the fire service’s Fire Cadet and Community Safety Programme. The council says the money will buy uniforms, equipment and training resources for Fire Cadets, and community engagement materials for fire safety education and prevention work across Hertfordshire.
“Always important to support the next generation and I’m happy to do so,” said Councillor Janet Bainbridge.
Councillor Doug Bainbridge added: “Always happy to support such initiatives to promote youth engagement especially such a worthwhile cause.”
Baldock: a wellbeing hub and Queers & Peers
Councillor Alistair Willoughby (Baldock and Letchworth East) has made two grants of £1,000 each.
The first goes to Caring Herts CIC for a new weekly Wellbeing Hub in Baldock, for older residents who are lonely or isolated. The council says it will cover venue hire, refreshments, travel and staffing.
“I am delighted to provide Locality Budget funding to help get the new Baldock Wellbeing Hub up and running,” he said. “This is something I have been keen to establish for some time, so it is fantastic to see it now becoming a reality. The work that Caring Herts does will give older residents a place to meet, build friendships, and enjoy regular activities in a supportive environment. It is a wonderful initiative that will bring people together, tackle loneliness and isolation, and strengthen our community.”
The second goes to the charity Impactful Lives to take its Queers & Peers project into Letchworth and Baldock, with monthly community sessions for LGBTQ+ residents. The council says the sessions are meant to help people make friends, find support and feel less isolated, and will connect them with the charity’s wider mentoring and outreach services.
“Strong communities are built when people have opportunities to connect, support one another, and feel that they belong,” Councillor Willoughby said. “Impactful Lives already does fantastic work helping people build confidence, form friendships, and overcome isolation, so I am delighted to support the expansion of their Queers & Peers project into Letchworth and Baldock. This funding will help create a welcoming local network where LGBTQ+ residents can meet others, access support, and feel more connected.”
The release does not give a start date or venue for either the hub or the sessions.
Where the rest of the £7,350 went
The other nine grants, as listed by the county council:
- Broxbourne, £500: Rosedale Community Church, for equipment for a youth club for 11 to 16-year-olds (Councillor Lesley Greensmyth).
- Dacorum, £865: £300 to All Saints Church for children’s activities at the Kings Langley Beer & Folk Festival (Councillor Richard Roberts), and £565 to Tudor Primary School for 10 CPR training manikins to be shared between local primary schools (Councillor Jan Maddern).
- East Herts, £1,000: £500 to St Peter’s Church Buntingford for its “Choc Stop” after-school drop-in and a new youth space, “Pete’s Place” (Councillor Terry Smith), and £500 to Herts Young Homeless (Councillor Miriam Swainston).
- St Albans, £1,200: £300 to St Albans Arts Team CIC for a River Ver mural at the St Albans Sub Aqua Club (Councillor Matt Fisher), £500 to St Luke’s School in Redbourn to refurbish The Ark, its animal-care classroom (Councillor Allison Wren), and £400 to Highfield Park Trust for Carols in the Park and a January wassail (Councillor Liz Needham).
- Watford, £285: 60 Remembrance poppies for lampposts in West Watford (Councillor Nigel Bell).
- Welwyn Hatfield, £500: raised beds for a children’s allotment at Tenterfield Nursery School (Councillor Tony Kingsbury).
North Herts, with £2,000, had the largest share of this round.
What it means for you
Each of Hertfordshire’s 78 county councillors has a Locality Budget of £5,000 to give to local projects, according to the council, and the scheme has funded thousands of projects since it began in 2009. Grants are meant to fit the council’s priorities, which include helping children and young people, roads and buses, sustainability and supporting people most in need.
If your club, school, charity or residents’ group has a project that fits, the place to start is your county councillor. Full details and how to apply are on the county council’s Locality Budget page. Stevenage Borough Council’s own Community Chest fund is a separate pot.
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