£8.5m for Camden's voluntary and community groups

1.29.25pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 19th Jan 2007

Camden's Lib Dem-led administration agreed this month to invest £8.5 million in grants to the voluntary and community sector next financial year. The programme is one of the biggest in London and maintains Camden's support for the sector at the same level as the present year.

After listening to the views of local people and organisations during consultation over the autumn, the administration agreed several new priorities for funding. These included:

# £300,000 for services tackling financial inclusion, including support for a new Credit Union helping people get low cost finance and avoid loan sharks

# £150,000 for projects and programmes educating young people and others about the environment, reflecting the new administration's commitment to sustainability

# £240,000 to go to organisations which carry out work to promote and improve Camden's physical environment.

The Lib Dem-led administration responded in a number of ways to points raised during the consultation period. In particular, it increased the amount of resource being made available to support legal advice and debt advice. It also widened the definition of the health category to include "wellbeing" as well as physical activity.

Finally, the administration confirmed its commitment to an "open process" which means that, for the first time for many years, any voluntary or community organisation in Camden would be able to bid to the council for funding. Under the previous Labour administration, bidding was largely confined to organisations who had received council funding before.

Lib Dem Leader of Camden Council, Cllr Keith Moffitt, said "This significant grant programme really demonstrates the way we value the Voluntary and Community sector in Camden. As well as providing much-needed services, voluntary organisations draw in the community and are part of what makes Camden such a special place to live and work."

He added: "By listening to the consultation and making changes as a result, and by sticking to our plans to have a more open bidding process, the new Lib Dem-led administration is showing how it is already doing things differently from our Labour predecessors".