COMMUNITY groups and projects in South Ham and Buckskin have until January to apply for a funding boost following the release of a second round of “Your Community, Your Choice” grants.

The small-scale grants of up to £2,000, which are provided by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Sovereign Housing Association as part of the Neighbourhood Partnership for the area, aim to assist voluntary and community organisations to deliver sustainable projects in South Ham and Buckskin.

The Neighbourhood Partnership brings together representatives from community associations, community planning groups, faith groups and borough and county councillors with agencies such as Sovereign Housing Association, the North Hampshire Clinical Commissioning group and the police to enable local people to influence and improve the quality of life for their community.

To be eligible to get a chance of funding any project put forward must meet one of the criteria:

• Provide a service or activity where there is a proved need

• Aim to strengthen the community by bringing people together

• Enhance the local environment

• Improve the health and wellbeing of the community

Funding from the first round of applications, which were submitted earlier this year, went to a variety of community projects, voted on by local residents.

These projects included, Friends of Stratton Park’s Picnic in the Park, providing education kits to Westside Community Association Youth Club, helping to create spirituality garden at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, in St Michael’s Road and also funding a tea club for school children at Romsey Community School in Buckskin.

After the applications have closed and been reviewed, local residents will then have an opportunity to get more information on the projects when they cast their vote on which ones they would like to get funding.

Events will be held between 11am and 3pm on Saturday, January 24 at the Ridgeway Centre, in Blackdown Close and the Russell Howard Pavilion, in Pinkerton Road.

The council’s Cabinet member for community services and the environment, Councillor Hayley Eachus, said: “This aim of providing a funding boost for local projects in Buckskin and South Ham, and then asking the community to choose which ones receive it, is to give local residents a real say in both what they need and also what they get in terms of community projects, which is at the heart of the Neighbourhood Partnership.”

To apply for a grant, email neighbourhood.partnership@basingstoke.gov.uk or call the borough council on 01256 844844.