At the event, 14 local community groups gave presentations on the projects they were working on and made bids for a share of the of the £10,000 fund available to spend on those projects - projects supporting the needs of their local communities across the Parish area.
The bids ranged from funding for tracking devices for Chandler's Ford First Responders; equipping a community meeting room at a Chandler's Ford school; supporting a disabled art group to funding for a lunch club for those in social isolation.
The funding was made possible by Chandler's Ford Parish Council, who applied for and won a grant of £5,000 from the Hampshire County Council's Participatory Budget Scheme – a scheme which allows local Councils and Community Forums to identify and make grants to 'hard to reach' groups, who work quietly and ceaselessly on specific projects in the community – the Parish Council decided to match this funding from its own resources to make a total of £10,000 available to the community of Chandler's Ford.
Under the Participatory Budget scheme local community groups are able to come together to hear about each-others projects, and they themselves vote on the projects depending on their individual merit and benefit to the community, thus deciding which projects should be funded.
The winning bids were:
Chandler's Ford First Responders - £720.00
Girl Guiding in Chandler's Ford - £1,000.00
Velmore Lunch Club - £500.00
Velmore Friendship Club - £600.00
Velmore Art Club - £726.00
Velmore Community Association - £600.00
Eastleigh Scouts and Guides Band - £1,000.00
Solent Youth Action- £1,560.00
Chandler's Ford Scouts - £2,000.00
Merdon Junior School - £647.00
Chandler's Ford Brass Band- £647.00
Commenting on the event, Chairman of the Parish Council Margaret Atkinson said: "I am delighted that we have been able to facilitate this event which enables local groups to continue to provide much needed support to sometimes overlooked parts of our community. We held a similar event earlier in the year and in some cases the effect of the grants we made has been life changing."
Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine said: "I was so pleased to hear that event was so successful, and a massive well done to the wide range of community groups across the area which secured valuable funding. I am sure that they are truly delighted, and that the money will be used extremely wisely."