Street Pastors, Age UK and a new run club are among 18 Maidstone groups sharing £48,000 in council grants. See who got what, and when the next rounds open.
Eighteen Maidstone charities and community groups have been awarded council grants worth £48,000 between them. The money will pay for night-time help in the town centre, support for lonely older residents, youth clubs and free digital skills sessions.
Maidstone Borough Council announced the awards on 26 October. The first round of its new Community Grant Scheme drew 28 applications, and 18 were funded with grants of between £500 and £4,999 (Maidstone Borough Council, 26 October).
Five groups received the maximum £4,999:
- Maidstone Street Pastors, for the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable people in the town centre at night
- Making a Difference Maidstone, for outreach to people facing poverty and homelessness
- Age UK Maidstone, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, for outreach to isolated older residents
- We Click CIC, for its community hub at The Mall
- Involve Kent, for free digital drop-ins, one-to-one help and workshops
Who got what
| Group | Grant | What it pays for |
|---|---|---|
| Maidstone Street Pastors | £4,999 | Safety and wellbeing of vulnerable people in the town centre at night |
| Making a Difference Maidstone | £4,999 | Outreach for people experiencing poverty and homelessness |
| Age UK Maidstone, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge | £4,999 | Outreach for isolated older residents facing loneliness or digital exclusion |
| We Click CIC | £4,999 | Community hub tackling digital exclusion, poor literacy, unemployment, hardship and isolation |
| Involve Kent | £4,999 | Digitally Connected: free drop-ins, one-to-one support and workshops |
| Maidstone Trans Network | £3,140 | Maidstone Inclusive Town Safety Initiative, safe and inclusive access to toilets in the town centre |
| Communigrow | £3,000 | Savvy Spoons workshops on cutting food waste and household bills |
| Maidstone Family Church | £3,000 | Wildfire Youth Club, a safe space to play, study and socialise |
| Stones Community Trust | £2,530 | FitStones exercise sessions for residents aged 50 and over |
| Hi Kent | £2,000 | Social group and technology support for deaf and hard of hearing residents |
| CAP Enterprises | £2,000 | Women Kind training for young women |
| Rewrite Your Story | £2,000 | Town Centre Connect wellbeing programme for young people and vulnerable residents |
| Hinckley Harriers | £1,000 | Free inclusive weekly running sessions in the town centre |
| Switch Youth Services | £1,000 | Youth centre for young people |
| The Princess Project | £1,000 | Mum Hubs for isolated and vulnerable families |
| Making Miracles | £1,000 | Volunteers Matter, helping people into volunteering |
| Hear Say | £984 | Parent support group for families of children with additional needs |
| Maidstone Baptist Make Lunch | £500 | Holiday lunch club for vulnerable families with young children |
The council rounds the total to £48,000. The 18 awards it lists add up to £48,149.
Safer toilets and a sign in the window
The most unusual award is £3,140 to the Maidstone Trans Network. Its project will work with town-centre businesses on access to safe toilets.
The network told the council the money will pay for:
- 500 advice packs handed out across the town centre and the borough
- inclusivity audits of venues
- support for more than 50 venues to sign a “safe refuge pledge”
Venues that sign up will show the scheme’s window stickers. The network said these will “provide a signpost to safety for those who avoid public areas due to fear of confrontation.”
The Street Pastors’ coordinator said the grant pays for training and uniforms, and for the kit volunteers carry on a night out in town. That includes bottled water, foil blankets, flip-flops, sleeping bags and hot drinks. “Without grants like this, we simply could not do what we do,” he said.
Councillor David Naghi, the cabinet member for community cohesion and safety, said the groups “play an important role in making Maidstone a better place for everyone.”
Two more rounds to come
This was the first of three rounds. The council set aside £140,000 for the scheme in July, with about £46,600 for each round (Maidstone Borough Council, 15 July).
The first round was limited to projects on town centre inclusion and safety. The council said later rounds would be open to projects beyond the town centre that meet the criteria. It now says the next rounds will run before Christmas and in the new year. It has not yet given dates or themes.
What it means for you
- If you run a group outside the town centre, the next two rounds are the ones to watch. Charities, community groups, community interest companies and faith groups can apply if their project is open to all.
- Grants go up to £4,999 for one-off projects. Bids showing strong partnership working can ask for up to £9,999, and get extra weight in the assessment.
- To ask about a bid, the council’s contact is vcsliaison@maidstone.gov.uk.
- If you need help, several of these groups are open to anyone. Age UK, Involve Kent’s digital hub and We Click’s hub at The Mall all offer free support.
We will report the dates and theme of the next round when the council publishes them.
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