Council allocation of €400k for festivals and community groups

Some €400,000 is to be allocated to festivals and events, community groups, Tidy Towns, residents associations, Christmas lights and other initiatives in Westmeath this year.

Festivals and events are to get €150,000, community, Tidy Towns and residents groups €138,000; and Christmas lights €60,000.

Details of how the monies are to be divided were provided at a meeting of the County Council’s Housing, Community, Corporate and Cultural Strategic Policy Committee on Monday of last week.

The members heard that the festivals and events grant was €100,000, but the council had an underspend of €100,000 on festivals and events last year and the year before and it is proposed to add €50,000 of that to the fund to underpin recovery in the economy. The other €50,000 will be kept as a contingency in case more is needed.

Applications are now invited for events to be held in the first half of the year, and in May for events to be held in the second half of the year.

Grants range from about €250 to about €10,000. Applications will be assessed on how the proposed initiative contributes to the Westmeath Calendar of Events from a community, social, cultural and economic perspective; the extent to which the event is unique, innovative, creative, interesting and likely to have future potential; the cost and feasibility and match funding available from other sources.

Generally, the grant will be paid after the event has been held and a post-event report submitted with proof of expenditure.

In a report to the meeting, it was stated that the council recognise the contribution festivals and events make to the lives of the people and increased local economic activity. The grant is intended to encourage and promote local events, particularly events that involve significant voluntary input and generate increased economic and community activity locally.

Due to Covid, a number of events did not go ahead or did not take the same format as initially proposed in the last two years – however, many groups had incurred expenses in good faith and where supporting documentation was provided, the council agreed to consider assisting with those costs.

The 2021 budget for Christmas lights was €60,000, but the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage gave an additional €30,000, which may also be forthcoming this year. The grants range from €250 up to €1,000, excluding the towns of Mullingar and Athlone, which get more. It is hoped to have the grants paid out in November, so that groups can get working.

Pat Murtagh, senior executive officer, told the meeting that Tidy Towns groups will get between €500 and €5,000 each; though Athlone and Mullingar will €20,000 each. The grant level depends on the size of the town and the marks they got in the previous year’s competition. It covers ongoing expenses and improvement projects.

Residents associations of 10 or more houses get between €150 and €850, depending on the number of houses, the amount of green area to be maintained and the level of disadvantage in the area. The grants can be used for expenses and improvement works.

The community action grant is for all other local groups to improve the general wellbeing and life in their community. Grants range from €300 to €1,500 for general activities, insurance costs and the like.

To qualify for grants, groups must be members of the Public Participation Network and have a tax number and bank account. Applications for funding can be made online or in hard copy and the council are eager to help. They plan to hold online information workshops and funding clinics. Applications for most of the grants must be in by March 4.

In 2021, 175 Westmeath groups received grants ranging from €270 to €1,400 from the department-funded community enhancement fund of €136,000. The Covid-19 emergency grant of €46,930 benefitted 150 groups.

Chairman, Cllr Ken Glynn, welcomed the allocations and called on groups to get their applications in.

In reply to Cllr Mick Dollard, Mr Murtagh said that the overall figure allocated for 2022 was €408,000 and €362,000 was spent in 2021. Under various programmes, such as outdoor recreation, town and village renewal, street scape, shop front enhancements and CLAR, the council would have drawn down about €1.5 million in 2021 from national level and some of that contained match funding from the council.

Mr Murtagh said there were more than 800 PPN registered groups in the county. He assured Cllr Dollard that the resource centre at Dalton Park, Mullingar, would be eligible to apply for funding under the community action programme.

In reply to Cllr Frankie Keena, Mr Murtagh said the community enhancement fund covered buying equipment while the community activity fund covered capital and day to day running costs.

Cllr Keena asked if the €150,000 for festivals and events would be divided between the Mullingar Kinnegad and Athlone Moate districts, or if it was a “general pot”. Mr Murtagh explained that it was not split down the middle, but was based on the applications that came in. However, generally it ended up being split pretty evenly between the two districts, but if one district had more applications than the other, there was nothing to say they would not be accommodated.

In the report before the meeting, the council acknowledged that during 2021 most community groups were unable to raise funds and were more dependent on, and extremely grateful for, the support offered in grants and other assistance from the council and the numerous national funding streams that became available during the year.

However, most of the national funding streams were capital based programmes and for some groups the community grant was their lifeline for ongoing bills such as insurance and utility and overhead costs.

The council also provides funding each year for a number of community awards including the Cathaoirleach’s Awards, initiated in 2006 to celebrate the enormous level of volunteerism in the county. Special awards are presented in recognition of the role played by individuals and groups to create a strong and vibrant community.

Due to the pandemic, last year’s awards ceremony included an in-person event with a reduced number of invitees and filming of community and voluntary groups in their own areas, speaking of their experiences working to support the community.

The event was live streamed and received more than 600 hits on YouTube. That was welcomed by groups who felt more engaged in the process and it is intended that the 2022 awards event will be held in May in an in-person format, plus filming in the community and live streaming if Covid restrictions allow.

The Project of the Year award of €10,000 is intended to encourage and assist a community group for a significant undertaking. It is awarded to a group or sub-divided among groups who demonstrate the significant impact or benefit a local project will contribute to their community.

Under the Eco Schools award, €1,200 is available to showcase environmental projects. It is open to any environmental theme and can be undertaken by a class, a group of classes or the whole school. The category encourages children to take an interest in the environment from a young age and develop ways to improve or maintain it.

Tidy Towns awards of €18,000 are recognition of the tremendous effort and input by those groups across the county. The awards are based on the marks obtained in the previous year’s national Tidy Towns competition.

The Pride of Place in the Community is a national all-island competition directed towards recognising improvements to create civic pride. It focuses on people coming together to shape, change and enjoy all that is good about their areas. It is an opportunity for community groups to be officially recognised for the valuable work undertaken.

An allocation of €9,000 has been made available to cover the cost of entering the national competition and €1,500 for each group from Westmeath that qualifies as well as associated costs of attending the national event. Successful applicants receive a special county award and are nominated to the national competition. Last year, Fore Heritage and Amenity Group was nominated in the tourism initiative category and Ballymore village in its population category.

The STEM Awards for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Projects amount to €3,000. The council introduced this new category in 2018 to demonstrate its interest in the promotion of (STEM) in the county, recognising the contribution those subjects can make to future economic development.

It is intended that awards may be made to groups or individuals who undertake innovative projects to promote the subjects, either in the school community or in the wider area. Project awards range between €200 and €1,000.