Five East Devon community buildings will benefit from over £17,500 of funding from East Devon District Council’s Community Buildings Fund. There is still a small amount of funding available that community buildings and community shops can apply for.

These are the latest successful projects:

• Beer Albion Football Club will receive £3,500 to help pay for a viewing area for sports activities, community events and for private hire events.
• Colyford Memorial Hall was granted £4611.68 to help replace their floor, which is beyond further repair.
• Exton Village Hall will receive £2,567.76 to help provide the audio and sound system with a hearing loop, which users of the hall have asked for.
• Newton Poppleford Pavilion was granted £2,000 to pay towards replacing their windows, door and other woodwork, some of which is rotten. This project will help make the hall more energy efficient and secure.
• West Hill Royal British Legion Hall will receive £5,000 to help them create a new kitchen. This will enable the Legion, groups that meet there regularly and other hirers to prepare and cook food on the premises, which isn’t currently possible.

The Community Building Fund is an East Devon District Council grants scheme that has been running for over 14 years. It helps fund projects for village halls, community buildings and community shops by offering grants of anything up to £5,000.

Community buildings and community shops that are within an area covered by a town council are not eligible to apply. The scheme’s purpose is to help rural community buildings and community shops all around East Devon with funding for projects such as new or improved toilet facilities, kitchen facilities, roof repairs, heating and new door fixtures. To find out more and apply online: eastdevon.gov.uk/grants-and-funding/grants-available-from-us/community-buildings-fund

The next closing date for applications is 9am on Monday 15 March 2021. This is the second closing date this financial year, please note although the fund is open to new applications, we have a maximum of £2,187.56 left to give out. The rest of the funding has been given out to applications for the first closing date as above.

Councillor Jack Rowland, East Devon District Council Chair of the Community Grants Panel said:

On behalf of the EDDC Community Grants Panel we were pleased to support these applications as they all demonstrated exactly the reasons why these grants were made available. In these particularly difficult times it is vitally important that facilities such as these are maintained and improved in readiness for the time when the communities can make full use of them again.”