Today’s Community Action Suffolk funding fair (13th January 2015) at the Castle Hill Community Centre in Ipswich saw over 40 VCS attendees cross paths with 15 representatives from local authorities and funding bodies, to hear updates about available grants and get one-to-one advice on applying for funding.
Speakers included the Big Lottery Fund, Suffolk Community Foundation, Pro Help Suffolk and speakers on EU funding, with Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council also coming on board to give advice surgeries. Members of the North West Ipswich Big Local Trust’s committee also came to spread the word about their funding opportunities in the immediate locality.
The event organiser, Community Field Officer Kirsty Wilmot, welcomed the high turnout, which is indicative of the continued demand for such advice within the sector:
“This is the first event we’ve run in Ipswich which has not only reached capacity but also attracted a long waiting list. It’s brilliant we’ve seen so many people today and given most of them one to one time with an adviser. But there is a lot more to be done; we’ll definitely be picking up this topic at the next Locality Network event on 23rd February so keep an eye on our website for details.”
With an overwhelming majority of feedback received being positive, we hope to repeat a similar event in Ipswich in the future.
The next Community Action Suffolk Funding Fair is in Bury St. Edmunds on 10th February 2015.
“Very useful – access to opportunities was immense. Future funding looks likely”
“Lots of succinct useful information about funding that we didn’t know about”
“All the parts have started to fall into place!”
“Hugely beneficial, thanks. Fantastic event”