Council set to invest £1.1 million to support grassroots projects

At a meeting of the council’s Cabinet on September 17, Cabinet will discuss the creation of the Grassroots Neighbourhood Fund. 

The Grassroots Neighbourhood Fund, subject to Cabinet approval, will provide each of the 55 members of the county council £20,000 to invest in their community. 

This fund will be open to grassroots projects that improve health and wellbeing and tackle health inequalities within each member’s ward. 

Each Councillor will have two years to spend their allocation of £20,000, with a minimum of £250 and a maximum of £5,000 available to any one project. 

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to reducing health inequality in the county and improving life expectancy. The Grassroots Neighbourhood Fund aims to achieve this by investing into communities to support locally driven activity to promote health and wellbeing and community connections.  

Community projects will be able to apply for the grant funding between October 2025 and March 2027 and will need to clearly demonstrate how they would use the funding to improve health and wellbeing in their local community. Information sessions will be held for any community organisation interested in applying. 

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, Cabinet member responsible for Public Health, Communities and Fire at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “I am delighted that we will be able to allow councillors to invest this funding directly into their communities. 

“Community-led projects can have a big part to play in improving health and wellbeing across Gloucestershire, and I would encourage any groups that would benefit from this funding to apply later in the year.”