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Local Community Fund

The 2025/26 Local Community Fund is now closed for nominations. The deadline for recipients making a claim is 20 March 2026, unless the recipient is providing a service, in which case they will have until 30 June 2026 to place a claim.

The terms and conditions of the fund can be found here.

This year, there is no requirement to gain consensus across your district and there are no Lead Members as a result. However, members are encouraged to pool funding where applicable.

Each Member will have £5,000 to allocate. Funding must be spent on one of the following five areas, and officers are happy to discuss prospective projects with you:

  • Youth Provision - Glenn Crickmore (glenn.crickmore@essex.gov.uk)
    • Projects must benefit young people aged between 11 and 19 (or up to 25 for those with special educational needs)
    • Projects should not be for a building project or renovations
    • Projects must not duplicate existing provisions
  • Levelling Up in the Community - Avjeet Grewal (avjeet.grewal@essex.gov.uk)
    • Projects must benefit one of the Levelling Up cohorts:
      • People with SEND, learning disabilities, or mental health conditions (children and adults).
      • Children on free school meals.
      • Working families on low incomes.
      • Young adults (16-25) who have not been in education, training, or employment for more than six months
  • Community Safety - Caroline Ellis (caroline.ellis@essex.gov.uk)
    • Projects must focus on preventing crime, reducing anti-social behaviour and making people feel safer, with a particular focus on:
      • Improving home & personal safety.
      • Improving safety in the night-time economy.
      • Tackling crime in rural areas.
      • Physical improvements to areas known for criminal activities or anti-social behaviour.
      • Diversionary activities that work directly with at risk groups.
  • Improving the Environment - Sam Kennedy (sam.kennedy@essex.gov.uk)
  • Supporting Community Events that have a minimum of 2000 attendees - please contact the Locality Fund team to discuss possible projects (locality.fund@essex.gov.uk)

You can find a list of suggested schemes here.

You can find guidance on the scheme here (page 9 onwards).