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More than £20,000 in grants have been awarded to Haverhill youth projects by ONE Haverhill.

Community groups and organisations in Haverhill that needed funding for projects which improve opportunities for young people or improve the physical environment of the town were invited to submit their applications for a ONE Haverhill grant.

Groups could apply for up to £5,000 from a special grant pot, made available to ONE Haverhill by St Edmundsbury Borough Council, to fund projects that are complimentary to the Haverhill Community Budget Plan priorities.

This is the third round of grants ONE Haverhill has awarded since 2012.

Grants were awarded to:
Haverhill Gymnastics Club - £5,000 towards the funding of a new purpose-built gymnastics facility for Haverhill which will be run in partnership with Samuel Ward Academy.
ONE Haverhill Youth Skills Project - £4,500 for ONE Haverhill’s One Stop Shop costs youth hub to help with the costs of developing and promoting the facility including resourcing consultation with young people, developing the brand and image for the hub, printing leaflets and website development.
Catch 22, Suffolk Positive Futures - £4,324 towards the cost of delivering sports sessions for young people aged ten to 19 at Haverhill Leisure Centre between October and March provided by Catch 22, Suffolk Positive Futures.
CB9 Media Hub - £2,490 towards a project to deliver Arts Award sessions to bronze and silver levels in music and media over the next three terms for those who have successfully completed the hub’s 12-week Music Vibez programme. The project works with youngsters aged 12 to 25.
Haverhill Town Council - £2,470 towards a Games Jam Event for young people at the Arts Centre in May half term and a website for the project being developed by young people in the town.
Centre Stage Company - £1,000 towards a scenic projection system to deliver projected images and scenery for stage productions put on by members, 85 per cent of whom are under 25.
Haverhill Cricket Club - £500 towards replacing the club’s 50-year-old heavy roller required to provide a safe and quality pitch for all the club’s teams including its 70 junior members.

Applications were considered from groups that could demonstrate that the funding will make a real difference to the people of Haverhill, have clear objectives and plans for the project and how they will measure its effectiveness.

Haverhill's police chief, Insp Peter Ferrie, chair of the ONE Haverhill Grants Panel, said: “We received 12 applications in this round requesting in total £43,513 for local community projects.

“The grants panel had some difficult decisions to make but granted a total of £20,284 as was allocated in this round to seven applicants.

"All of the grants are aligned to the Opportunities for Young People priority in that they directly provide activities for Young People or are made to an organisation who have proved that a good number of young people will benefit from what they are doing.

“Our congratulations to all those who received grants. This funding will certainly help towards a great number of projects aimed at young people in our town.”

Among the recipients were Haverhill Gymnastics Club which was awarded £5,000 towards a £620,000 project for a purpose built gymnastics facility at Samuel Ward Academy.

Kevin Woolcott, chairman and head coach of Haverhill Gymnastics Club, said: “Haverhill Gymnastics Club is delighted to have received £5,000 from the ONE Haverhill grants.

“This grant puts our £620,000 project in the final stages with work due to start in November and completion in June 2014.

"The club is currently 260 strong with a waiting list of around 350. This money is a big stepping stone to allow those children to access a much needed dedicated gymnastics facility.”

The CB9 Media Hub received £2,490 towards a project to deliver Arts Award sessions to bronze and silver levels in music and media over the next three terms for those who have successfully completed the hub’s 12-week Music Vibez programme. The project works with youngsters aged 12 to 25.

Youth projects officer Michelle Brace said: "It is brilliant to have been granted funding by One Haverhill to enable the young people we work with to achieve Arts Award qualifications at bronze and silver level and develop their particular interests in music and media.

"The funding represents an investment in support for young people which will help individuals to develop their creative skills whilst building levels of confidence, self belief and engagement."

Catch 22, Suffolk Positive Futures received £4,324 towards the cost of delivering sports sessions for young people aged ten to 19 at Haverhill Leisure Centre between October and March.

Project manager Paul Knight said: “The grant we received from ONE Haverhill will allow us to deliver a football project every Friday night to young people of the town.

"The project will enable large numbers of young people to be engaged in a fun, community activity and will give them a chance to burn off some energy in a safe environment. We expect attendances to the project to reach 1,200 over the duration of the funding.”