In the past few weeks, visits have focused on projects that received councillors' Ward Improvement Grants. Claire Betts, Grants Officer, visited Foxton Village Hall who were awarded a grant for upgrading hall tables and a new outdoor, lockable and weatherproof noticeboard (pictured) - we often hear how written information is still important to people, particularly those who can't access information online, so keeping noticeboards up to date is important.

Claire and Becky Nixon, Community Engagement Manager visited Tugby Village Hall, who were awarded money for chairs so that they can hold larger events to bring people together and increase revenue to benefit the community. We were also impressed by their book and jigsaw library in their hallway (pictured).

Serretta Morris, Grants Officer and Gemma Finan, Community Development Officer visited the North Kilworth Community Lunch started up recently by Amber Mental Health and Wellbeing CIC in response to needs in the village.

Serretta and Gemma talked to some of the attendees who said that projects like this are really important to them, as although there are lots of facilities in the village, that didn't necessarily mean that there were things to do.  The lunch provides somewhere for people to go and to meet other residents, with people of different ages attending. The lunch has been publicised to people in other villages too.

As the last round of year two Community Grants is open until 3 August 2026, Serretta and Becky held a grants surgery in Gilmorton Village Hall to talk to people about their applications, future funding needs or other community development issues. As well as talking about our grant criteria we are able to share good practice and ideas that we've seen from other areas across the district. People can come and chat no matter how detailed or vague their idea is. There is a further grants surgery in Tugby on 13 July, plus a webinar aimed at talking through the application form in more details - details and a link to sign up are below.

Becca Powell, Youth Engagement Officer, visited Market Harborough Building Society, this time talking to students from Robert Smyth Academy about the Youth Council and consulting them on a new Young People’s Strategy. Becca also hosted another Youth Council meeting and ran elections for Youth Council leadership roles for next year, which you can read more about below.

Use our booking form to sign up for these informal grant events with the Community Engagement team.  

Pictured, Grants Officer Claire Betts at a previous grants surgery.

Grant Webinar - 6 July at 2.30pm 

This live Teams webinar will focus on an informal, step-by-step walk through the Community Grant application portal/form on Grantapproval, including the information required under each question, what makes a good application and how to demonstrate community need and benefit.  Attendees are also welcome to ask any questions related to the application process or projects they are considering. 

Grant Surgery - Monday 13 July

Half hour slots between 1.30pm and 4.00pm available – Tugby Village Hall 

An opportunity for a one-to-one meeting with a Grants Officer to discuss any potential projects you might have for the underspend round or brainstorming for eligible project ideas.  Please book in advance.

Comments about support from HDC staff have included:

• “Support from the Grants Officer was invaluable in getting the application correct.” 
• “Telephone support by the grant officers was very helpful, and we felt that they took time to fully understand our project.” 
• “The enthusiasm and friendliness of the grants team [was particularly helpful].”

It’s great to see eligible groups utilising the grants available with HDC and applying for S106, Community Grant and Environmental Grants. For more information and to see if there is S106 funds for your community, our website has general information and a spreadsheet of available funding.

Katie Fox is always keen to discuss any possible projects, contact her at grants@harborough.gov.uk 

Online voting opened after this meeting and Youth Council members were invited to cast their vote with roles being announced at the next meeting.

We also continued to look at the Young People’s Strategy. As part of Becca Powell’s role as Youth Engagement Officer, she is leading on revising the strategy to ensure it is relevant and reflective of the needs and wants of a wide range of young people across the district.

Becca will be consulting with young people across the district to find out their views and what they think the issues are around the five priorities that the Youth Council have identified which will shape the strategy. Youth Council members created a consultation plan to identify the best way for young people to be consulted on the strategy. They were asked who they would try and reach, how they would reach them and how they would consult them. They thought about young people in schools, young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), those who are out of school and reaching them through surveys and social media, making sure consultation is engaging and inviting. Becca will use this information and insight to support consultation. 

Youth Council members and Youth Engagement Officer, Becca, pictured below at the last meeting in the Chamber with their logo badges. 

The Youth Council and Becca, Youth Engagement Officer, have created an End of Year Review which highlights the Youth Council's achievements, experiences, opportunities and projects over the last academic year. There is also information on how to join and get involved with activities over the summer. 

Please read our end of year review and pass it on to any young people who may be interested in Youth Council activities.

If you are a young person aged 11-18 interested in the Youth Council, or know of any young people you think might be interested in attending future meetings or if you have any questions or queries for Youth Engagement Officer, Becca Powell (pictured left at a Youth Council meeting) please contact her at youthvoice@harborough.gov.uk. 

 Although we have participants from across the district, we would also like to make sure young people from all secondary schools and colleges in the area are equitably represented, particularly in areas around Kibworth Mead Academy and Thomas Estley Community College. So get in touch with Becca if you can help with this or know young people in those areas who would like to get involved.

Just a reminder that you can visit our Communities webpages. These provide a handy, user-friendly hub where you can find information on a wide range of topics, not just related to the work of our team, but also to wider HDC community initiatives.

Have a look around and tell us what you think and let us know if there are other resources that you'd like to see from the team. 

You might have heard about warm spaces - but what about cool spaces in the increasingly hot weather?

Have you got, or do you know about any cool spaces in your community that people can visit for no or very low cost?  If so, please tell us, including any of the following information you know:

• Where is the space and when is it open?
• Is it available to anyone, or to particular groups of people?
• Is there any cost?
• What other amenities and facilities are there?

Email: communities@harborough.gov.uk

The HDC consultations webpage is regularly updated with any live consultations.

Current consultations include: the Broughton Astley Neighbourhood Plan Review; the Great Glen Community Consultation; and the Market Harborough Community Governance Review consultation phase two.

While HDC provides grants for communities, groups often need to find further funding to complete projects. Here are some suggestions of other funders that have come across our radar that groups may be able to apply to. Inclusion does not imply that we endorse the funder, but we have spotted it and it seems applicable to the types of projects that we get enquiries about.

With all grants, check the small print for exclusions such as types of organisations and annual turnover to ensure that you're eligible.

Grant fundraising is challenging at the moment, with many funders closing programmes early or completely, reviewing or narrowing programmes, and some moving to invitation only because of the volume of applications they're receiving, so make sure you sign up for email or social media alerts from the funder if applicable if you're making an application, and/or regularly check their website for changes. 

It may also be worth searching for the funder on the Charity Commission website and downloading its annual report to see if you can find out more, or some funders report on 360Giving where you can see what grants have actually been given for.