Lincoln wards awarded UKSPF funding to boost local communities

The government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund has funded £150,000 towards the scheme, with Investors in Lincoln funding the additional £150,000. 

The City of Lincoln Community Chest will adapt a successful scheme that has been operating in Sincil Bank for a number of years, which has helped kickstart community activity and engagement in the area. 

The Levelling Up agenda includes 3 key pillars: 

• Community and Place 

• Supporting Local Business 

• People and Skills 

The City of Lincoln Community Chest will aim to: 

Support local projects that improve the quality of life for local people.  

Promote a sense of ownership not only of problems but also of local opportunities and resources. 

Start more neighbourhood groups and revitalise existing groups. 

Each of the 11 City of Lincoln wards will receive up to £25,000, with all funds required to be allocated by December 2024. 

Grants of up to £2500 will be available, and will need to be matched 50/50 with cash match or in-kind contributions. In exceptional circumstances, each ward is allowed to allocate one £5k grant. 

The programme will introduce a new approach to funding projects - leveraging time, money and other resources - helping neighbourhoods play a leading role in regenerating their area. 

One of the projects that received funding last year from the Sincil Bank Community Chest was an innovative project that transformed the front gardens of an area on Portland Street. 

Local resident Janice Schlanker was encouraged to apply for a grant from the Community Chest for her gardening work Janice connected with Sage Gardener CIC and received support from Jewsons, Abbey Access Training and McNeil and Co Solicitors.  

Janice became a Lincolnshire Make a Difference winner at the 2023 awards due to her involvement in the project, which included planters installed at the front of a number of properties on Portland Street to transform the environment. Janice wanted to change people's perception of the area and the residents living there, and the grant from the Community Chest helped her with that goal. 

Cllr Naomi Tweddle, Portfolio Holder for Inclusive Economic Growth at City of Lincoln Council said: 

“The City of Lincoln Community Chest will support local projects that improve the quality of life for local people. It's also important that the scheme itself will go towards helping neighbourhoods play a leading role in regenerating their area. 

The Portland Street project is a shining example of how funding like this can go towards creating a stronger sense of community, and it will be exciting to see what improvements the Community Chest will bring to the wider city”

David Rossington of Investors in Lincoln said: “We’re proud to be able to support the Community Chest to fund projects that will benefit all 11 wards of the city.

“Our mission is to make a positive contribution to the economic and social wellbeing of communities, to strengthen greater Lincoln as a whole and put people at the centre of making decisions about their local area.”