30/1/2009 - Grants awarded to Furness community groups

Barrow Local Committee today approved more than £8,000 of grants for community groups in Furness. 

The Askam Old Age Pensioners Club will receive just over half of the £8,032 allocation to make Rankin Hall fully wheelchair accessable.

The club stages meetings in the hall and Cumbria Care also user the hall as a day care centre for three days a week. The club will use the £4,215 to install full disabled access and toilets. 

These works will ensure that local people are able to access their local day care centre without the need to be transported to another day centre outside of the area.

£2,000 has been allocated for the The Co-op Sports and Social Club in Barrow. 

The club has 217 members and runs nine crown green bowling teams and the club now has to find extra funds towards the rent of their land as their peppercorn rent has been raised to commercial rates. 

The Club is currently in the process of creating a partnership with Thorncliffe School to teach young people to play bowls.

The Barrow and District Disability Association, based on School Street, has been given £1,817 as cost towards 10 computers and one laptop to replace their existing equipment which is now too slow for exam purposes. The Association currently have 40 students per week, both non-disabled and disabled, attending classes who will benefit from this equipment.

The association also run a café and Adult Education classes. These short courses have proved popular and have included curtain making, roman blind making, soft upholstery, dressmaking, greeting card making, homeopathy, IT, and sign language courses.

County Councillor Alan Nicholson, Chair of Barrow Local Committee said: "It can be very difficult for groups to secure funding, even on a fairly small scale, for projects that can often make a real difference in the local community, so we are very proud of the support we are able to give.

"The County Council is committed to improving services and facilities for everyone in Cumbria, and this local committee is very proud to be able to support so many groups who are working towards the same goal in Barrow."

ENDS

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