The Brent Cross Town Community Fund which opened for its fourth year in May has now announced the 11 new projects which will receive funding in 2022.

The Community Fund increased to £40,000 this year with an aim to support local groups and initiatives based in and around Cricklewood, Childs Hill, Golders Green, and West Hendon who could apply for grants of anywhere between £500 and £5,000.

This year, the Community Fund placed an emphasis on projects that support refugees, and mental and physical wellbeing, as well as foster community togetherness.

Community Fund Winners 2022:

The successful applications and their projects are as follows:

• Yaran Club – a Farsi-speaking women’s group that supports women suffering from poor mental health or experience isolation and/or domestic violence
• Noa Girls – a pottery provision for girls in the Orthodox Jewish community struggling with poor mental health, traumatic experiences and difficult home lives
• Keep Rolling Project – a skateboarding and art group running classes to inspire and support young people and encourage more young girls into skateboarding
• Basing Hill Ballpark – local baseball activities for the local community helping to reduce anti-social behaviour and crime in and around the park
• Childs Hill School – technological improvements to support future careers
• Apache Kids Club – an after-school club for kids and meanwhile giving their parents an opportunity to meet each other and create volunteering opportunities
• BeLifted – a fitness group bringing together different generations of women and girls to get healthy, both physically and mentally
• Claremont Primary School – a mural competition outside the school involving the students to express the vibrancy and identity behind the school
• West Hendon Pre-School renovation – a charity nursery helping parents on a low income by providing childcare services at the low cost
• Planters for Hope – a collaboration project between Our Yard at Clitterhouse Farm Golders Green Estate Residents Association to sett up planters at the entrance to Clitterhouse Playing Fields so the residents can get to know each other and learn to garden together
• The Boys Clubhouse – a gym supporting young men in the Jewish community who experience isolation, depression, addiction and homelessness

Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council, said:  “Community funds like this play an important role in ensuring local projects benefit from the wider regeneration in the area, and since 2019 the fund has helped thousands of people in the community. I look forward to seeing what these 11 new organisations achieve and I am pleased to see the strong sense of community spirit shown through organisations coming together to make their bids this year.”

All applications to the fund were made through ActionFunder which is a platform connecting businesses with local non-profits to drive impact. It also means that groups that were not successful in this funding round have their application made available to other funders.

The judging panel for this year’s fund donations included the Mayor of Barnet Councillor Alison Moore, Nick Searl Partner of Relate Argent, Councillor Alan Schneiderman and Reverend Roy Hutchinson.

Since its launch in 2019, the fund has supported 42 local projects with total of £140,000. Previous winners include Friends of Mapledown (opportunity for 100 students with severe learning difficulties and disabilities) and FUSE Youth Project (a summer programme of youth worker led activities and free meals for young people in West Hendon).

A full list of 2021 Community Fund winners and project details can be found here.

More information on the Brent Cross Town Community Fund, and other opportunities as part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration project can be found here.