Community First is an £80m funding programme from the Office for Civil Society. It will help communities come together through new and existing community groups, to identify their strengths and local priorities, and plan for their future.

The programme will run for four years, until March 2015.

Part of this programme is the ‘Neighbourhood Matched Fund’, which gives local people the opportunity to decide how this funding should be spent in their area.

In Kirklees, 11 wards have received some Community First funding:

Ward	Amount
Ashbrow	£84,775
Batley West	£50,865
Cleckheaton	£33,910
Crosland Moor and Netherton	£84,775
Dalton	£67,820
Dewsbury West	£50,865
Golcar	£33,910
Greenhead	£84,775
Heckmondwike	£84,775
Liversedge and Gomersal	£50,865
Newsome	£67,820

Communities have set up local panels in each of these wards, who will decide on projects for funding in their area. Please visit your local panel’s web site to find out how to apply and see how the money is being spent.

Community First is a ‘matched’ fund programme, which means that every £1 provided in funding must be matched by a similar amount of in-kind donations (this means donations of cash, goods and services, or people’s time).

The eligible wards were selected on the basis of high levels of deprivation and significant increases in benefits claimants. The amount of funding for each area is based on the concentration of these issues within each ward.

You can check which ward your postcode is in, and find out more about the funding at:

http://www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/neighbourhood-matched-fund

Latest news from Community First panels in Kirklees: