Applications close at midnight on Friday 22 December for residents and local groups, with great ideas to improve health and wellbeing in their communities, to apply for funding to make their plans a reality.
The council’s Innovation Funding scheme, run in partnership with NHS Frimley, offers one-off funding per successful application of up to £2,500 to get projects up and running.
Ideas must show how the project will tackle one of the following:
• Access to services to improve people’s health
• Social isolation and loneliness
• Health prevention to reduce risk factors
• Reduce mental or physical health inequalities
This is the fourth raft of Innovation Funding applications, which has so far seen 29 community projects come to fruition. These projects are wide in scope and include a walking cricket group, breastfeeding support for new parents, a lunchtime club, and Tai Chi for seniors. A full list of these successful applicants can be found on the Innovation Funding section on the RBWM Together website.
Councillor Joshua Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, said: ‘Our residents and communities have valuable insight into what they need locally, which is why this funding is so empowering. If you’ve a great idea to improve health and wellbeing in your community, you could become the driving force for positive change as seen by the 29 projects already up and running.
‘This is your opportunity to help make a difference, so I urge you to apply.’
Dr Stephen Dunn, Director of System Delivery & Flow and Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said: ‘The Innovation Fund is a great example of how we can empower our communities to deliver community led initiatives that can improve access to services, prevent health risks, tackle social isolation and loneliness, and reduce mental or physical health inequalities.
‘We want to hear about your idea. We’re looking for community-led projects that will make a difference.’
Successful applications must reflect the local issues and themes raised by residents and groups at the World Cafes recently held in every ward across borough. And these ideas must be sustainable for at least 12 months. The themes and priorities from each World Café can be found on the World Café section of the RBWM Together website under the documents section on the right of the page.
For more details on the application process, plus how to apply, please visit the Innovation Fund section on the RBWM Together website.