New £10,000 Community Equality Events Fund to be set up in Sefton to support local events

A new £10,000 fund is being set up for a Community Equality Events Fund in Sefton. 

Local groups will be able to apply for funding to create and deliver events, contributing to raising awareness about equality and diversity in Southport, Formby, Crosby, Bootle and across the borough. 

A proposal for the fund has been made by council officers with a decision due any day. 

In his report, Sefton Council Assistant Director of People (Communities) Simon Burnett said: “The involvement of community groups in celebrating and marking the events on the equalities calendar is something that should be encouraged and supported, and will assist the council in delivering against the Public Sector Equality Duty, in particular the duty to foster good relations. 

“To support local groups to hold events marking dates on the equalities calendar, funds could be set aside from the Community Transition Fund and made available via an application process.

“This would be similar to the Equality and Diversity Community Fund from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

“The purpose of the fund would be to allow local groups to take a greater role in creating and delivering events, thereby contributing to raising awareness, fostering good relations and increasing community cohesion.”

The proposal calls for £10,000 per year to be set aside from the Community Transition Fund to support this fund, with a maximum of £500 for each individual award. 

Events should be those on the equalities calendar which will be published and updated. 

The council can also identify priority events and encourage applications which will support those.

If this recommendation is accepted the application process and criteria will be outlined in a future report.

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