Veteran meals, solar street lights and defibrillators covered as part of councillor pride funding

Telford and Wrekin councillors have each been given fresh funding to support improvements, activities and groups in their own ward areas, with the launch of the Councillors’ Pride Fund for 2024/25.

The annual fund provides each ward member with a pot of up to £5,000 to support local groups and initiatives.

Councillor Raj Mehta, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet member for inclusion, engagement, equalities and civic pride, said: “Each year, Telford and Wrekin councillors are allocated a small fund to use at their discretion in their ward areas to support local groups, initiatives and improvements.

“Our councillors are at the heart of their local communities, so are best placed to know what’s needed in their wards, therefore the Councillors’ Pride Fund means they can make a real difference at a very local level.”

During 2023/24 all 54 borough councillors allocated 100 per cent of the money available to them, and in many cases attracted additional match-funding too, making a relatively small amount of money stretch further.

In Newport West, £1,000 from the Councillors Pride Fund was added to £4,000 funding from Newport Town Council to purchase and install solar streetlights at The Larches, and £400 was added to £600 from the town council to contribute towards new grit bins for north Newport.

In Edgmond, £2,000 was used to support footpath and right of way improvements, including new signage and a replacement stile, with £750 extra funding from Newport Town Council.

Elsewhere in the borough, four councillors each provided £300 towards a Christmas meal for veterans in Dawley. Match funded by Great Dawley Parish Council, with staff time provided for free by Telford MIND.

In total, councillors donated £2,275 to purchase four new community defibrillators for The Rock, Overdale, Old Park and Lawley, supported by £1,825 match funding from Lawley and Overdale Parish Council.

In Madeley, councillors provided a contribution of £1,400, supported by £250 from Madeley Town Council to the St Vincent de Paul Society to provide a year-round ‘welcoming space’ at St Mary’s Church, offering people of all ages a warm welcome and a friendly space to socialise.

In Donnington, councillors pooled their resources with Donnington and Muxton Parish Council to pay for three new CCTV cameras at Turreff Hall.