Council receives grant thanks from community groups
Community groups have thanked a town council for grants given out to help them to keep running.
Oswestry Town Councillors met on Monday evening to consider the latest applications for financial support, and received letters of thanks from organisations awarded funds in previous rounds.
A letter from Parkinson’s in the Marches said the group had held a free one-day information seminar at the Wynnstay Hotel in August thanks to the council’s “amazing generosity” in making a £250 grant earlier this year.
The letter, from the group’s chairman Elaine Payne, said: “We had an attendance of 83 people, including 35 Parkinson’s sufferers, their companions, speakers and volunteers, with the absolute general consensus that the day had provided information, conversation and connections.”
Dragon Football Academy and Development Centre (ADC) was awarded £500 last November, which enabled the club to re-launch its existing sessions and start a number of new sessions.
A report to the council from Simon Walker of Dragon ADC said: “The feedback for these sessions has been overwhelming with both men and women confiding in us that before attending they were struggling with both physical fitness and mental health issues. Now they look forward to every Tuesday and the release and social aspect it brings to their week.
“We also see the positive effects that sessions bring to the children we coach ages four to 16, with many struggling with confidence.
“I can’t tell you how great that is to see as a coach. It’s something we are so passionate about and thanks to grants such as yours we are able to keep providing.”
A grant of £1,000 was also awarded to Hope House in January 2020 for a new entrance canopy at the hospice, but the project had to be put on hold as a result of the pandemic.
Moving on to the latest grant applications, councillors agreed to award funds to both Shropshire ME Group and Oswestry U3A.
The ME group runs a peer support group in Oswestry every four weeks for people living with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Meetings have been held online since the onset of the pandemic, which are attended by up to eight members.
The group was seeking a £500 grant – the same amount it was awarded last year.
Councillors voted to make a £300 contribution, saying the online meetings should have resulted in reduced running costs. They also encouraged the group to seek more members.
A letter from Donna Teague, who hosts the workshops, said the previous grant had enabled the group to keep providing support through the pandemic.
It added: “There has been much encouragement within the group when people have been feeling low or isolated particularly as a result of the pandemic and not being able to mix with the general public due to immunity issues.
“We are hoping to welcome new members suffering with long Covid as some of the symptoms are the same as ME.
“The group is cohesive and has brought together people who need the support of others in a similar situation.”
Meanwhile the U3A had asked for the council’s support to allow it to install broadband at the Senior Citizen’s Club in Lorne Street at a cost of £28.99 a month.
Councillors agreed to make a grant of just over £700 to fund the broadband costs for two years, on the understanding that other users of the building would also be able to use it.
