As part of a recent shout-out by the council to encourage people and organisations to access government funding for engagement in local communities during COVID-19, we received 83 project proposals, with 49 put forward for consideration by their local communities, and 38 final projects set to receive funding in:

• Charlton
• Plumstead/Glyndon
• Thamesmead Moorings
• Woolwich

Councillor Adel Khareih, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Equalities, said: “Our Community Champion voting day was a huge success. Clearly local schemes, run by local people, resonates with so many of us - I think that our communities have become even more important to us during the pandemic. The breadth of projects and what they intend to accomplish with this funding is amazing and shows how passionate people are about their local areas - for the first time in those areas, residents got a choice and a say in the projects that got funding.”

In the run-up to the voting day itself funding workshops were run to support people interested in submitting a proposal, as well as coaching in presentation delivery and bid writing skills.

Cllr Khareih continued: “For over two-thirds of the organisations who presented on the day, this was the very first time they had ever applied formally for any kind of funding – many of them had been doing really fantastic work on a voluntary or shoestring basis for some time.  This was a great way of validating and supporting these grass roots organisations and a ringing endorsement to continue from the community. It has also given us a new and different way of exploring funding opportunities with our local communities in the future.”

Each project will be delivered over next six months, and further voting days are being planned for other areas soon – keep an eye out for more details in the council’s newsletters and social media.

See the full list of successful projects.