Inverclyde Community Fund (ICF) is celebrating its relaunch after the fund made a number of announcements, including the appointment of three new trustees, a new website and a widening of the fund to support organisations affected by the COVID-19 virus.
ICF is a charitable trust which makes small grants to voluntary organisations across the Inverclyde area and distributes funds through a number of different grant programmes, some on behalf of public and private sector partners.
Inverclyde Councillor Elizabeth Robertson, local businessman Andrew Bowman and former Inverclyde Chamber Chief Executive, Helen McCormick have joined existing Trustees: Eleanor Robertson and Susan Robinson to complete the new Board of Directors.
The Fund, which was first created in 2012 by CVS Inverclyde, has also launched its website, new logo and social media platforms following a successful pilot pre-Christmas 2019.
ICF recognises that Inverclyde is facing a real challenge so is making a pot of £5,000 available to fund grants of up to £250 to enable small groups to make a big difference in their communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The wider Fund will also provide grants for community groups and voluntary organisations of up to £500, with the aim to support projects and activities which demonstrably benefit Inverclyde people and communities in these challenging times.
Commenting on the relaunch, Eleanor Robertson, Chair of Inverclyde Community Fund said:
“I’m delighted to welcome my fellow Trustees as we launch the new Inverclyde Community Fund.
“The Fund provides valuable financial support to help local voluntary groups and charities to make a difference for our local communities.
“We’ve extended our usual parameters to make an emergency COVID-19 Fund available, which will help to offer solutions for groups affected by the pandemic.
“I would invite as many local organisations to consider applying to the fund to see if we are able to support their aims and further help Inverclyde through this crisis.”
Newly appointed Trustee, Helen McCormick added:
“I’m thrilled to have joined the ICF Board and feel that this revamp provides a freshness and a great opportunity for groups to access some small-scale funding towards their projects.
“ICF works alongside a number of businesses to manage Community Benefit funds as part of the procurement of their projects, and we welcome any other businesses locally that wish to donate to the fund which we can manage on their behalf.”
Local groups that have benefitted from the scheme in the past include Compassionate Inverclyde, Inverclyde Shed and Inverclyde Foodbank.
Fraser Donaldson from Inverclyde Foodbank said:
“When the foodbank was first starting out, funding was quite difficult to obtain but ICF stepped into the void to provide a small grant.
“That seed fund really started us off and enabled us to help more people and be effective within the community.
“We are still really grateful for that funding and recommend other groups make an application to the ICF fund.”
The ICF fund accepts applications at any time throughout the year and any groups looking to receive a response will know within 14 days as to whether they have been successful.
Anyone interested in applying for support from the COVID-19 Fund should apply online through the Inverclyde Community Fund website.