
Flintshire Communities Boosted by Stage Two of £1.1m Regeneration Fund
This is the second round of the Flintshire Community Key Fund which is being distributed by Cadwyn Clwyd and the Flintshire Local Voluntary Council. The initial fund was worth £775,000.
More than 50 community groups and organisations from across the county took advantage of Stage One of the Community Key Fund, and Stage Two takes the total for the county to more than £1.1 million, part of a wider suite of projects managed by Flintshire County Council and funded from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Applications for the latest slice of funding from a pot worth £375,000 have to be in by Sunday, June 8.
Cadwyn Clwyd Community Enterprise Manager Helen Williams said:
'We had a tremendous response to the first set of funding and it proved amazingly popular and we're expecting a similar response. There will be grants of up to £35,000 for a wide range of community projects from regenerating village halls, sports facilities, green spaces and gardens to renewable energy generation, waste management and arts and cultural schemes.
'There will also be grants of up to £5,000 for pre-project work such as feasibility studies and specialist consultancy reports.
'The first phase proved hugely popular and was massively over-subscribed which shows the need and the effectiveness of this kind of community support for local people to build resilience in communities across both urban and rural Flintshire.'
Shaun Darlington of Flintshire Local Voluntary Council said:
'The first phase was extremely popular. The groups themselves were very grateful and the outcomes were brilliant. This time it is a short window for the scheme and groups will have to be ready to go with their projects because they only have until November 30 to complete them.
'It is always important that if people have any queries they pick up the phone and contact Helen or me because our role is to help them through the process.'
The first phase of the Community Key Fund saw 53 projects across Flintshire receiving grants for a wide range of projects from £2,900 for replacement tables at Llanasa Village Hall to £47,000 for new flooring indoors and astro-turf outdoors at Connah's Quay Cricket Club.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Leader Live
10-07-2025
- Leader Live
Flintshire grant scheme supports over 300 local groups
Flintshire County Council's Community Chest scheme offers grants of up to £1,000 to third sector groups delivering projects and activities that benefit residents and enrich community life. Funded by the council and administered by Flintshire Local Voluntary Council (FLVC) since 2015, the scheme has awarded more than 300 grants to date. Damian Hughes, corporate manager for capital programme and assets at Flintshire County Council, said: "It's great to see so many organisations benefitting from this scheme to do good in our communities." Supported projects include sports clubs, childcare organisations, training programmes, and improvements to community facilities such as village halls. In July 2024, council members backed the continuation of the Community Chest scheme, subject to a review in 2024/25. Following the review, the application form has been updated to help organisations provide clearer information and streamline the decision-making process. READ MORE: Summer fun, school band and more Leader photo memories Heather Hicks, third sector development officer at FLVC, said: "Flintshire Local Voluntary Council is proud to be part of the Community Chest programme – a fantastic and valuable scheme that supports local organisations doing vital work in our communities. "We're pleased to administer this fund on behalf of Flintshire County Council." Councillor Linda Thomas, cabinet member for customer and corporate services, said: "The Community Chest is a great scheme supporting our communities to thrive. "I'm pleased that we can continue to provide this opportunity to our third sector organisations and I would encourage those who are eligible, to apply." Organisations interested in applying for funding can find more information on the scheme on the council's website.

Leader Live
25-06-2025
- Leader Live
Flintshire Social Services to bring children's care in-house by 2030
The plans are the authority's response to Welsh Government's policy of eliminating profit from the care of looked-after children by 2030. But a new report says that additional funding needs to be found for the council to achieve its target in time. According to the report from Social Services Chief Officer Craig Macleod, to bring all children in care under the full responsibility of Flintshire County Council under its 'Care Closer to Home' strategy, the authority needs 30 additional residential care beds, three additional respite beds and fostering provision for an extra 52 children to bring all profit-making care services in-house. Currently there are 270 children in the care system across Flintshire. Of those who have been put into care 86% are in the independent residential care while of those in foster care 41% are with independent fostering associations. Under the Welsh Government plans, any independent organisations that operate 'for profit' will no longer be able to offer care services for looked after children from 2030. Organisations that invest all surpluses back into care will remain unaffected. Flintshire's strategy is to invest more in family stability and support to reduce the number of children coming into the care and fostering system through early intervention. Nevertheless, some children will still require the safety net of the care system and that is where significant investment is required. 'Having established effective systems to support children and families on the edge of care our intention is to now focus on reducing the number of children who are supported though out of county arrangements,' said Mr Macleod's report. 'Our approach is to develop arrangements that better meet the needs of the child, secure improved outcomes are more cost effective and reduce the overall number of residential provisions that the local authority would need to develop to shift from reliance on the 'for profit' market. 'We have an established project through a partnership with a local company that provides specialist intensive therapeutic support to children to enable them to safely step down from high cost residential and foster placements. The focus of the project is to take a child-focused approach to transition children and young people from residential care to a family-based setting where their assessed need determines this as being appropriate and is in their best interests.' Flintshire currently has 50 children in residential care, mostly with independent providers. It's current in-house capacity is for just nine. Adding new capacity, such as residential homes for small numbers of children with sleep-in staff requires funding however. While Flintshire has set aside £2 million to develop in-house provision, it remains reliant on external funding to realise its ambitious vision. 'A revenue bid has been submitted by Welsh Government to seek funding from the Eliminating Profit and Radical Reform Grant Fund 2025/2026 -2027/2028. 'Whilst we await the outcome of the bid, if the children and young people standard spending assessment formula was applied we would expect to receive in the region of £760,000 in revenue for each of the next three years,' wrote Mr Macleod. 'A capital bid has also been prepared to the Housing with Care Fund and Integration and Rebalancing Capital Fund. In line with the funding requirements a business case has been developed and submitted to Welsh Government for consideration. 'Given our funding position our financial capacity to achieve this whole system change is limited. Additional funding is needed to deliver the eliminating profit agenda with the scale and pace necessary to comply with legislation and deliver a shared ambition to radically reform the current model to improve outcomes for children and young people.' Councillors will review the proposals in the Joint Education, Youth and Culture and Social and Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday.

Leader Live
23-06-2025
- Leader Live
Flintshire Council secures over £500,000 for town centres
Flintshire County Council's Regeneration team has today (June 23) announced that it has secured more than half a million pounds in Welsh Government Transforming Towns funding for the financial year 2025–26. This funding follows the successful completion of Place Making Plans for the town centres of Buckley, Holywell and Shotton, and supports ongoing work in the remaining four priority towns: Connah's Quay, Flint, Mold, and Queensferry. This new investment builds on the £1,147 million of Welsh Government funding already secured in 2023–25, reinforcing the council's commitment to revitalising Flintshire's town centres. As part of this funding, the property development grant scheme, which was a big success in 2023-25, has now reopened to town centre businesses and property owners in Holywell, Buckley, and Shotton. The scheme will provide targeted support for town centre property development projects, helping to bring buildings back into use and create more vibrant and prosperous town centres. TOP STORIES TODAY Councillor Chris Dolphin, cabinet member for economy, environment and climate, said: 'This significant investment from Welsh Government is a testament to the hard work and vision we have for Flintshire's town centres. "Building on the £1.147 million we've already secured from Welsh Government for 2023–25, this new funding means even more support for local businesses and property owners. "By supporting property development in Buckley, Holywell and Shotton, and continuing our plans for Connah's Quay, Flint, Mold, and Queensferry, we're creating town centres that are welcoming, vibrant, and sustainable for the future. "I encourage business and property owners to get in touch and explore the opportunities available.' Town centre business and building owners can contact regeneration@ for more information about property development grants.