£2.24 MILLION BOOST FOR SALFORD PARKS, TOWN CENTRES AND INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSINESSES

Over £2million of investment will improve town centres and local parks, support innovative small businesses and boost arts and culture in Salford over the next three years.

Salford City Council has secured £2.24m from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) through the Communities & Place element of the fund, after submitting proposals to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which manages the fund in the city-region.

Spread over three years, the funding will be used to:

Create two new arts, culture, and heritage pots worth £475,000 to support community projects.

Bring Eccles Court House in Eccles Town Hall back into community use.

Improve facilities and programmes for local entrepreneurs who want to scale or build their business at HOST Salford – MediaCityUK's innovation hub.

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said:

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"We're committed to supporting a thriving, green and creative Salford and this funding is a significant boost that will help us to achieve these long-term ambitions.

"It will be spent on a rolling basis as activities and projects are approved. We're looking forward to bringing our proposals to life for the benefit of local people and visitors to our vibrant city."

 

The arts, culture and heritage fund will be managed by Salford CVS, which will also take forward the improvements to the Eccles Court House in Eccles Town Hall.  Applications for the community grants fund as part of the arts, culture and heritage went live on Friday 25 August and information about how to apply can be found on the Salford CVS website. The first closing date for applications is 12:00 noon on Monday 9 October 2023.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business and providing opportunities to boost people and skills.

Councillor David Molyneux, Greater Manchester's lead for Resources and Investment and leader of Wigan Council said:

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"These three programmes are a brilliant example of how UKSPF money can be put into practice. Putting local authorities at the forefront of the funding allows those working at the heart of communities to engage with local people and ensure funds can be spent in a way to deliver maximum benefit.

 "As well as improving town centres, communities and offering help so businesses can thrive, our UKSPF proposals will also prioritise the resilience of the voluntary sector so that the city-region can continue to be the best place to grow up, get on and grow old."

 

The Fund is a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

UKSPF has replaced the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). These funds previously helped support job creation, skills programmes, innovation, and carbon reduction in the city-region.

Any queries about the culture funds should be directed to: Simon Robinson, Grants Manager, Salford CVS, simon.robinson@salfordcvs.co.uk

Any enquiries about the business support available through HOST should be directed to: info@hostsalford.com