East Suffolk Council
Winter grant scheme funding available for Warm Welcomes and cost of living support projects
Despite the season, East Suffolk Council is asking people to think ahead to winter – and how their communities could provide support for residents who need it during the colder months.
Community groups, voluntary organisations, and town and parish councils are being invited to apply for funding available through two winter grant schemes being launched on Monday 9 September.
Depending on the size of the community, grants of up to £3,000 will again be available for ‘Warm Welcomes’ to provide somewhere safe, warm and welcoming for people who may be struggling to meet the cost of living.
Part-funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the scheme aims to provide a network of venues for people to keep warm, socialise, connect with others, and have the opportunity to access additional information, advice and support from local partners.
East Suffolk Council would ideally like to hear from groups and organisations capable of operating a venue for at least eight hours a week, offering something additional to their community this winter, such as support around the cost of living and inequalities, access to free or reduced-cost food, activities to reduce social isolation, improved wellbeing and a warm community welcome.
Information about the Warm Welcomes will be available on the Warm Welcomes grant page of the East Suffolk Council website from early September.
Meanwhile, the Cost of Living (COL) grant scheme, funded by Suffolk County Council through the Suffolk Collaborative Communities Board, will offer grants of up to £2,000 to support a wider range of smaller projects, also focussed on keeping people warm, well, fed and connected to others in the community this winter, but not only on bringing people together in a physical meeting space.
During the previous two years of the scheme, more than 50 projects have been supported by COL grants for activities such as ‘Healthy Bites on a Budget’ cooking classes for families, smaller scale Warm Welcomes open for an afternoon each fortnight, Community Pantry top-ups and more.
Information about the COL grant scheme will be available on the Community grants and funding page of the East Suffolk Council website, also from early September.
Cllr Sarah Whitelock, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture, Leisure and Tourism, said:
“It might seem odd to be thinking about winter in the middle of summer, but we want to make sure that projects are up and running by the time the weather changes.
“These grant schemes are part of the Council’s Ease the Squeeze programme, which has been running since 2022 to help residents across the district.
“We want a wide range of local groups to start thinking about what they could do to support residents this winter ahead of the launch in early September.”
For more information about the Warm Welcomes and Cost of Living grant schemes, email communities@eastsuffolk.gov.uk.
The closing date for applications is Monday 30 September – allowing all projects to be considered by a grant panel in time for launching by November.