It's that time of year again, when we get together to give out grants from the Longley Farm One Community Fund. This year was a record year, with 18 groups receiving funding - the largest number of groups we have supported yet!

The awards presentation evening took place at Brambles on Wednesday 7^th December, where music was kindly provided by the Ribble Beck Band from the Holmfirth Festival of Folk.

1^st Holme Valley Scout Group were awarded £965 to fund a new safety door for the basement at the Scout Headquarters. This is the second year in a row the scouts have received funding; last year they received a grant to buy new tents. Scouts Luke and Zion attended the awards evening to accept the grant, and told us about the camping trips they had enjoyed thanks to last year’s grant as well as how this year’s grant will be spent on improving the safety of many of their activities.

Huddersfield and District Guide Association also received a grant of £665 to go towards renovating the Guide Cottage at Holme (specifically buying cushions for bench seating). The Guide Cottage is not only used by Rainbow, Brownie and Guide groups across the district for weekends away, but also provides a valuable source of income when it is let out to the general public, helping the Guide Association fund a whole range of activities for its members. If you are interested in using the cottage you can find more information here http://holmecottage.btck.co.uk/Aboutthecottage 

Christ Church New Mill received £500 to go towards an arts based project aimed at creating a piece of beautiful awe inspiring contemporary art whilst raising questions regarding the nature and makeup of the cosmos and humanity. Artist Sarah Branson, described the art workshops that had already taken place involving local schools and youth groups, and invited everyone to come and visit the art installation, currently on display in New Mill Church.

St John’s Church Upperthong also received a grant of £1000 to resurface the carpark at the rear of the building. As a place that is used by a wide range of community groups, good access for all is essential, so this grant will make the church safe to access for all visitors.

Food Bank Volunteers received £500 to fund insurance costs and the purchase of food to supply food bags for families in crisis/need who live within the Holme Valley.

Local bands and festivals did very well from this year’s round of grants. Both Hade Edge Band and Hade Edge B Band received grants of £1000 to go towards the purchase of new Bb and Eb basses respectively, whilst Hepworth Band received a grant of £750 to purchase new quality waterproof coats to protect them from the elements.

Holmfirth Festival of Folk and Holmfirth Food Festival both received grants of £1000 to help towards the running costs. Both festivals have grown in popularity over the years and bring huge numbers into the Holmfirth area to enjoy great local food and music. Music for the evening was once again provided by the fantastic Ribble Beck Band.

Holmfirth Arts Festival is another fantastic local festival to receive funding, with a grant of £2000 going towards a public engagement photography project, The Extra Mile. The Extra Mile will be a series of over 10,000 individual photographs of Holmfirth (past & present) and the people of the area. Each print will be placed end to end to create an outdoor exhibition a mile in length which will not only be an outdoor exhibition, but a sculptural exhibition, running up and down trees, through bushes and around car parks and pathways.

Holmfirth Junior, Infant and Nursery School received £893.59 to buy some new recycled benches as part of the school playground renovation, whilst another school group Friends of Wooldale received a grant of £1000 to build a ramp in order to make their Dutch Barn accessible. The Dutch Barn is used to run a weekly afternoon nurture group, within school, designed to offer an alternative learning environment for those children who struggle in a traditional classroom setting.

In a similar vein, Growing Works - Bud Wooldale, have received a grant of £906. Bud is based at the Wooldale allotment and uses gardening therapeutically to support mental health and well-being through activity sessions based on growing, involving carrying out ability appropriate tasks together, sharing experiences, enjoying food and bonding with others.

Other community groups to receive funding include Scholes Young at Heart a social group for over 60s, who received a grant of £150 to go towards room hire and the hire of a minibus for a summer outing. The group meets on a Tuesday from 2-4pm at Hepworth Village Hall and is open to all.

Huddersfield and District Woodturners, a Wooldale based group, received a grant of £998 to buy new tools which will allow them to further expand their hands-on sessions. Not just for regular members, the Woodturners have opened up their sessions to other community groups including 1^st Holme Valley Scouts and the Holmfirth WI.

Holmfirth Conservation Group received a grant this year for the first time, which will allow them to buy an ‘Interpretation Board’ featuring the location of buildings of historic significance in Holmfirth.

Last but not least Holme Village Residents Association once again received a grant of £1000 to fund the running costs of the public toilet in Holme. A spokesperson for the HVRA spoke about how the purchase of the toilets was a strange beginning for a community group, but one which had brought them together, and pushed them to organise other community events such as the produce festival.

Paul Johnson, from One Community, said “It was very rewarding to see a record number of voluntary groups receiving grants from the Longley Farm Fund.

One Community was established to encourage support for voluntary activity across Kirklees, so it is especially pleasing to be able to support these groups.

One of the most humbling experiences is listening to volunteers talking about what they plan to do with their grant funding. It never ceases to amaze me what impact a relatively small amount of funding can achieve.”

For more details of funding available for voluntary groups across Kirklees, please visit the One Community website www.one-community.org.uk or call 01484 468397.