Just recently, London Legacy Development Corporation (LDDC) announced the successful bids from the 2020 Neighbourhood Priorities Fund bidding round. In total there were 25 projects which were allocated just over £1.8million of funding.
They are all wonderful projects which will support the local community in a range of ways, from accessible camping equipment for Brownies and Guides to a social hub for local residents aged 65+.
The Neighbourhood Priorities Fund comes from LLDC’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) income, and is spent in consultation with the local community to mitigate the impact of development.
2020 was the third consecutive year we had run this fund and it has been amazing to see how interest has continued to grow, doubling since 2018. It is always fascinating hearing from such varied local organisations, discussing their activities and potential projects that could benefit from this funding, and we always wait with anticipation as the final bids come through.
The Covid 19 pandemic, as with most other things in life, impacted both the progress of projects that had received funding in 2019 and our ability to run the 2020 bidding round.
At no time has this been more important than during the pandemic, where projects such as Bikeworks’ Ride-Side-by-Side, a sociable cycle service for people with mobility issues, were unable to function in the way they had originally proposed. We were able to support them in adapting their projects to instead deliver food, medical supplies and tests to the more vulnerable members of the community who were shielding during the pandemic.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the bidding rounds is being able to discuss these creative and enterprising projects with local people who want to do good for their community. We know that newer, smaller community groups are more likely to bid for smaller amounts, but they are in no means less significant.
As we look to running the Neighbourhood Priorities Fund in future years, however, this will be reliant on CIL income, and so for every year we receive it, we will run a bidding round and give back to our community-minded neighbours.
While the pandemic has thrown our timetable this time, we hope to return to launching the fund in June, with decisions in place for September.
For now, we will look to finding new ways to promote and engage communities about the Fund in future rounds. In the meantime, you can look at the LLDC’s CIL webpage or keep an eye on the our social media and news pages.
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