Community Ownership Fund

The Open Arms Kington group recently submitted an application to the Community Ownership Fund (COF). The £150 million Community Ownership Fund is for communities across the United Kingdom. It has been set up to help communities take ownership of assets and amenities at risk of closure and will run until 2024/25.

The fund will support a range of community ownership proposals. For example, projects may include:

• sporting and leisure facilities

• cinemas and theatres

• music venues

• museums

• galleries

• parks

• pubs

• post office buildings

• shops

Here at Open Arms Kington we hope to find out by the end of March whether we have been successful or not in our bid. We will let you know.

If you want to find out more about the fund please go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-ownership-fund-prospectus/community-ownership-fund-prospectus

Here’s a bit more about the scheme:

Purpose of the Fund

The Community Ownership Fund is a £150 million fund over 4 years to support community groups across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets which are at risk of being lost to the community.

It forms part of a substantial package of UK wide levelling-up interventions, helping to support recovery, build opportunity and empower communities to improve their local places.

Community ownership of assets can be a catalyst for bringing people together and helping communities to flourish. But there is a long-term trend of communities losing amenities that foster a sense of community pride and bring people together. This has a knock-on impact on people’s satisfaction with the place they live, and the strength of local communities.

Community ownership can be a sustainable model for protecting local assets and facilities. It can unlock additional community benefits and help communities shape the things that matter most to them locally. It can sometimes be hard for community groups to raise the funding needed to buy the asset so they can run it sustainably for the long-term benefit of the community. The Community Ownership Fund will support local people to save local community assets and amenities at risk.

The fund is open to community groups across the United Kingdom. Communities applying to the fund should have a strong vision for the long-term future of the asset, its purpose and potential in community life, and a plan for how the asset can thrive under community ownership.