BOLTON Council has a £30,000 grants kitty to share out - and groups could qualify for a windfall of up to £10,000.

The cash is available through the Council's Aid to Voluntary Groups scheme which aims to help groups with a wide variety of projects ranging from setting up credit unions, to buying equipment, paying for building works and even helping out with running costs up to a year.

Certain criteria must be met but up to half the cost of project can be grant-aided and in some parts of town groups can seek funding of up to £10,000.

Even groups which do not qualify for the top £10,000 bracket may be able to claim up to £1,000. Previous help under the scheme has included £5,000 for the St Vincent de Paul Society for holidays for needy families; an £11,000 grant to the Shree Swaminaryan Siddhand Sajivan Mandal for refurbishment to community facilities; £2,000 for the Nazarene Kindergarten for a soft-surface outdoor play area and £175 for equipment for Andy's Outhouse youth club.

Cllr Cliff Morris, Chairman of Bolton's Civic Affairs sub-committee, said the grants were available for a huge range of projects.

"Don't be put off thinking that you will not qualify for a grant. You won't know unless you ask and you could be pleasantly surprised," he said.

"The money is there to be put to good use to help the community and some very generous grants are possible towards those schemes which meet the criteria."

For more details contact Eileen Barton in the Chief Executive's Support Team at Bolton Town Hall on Bolton (01204) 522311 ext. 1095.

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