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COVID-19 Local Recovery Fund

This funding programme is closed to new applications.

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The COVID-19 Local Recovery Fund was part of our Helping Hands Scheme which used government grant funding to support residents in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This grant was for organisations and community groups that may have struggled to sustain funding throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants could apply for between £300 and £2000 per project.

£486,000 worth of funding will be awarded across Kent in 2021 and 2022. Each county councillor can award £6,000 in grants and they will use their local knowledge to target funding where it is needed most.

To apply for the COVID-19 Local Recovery Fund, you must have demonstrated how your project responded to the pandemic.

Eligible projects could have included:

  • food banks supporting residents that have suffered financial hardship as a result of the pandemic
  • befriending schemes to tackle loneliness
  • youth groups providing opportunities for young people
  • grassroots sports clubs who need funding to purchase kit and equipment for children to encourage increased fitness and mental wellbeing
  • support schemes targeting residents whose mental health has suffered as a result of the pandemic
  • schemes to support employability schemes for residents that have faced unemployment caused by the pandemic
  • projects designed to improve the local environment, encouraging residents to access nature for exercise and wellbeing.

Any application should have supported and endorsed the objectives of our Interim Strategic Plan.

All groups and organisations who were properly constituted and had a current bank account could have applied for funding for projects that benefited local communities.

Religious group applications were considered, but must have shown that the project will bring wider community benefit.

Who couldn't apply:

  • individuals
  • political party groups.

The grant was a one-off. There is no funding for any future costs.

Once you had completed your application:

  • we would have responded to your application within 2 weeks.
  • the relevant local county councillor(s) and Member Hub Service team member would have discussed your application
  • if it was agreed, the application was sent for formal approval.

If the local county councillor was formally involved with your organisation, or the project, we had to seek approval from the other local county councillors in that district. That may have delayed any decision.

Once the application was approved, a formal offer letter or email was sent to you. This included:

  • the terms of the grant
  • how to accept the grant and provide your bank details
  • how to monitor the progress of your project.

We aimed to pay the grant into your account no more than 28 days after receiving your acceptance form.

If you didn't return the acceptance form to us by the date given, we may have given the money to another organisation.

Grants were awarded on an ongoing basis until the funding was spent.