WEMBDON has received a boost of almost £40,000 from the Hinkley Point C (HPC) Community Fund to improve facilities for young people in the village.

The two grants, which were awarded in the last year from the HPC Community Fund, managed by Somerset Community Foundation, are:

  • Wembdon Parish Council, who received a grant of £13,507 towards accessible play equipment, and
  • Wembdon Village Hall & Playing Fields Trust, who were given a £24,468 contribution to both complete outstanding building works and to ensure Youth Unlimited could deliver youth work to the community.

Amelia Thompson, senior programmes manager for Somerset Community Foundation said: “We’re delighted to have awarded these grants to the village of Wembdon.

“By developing an inclusive play area, social wellbeing has been improved in the area, alongside benefitting from professionally delivered youth work for the young people in the local community.

“We’ve seen that this funding has helped improve the economic wellbeing of local families too, as they no longer need to travel further afield to access play and social opportunities."

Anne Reed, from Wembdon Parish Council said: “We’ve received some really positive reactions from the users of the accessible swings, and their families and carers.

“We’ve been able to see the swings in use on a daily basis, and it’s been wonderful to see children with health conditions or impairments playing on the purpose built equipment.

Andrew Cockcroft, senior stakeholder relations manager at Hinkley Point C, said: “We are passionate about supporting the communities in which we operate.

“By investing in Wembdon, we’re fulfilling our ambition of improving the lives of local people, ensuring the benefits of the project are felt for generations to come.”

Wembdon has benefitted from a total of £163,404 of grants from the HPC Community Fund since the fund was launched five years ago.

Somerset Community Foundation manages the HPC Community Fund, which includes the Open Grants Programme, which is for larger applications, and the Small Grants Programme, which awards grants of up to £20,000.

The funding is exclusively for projects and work that will help to mitigate the impacts and increase the opportunities of the Hinkley Point C project in local communities.

Visit www.hpcfunds.co.uk for more details. If you would like to discuss your project or idea please contact Amelia Thompson, Senior Programmes Manager: amelia.thompson@somersetcf.org.uk or call: 01749 344949