GWR offers £161,627 to support areas of social need in Wiltshire.
Three schemes across Wiltshire will benefit from a share of almost £770,000 in the second year of a Great Western Railway communities improvement fund to support areas of social need.
Designed to help boost local communities, up to £770,000 a year is available for three years as part of a £2.25 million Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF), and today successful bids for April 2017 have been announced.
The fund will see three projects receive funding:
- Dame Kelley Holmes Trust awarded £31,627 for ‘Get on Track Swindon’ – A personal development and employability programme for disengaged 16-25 year olds in Swindon.
- TransWilts awarded £60,000 for Melksham Station North Access Pedestrian Route
Design study into a new northern access route at Melksham station.
- Wiltshire County Council awards £70,000 for cycle improvements at Westbury
Improving access to Westbury station, with four new crossing points and the widening of the existing footway.
With match funding, the total investment for Wiltshire is over £250,000.
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:
“We are committed to improving the journeys of our passengers, as well as the economic prosperity and social footprint of the regions and communities we serve.
“We had many responses from those in our communities looking for help, and I am delighted to be able to announce the schemes that have been successful in this second year of funding; helping to put our people, our customers, at the forefront of what we do.”
All the proposals were presented to a panel of representatives from GWR’s Customer Panel (made up of local customers), the Advisory Board (made up of local stakeholders), and the executive management team. Final recommendations were then put to the Department for Transport (DfT) for approval.
Supported by the DfT, the Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF) was established to recognise and back projects identified by the communities where GWR operates, with projects requiring local authority match funding.
With match funding a requirement of successful bids, over £2 million has been committed to good causes.
