Fund reveals £650k of community grants

HALTON Borough Council has announced grants totalling nearly £650,000 which will be used to fund a new community café and the continuation of a civic pride initiative run by local war veterans.

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The funding boosts are the latest in a long line of significant grants made possible by the Viridor-backed Environmental Fund.

The fund was set up by Halton Borough Council (which is also responsible for determining how the fund is allocated) and paid into each year by Viridor, which operates the energy recovery facility (ERF) in Runcorn, with nearly £1 million donated in 2023/24.

The fund was established in 2015 and has to date seen grants totalling nearly £7 million - which have all been solely funded by the ERF’s operations. These grants have gone to a variety of community schemes across the local area.

The largest share of the latest funding agreed will see £612,500 used over seven years to fund the construction of a new permanent café at the popular Pickerings Pasture Local Nature Reserve.