THE Welcome, 1st Knutsford Scouts and Chelford Community Hub are to receive major boosts from Cheshire East Council’s New Homes Bonus Community Fund.

The first slice of the fund is about to be distributed to a range of non-profit-making organisations and charities across the borough.

The Welcome is to receive £19,973, 1st Knutsford Scouts £15,931 and Chelford Community Hub £35,000.

Other groups set to receive funding include Wilmslow Youth (£18,450), Wilmslow High School PTA (£21,466), Wilmslow Guild (£20,000) and Mobility and Access Group (£11,997).

A further £1 million will be available in the financial year 2020/21.

The allocation of funding is based on the volume of new homes built between 2011 and 2017, with the money directed towards projects identified as meeting a local need, where new house building has impacted on local communities.

The New Homes Bonus Community Fund is a local scheme, set up by Cheshire East Council in February 2018, and is utilising payments under the government’s New Homes Bonus payments scheme.

A total of 223 applications, totalling £7.5 million, were received from faith groups, voluntary groups, and town and parish councils.

Each application was evaluated and scored by a multi-agency panel, meeting the criteria set out in the New Homes Bonus Community Fund policy.

Recommendations were then put forward to an award group panel made up of community representatives. A total of 43 awards were made to the value of £1 million.

Councillor Paul Bates said: “We have had a tremendous response to this initiative, and I would like to thank all those organisations that have taken the time to carefully map out their bids and bring forward their imaginative and meaningful proposals as part of the bid process.

“We recognise that some applicant groups may feel disappointed at not being successful, but we would always encourage fresh bids to be made when the 2020/21 scheme is announced later this year.”