COMMUNITY groups hoping to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee are being urged to apply early for grants from a North-East housing association.

The North Star Housing Group Community Grants scheme is available, through online application, four times a year, and the panel of tenants who consider the applications has recently awarded £14,360 to 10 projects.

They are bringing the next applications forward so that groups who want to celebrate the Jubilee have enough time to apply to get their events organised.

The scheme makes up to £2,500 individual awards, to a total of £10,000 each quarter. However, the panel felt that a few more of the recent applications deserved to be included.

Peter Locke, Head of Communities, said: “We had some really great projects to consider, and we appreciate that there are cost of living pressures at the moment. We felt that there were a couple of projects that would be a real benefit to our community and to our tenants, so we were happy to stretch that budget a bit further.”

The latest beneficiaries are: Nite Lite CiC, Stockton: £900; Bright Woods, Evenwood, Cockfield & Barnard Castle: £2,500; Let’s Pretend & Play, Belle Vue Estate, Hartlepool: £750; FRADE, Middlesbrough: £340; Hardwick Partnership, Hardwick, Stockton: £ 1,570; Eden Network, Gresham, Middlesbrough: £2,500; Teesside Vineyard Church, Thornaby: £2,050; Belle Vue Centre, Belle Vue Estate, Hartlepool: £2,500; The Moses Project, Stockton: £1,250; Five Lamps, Thornaby: £2,000.

“We are really pleased to be able to support such a wide range of community projects from across the North-East,” said Peter.

“We had an amazing response to the funding and we are only sorry we couldn’t support all of the applications we received. We know this funding will have a fantastic impact in our communities and we’re proud to be able to support such wonderful charitable organisations.”

Applications open in April, and details can be found at: https://www.northstarhg.co.uk/get-involved/community-grants/