Funds for supporting Ukrainians in villages and towns near your car and minibus schemes are now available. We (Community First Oxfordshire) are administering the funds on behalf of the County Council.

There are three pots of funds available for:

1. Capacity Building Grants: Small grants are available to car schemes to offer support to Ukrainians in their communities by subsidising the cost of fuel, promoting and recruiting new volunteers, funding insurance and DBS checks. Maximum grant per applicant: £500

1. New Transport Schemes for Ukrainians Grants: Larger grants are available to community groups in the process of setting up new community transport initiatives. Funding will support setting up costs including maintenance of vehicles, training, insurance, fuel subsidy and DBS checks. Maximum grant per applicant: £3,000

1. Community Minibus Grants: Small grants are available to minibus schemes to offer support to Ukrainians in their communities by subsidising the cost of fares (for schemes not running concessionary fares), cost of fuel, promoting and recruiting new volunteers, funding insurance and DBS checks. Maximum grant per applicant: £1,500

Please fill in the application form here.

If you want to talk through your application beforehand, then don’t hesitate to contact Emily via email ([email protected]) or email across your contact number and she will call you.

We are really pleased to be able to promote Oxfordshire Community Land Trust’s launch of their Community Share Offer. Community Share Offers are an effective and democratic way for communities to secure the assets they need. They are designed so that members of a community can put their money to work in order to purchase or finance any income-generating asset that is needed by the community. If you are interested in finding out more about community share offers in general please do get in touch.

COMMUNITY SHARE OFFER IS NOW OPEN!!

Oxfordshire Community Land Trust is extremely excited and proud to announce that its Community Share Offer is now open for social investment.

As you may know, its first development at Crofts Court in Dean Court, Cumnor Parish just west of Oxford will provide 8 much needed community-led affordable homes for those on the Vale of White Horse Housing List and with a strong local connection.

It was a monumental achievement by the trust getting this site out of the ground in June this year and it’s already making excellent progress to welcome tenants by June next year. However, as you will be aware, interest rates continue to climb and so despite generous funding from the Vale and Future Oxfordshire Partnership, the trust still relies on and is vulnerable to its construction loan’s interest rates increasing further. It therefore needs help to insulate itself from higher commercial lending rates through more affordable finance terms by replacing some of its construction loan with social investment.

That’s where hopefully social investors and organisations can step in and take a stake in fairer more sustainable housing for Oxfordshire!  The trust is now offering Community Shares at a value of £1, offered in multiples of 250, with a minimum investment of £250 and a maximum of £50,000. The Community Shares will carry a target maximum interest rate of 3% and it needs to raise £500,000 by 28 February 2023. For more information including our Community Share Offer brochure and Business Plan, please visit www.ethex.org.uk/invest/OCLT