Shrewsbury homeless support, arts trail featuring Dali works and repair cafe all get council grants

Shrewsbury Town Council has awarded money to ten local organisations aiming to benefit the town.

Among them was Shrewsbury Ark, which received a grant of £1,000 to help fund training and travel expenses for around 50-60 volunteers following its move to larger premises at the old Rock and Fountain pub. The move has doubled the charity's running costs.

Shrewsbury Arts Trail, which will see work by surrealist icon Dali displayed in the town this year, was also awarded £1,000 towards funding an accessible trail of three bronze sculptures along with exhibitions, workshops and events across the town.

Shrewsbury Repair Café was awarded £750 to help residents to re-use or repair items to prevent waste and recycling. Opening every third Saturday in the month, the numbers of residents using the facilities is increasing.

Shrewsbury Railway Heritage Trust was awarded £500 to help towards insulation costs of its community meeting room to enable community groups to use the facilities in the winter months.

Town council leader Alan Mosley said: “We had a diverse range of applications to consider at our meeting and councillors had decisions to choose who to support and to what extent.

“With limited funds we needed to ensure that the applications would benefit those organisations most in need and make a real difference. We know that these grants can be of be of great help to our local organisations who are providing much-needed facilities for our residents. Each applicant made a presentation and the quality and importance of their work is clear testament to the massive value of the voluntary sector throughout our town.”

The council awarded grants ranging from £250 to £1,000 following an application process that closed at the end of January.

The next round of grants will be available in July, with details on the town council’s website at shrewsburytowncouncil.gov.uk/town-council/finance/grants/.