Community Fund
Case Studies
There’s been a great response to The Community Fund and our grants have supported residents and local organisations alike to organise and host a number of activities and events within Ebbsfleet and neighbouring communities.
If you have an idea for an event or activity that promotes Community Cohesion or Health and Welling, why not get in touch. In the meantime, take a look at what others have done.
Ebbsfleet Baptist Church
To celebrate the King’s Coronation, EBC held a picnic in the Country Park in Castle Hill. As a church, they brought spare blankets for people to use if they didn’t bring their own. Most people brought their seating and picnic food. Everyone was welcomed and received coronation badges and some paper strips to make a paper chain to contribute to one final large chain.
The afternoon included some simple / old-fashioned sports day-type activities – sack races for children and adults, egg and spoon and 3-legged races, finished off with the Hokey Cokey!
The funding application provided the finances needed to hire a portaloo for the day. This was a welcome addition to the event and made it easier for families to stay for the day.
Writing Workshop
Genny Jones, along with a facilitator and local author Mbeke Waseme, held a writing workshop over 3 sessions.
Marrying their love of writing and travelling, the two met with a group of individuals ranging from age 8 years to 65 years old to engage with participants in the art of writing with a travel focus.
The workshops were delivered in Northfleet at St Botolph’s Church. The aims of the workshop included encouraging participants to continue writing what they had already started on family history, building confidence in reading their writing out loud, using writing as a therapeutic tool, and exploring different genres of writing.
Gravesham Repair Cafe
A repair café is a concept that was started in Holland and is now common across the UK. The idea is that a group of local volunteers provide a repair service for local residents on a regular basis. Having this in an accessible venue provides a space for residents to build community connections over a cup of tea or coffee. Volunteers might be retirees, part-time workers, or anyone who has skills that they can offer.
The café also has a positive impact on the environment by repairing items that might otherwise be thrown away and end up in landfills.
Delivering cafes in Northfleet, Ebbsfleet and Gravesham, this café also gets involved in litter picking and community planting in unloved areas, which has helped them secure collaborative working and funding from Gravesham Borough Council who pick up the litter they collected and funded litter picking equipment. They meet once a month for four hours.
Ebbsfleet Events Committee
The Ebbsfleet Summer Fair was held at Platinum Jubilee Park on 22nd and 23rd July 2023. The event was organised by Ebbsfleet Events Committee, a constituted group formed of 12 residents of Ebbsfleet Garden City.
Both days involved a variety of stall holders from the local community, live entertainment, and a ‘Zoo’ that didn’t contain live animals, but children got to ride stuffed unicorns and horses. The event overall was a great success, with many stallholders registering their interest in the upcoming Christmas fair.
On the application process, the committee said, ‘There was very good engagement with respect to submitting the application and getting the funds approved and transferred to us’.
Ebbsfleet & Castle Hill Community Board Games Group (ECH Board Games)
The board games group was initiated by two local residents who wanted to bring community members together for social interaction over board games.
The first session in May, was held in a local primary school building. It was so well received the group received additional funding and donations on top of the grant awarded to them. A variety of well known and new games were shared on the day.
The team reported that they found the application process ‘very encouraging and helpful with suggestions to ensure the project was successful.
