Community or voluntary groups in Halton are invited to apply for funding to trial their services in pop-up shops at Runcorn Shopping City.

To help support these groups and help revitalise town centres, Halton Borough Council,  Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action and Shopping City are offering grants of up to £1,000 to local third sector organisations to try setting up in a retail space to provide or promote their services and test whether or not it works in that environment.

This could be pop-up information or promotion opportunities, or temporary provision of services. Grant recipients will be required to provide evidence of what they deliver, comment on the success of the trial and any service redesign that takes place as a result.

The funding is from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Town Centre Fund programme – designed to support the long-term success of the city region’s town centres. In Halton, the focus of the fund is the Halton Lea area.

Cllr Ron Hignett, the Council’s Executive Board member for Physical Environment says: “The Council  is committed to supporting community groups and voluntary organisations and we believe they make a positive contribution to improving community life and generating vibrant places, which is how we want our town centres to be.”

Dave Pearman, Centre Manager at Runcorn Shopping City, said: “We are delighted to be able to work with the Liverpool City Region combined authority on this exciting grant programme. We hope this programme gives applicants the means to propel their ideas into a reality by having a physical place that people can come and visit and be part of the local community.”

To be eligible all applicants must:

  • Be a not-for-profit organisation with a management committee and constitution
  • Have effective financial management arrangements
  • Complement or support relevant Council policy
  • Be non-party political
  • Have a commitment to safeguarding children (if appropriate) and vulnerable adults
  • Have a commitment to equal opportunities.

For an application form or to discuss the scheme further please e-mail nicola.goodwin@halton.gov.uk or phone 0151 511 8105.