£500k Your Fund Surrey funding awarded to community project

This month’s Surrey County Council Cabinet Meeting saw some important decisions made on behalf of Surrey residents, including a fantastic milestone for Your Fund Surrey.

Over £500k from the fund will be allocated towards the construction of a local community shop and café located in Normandy, Surrey.

The £100m fund is designed to give financial backing to projects submitted by and community groups that will enhance their local area, with people encouraged to ‘Think Big’.

Bob Hutton, Chair of Normandy Community Shop and Café said: “We are so excited to be one of the first beneficiaries of Your Fund Surrey. A survey of our village two years ago demonstrated the community’s overwhelming support for these facilities to be provided. The project team then ran a Community Share issue where over 280 villagers invested over £90,000 in shares for the venture.

“The shop and café will be owned by the community, run by the community and for the benefit of the community. I would urge anyone thinking of setting up a community project to place a pin on the Your Fund map, go out there to get community support and ‘Think Big!’.

“As you would expect from public funding, it’s been hard work going through the stages to get where we are, but with the right approach and a sound business model, we were able to convince Surrey County Council to support us. I’d like to thank the Your Fund team who have been so helpful throughout.”

Surrey County Councillor Mark Nuti Cabinet Member for Communities said: “The Normandy Community Shop and Café project was exactly what we were looking for when the fund was first launched back in November 2020. This is a truly inspiring scheme that involves and benefits all the community. There has been a huge local backing for the project both financially and with volunteers helping to bring this to life.

“Thousands of residents will benefit from being able to shop locally, enjoying the best that the local produce has to offer and be able to meet and chat over a coffee. Residents will not have to drive miles to shop helping the environment and the space is there to be used by all. We asked Surrey to ‘Think Big’ and Normandy did! I wish them all the success in the future.”

To come up with a community project idea, residents are encouraged to speak to their local County Councillor, community groups, neighbours, and friends about what could be achieved in their area and what ideas might already be being developed.

Full details and the interactive map can be found at www.surreycc.gov.uk/yourfund

The full cabinet report is available to view here.

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