Acton will be the first town to get funding for local projects chosen by the community, as Your Voice, Your Town swings into action.
Your Voice, Your Town is an Ealing Council programme, designed to bring together people from across the communities of each of the borough’s 7 towns to make improvements in their neighbourhoods.
As projects get started in Acton, funding will continue to be awarded in other towns. This will give more people the chance to help shape change where they live.
Votes in each of the towns decided what their communities saw as their priority areas for making change and spending money.
Then, ‘town teams’ were set up to include residents and representatives from businesses, faith and community groups, and councillors. Each bringing different skills and experience. The town teams’ task is to bring great local ideas into real, visible change.
What’s happening in Acton?
Acton is the first town to start to see projects being chosen and supported.
When people in Acton were asked to vote on what mattered most in their town, the most popular option were making the town cleaner and more pleasant.
Residents, community groups, local organisations and schools were all then invited to apply for community funding to turn their ideas into reality.
And £80,000 has been made available by the council to the Acton town team to spend.
The call for applications gained a strong response, with a huge range of ideas, and a number have been chosen to receive backing.
What’s being supported?
The projects funded in this first round include:
- litter picking and cleanups, including support for the Acton Litter Collective to help more people take part
- projects led by young people, with funding for the 14th Acton Scout Group to join cleanups, improve their scout hut surroundings and learn how to look after their local area
- greener streets and public spaces, including new planters and paving in Mill Hill Terrace to improve an area affected by litter
- tree planting and nature projects, such as new lime trees to improve the local area and support wildlife
- small street improvements, including restoring planters in Goldsmith Avenue and creating a new rain garden in Noel Road
- community gardens and familyled projects, including refreshing a wellused community garden and supporting school and family projects like Litter Pick and Love Your Planet
You can see a full list of funded projects on the Your Voice, Your Town website.
What people said
Peter Truesdale, an Acton town team member, said: “I am proud to be part of Acton’s town team and help allocate our community fund to those projects which will have the greatest impact on the Acton community. I look forward to seeing how it makes a real impact on the community. I hope these projects create a greater pride in Acton and a pulling together of all the diverse communities to create a safer, greener and wonderful place to live.”
Councillor Blerina Hashani, the council’s cabinet member for thriving communities “It’s been inspiring to see town teams across the borough working together to manage this community funding. Each team has used its local knowledge to choose projects that will genuinely support their town’s priority areas. The range of projects being funded in Acton is exciting, and I’m looking forward to seeing them come to fruition over the coming months, helping to create a cleaner and more pleasant town.”
What’s next?
Applications in Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt and Perivale are being reviewed, while applications for funding in Southall are open until 8 March.
More information about future funding and how to get involved will be shared soon.
Visit the Your Voice, Your Town website to find out more.
