Council leader commits £1.5m to support levelling up in Gloucestershire

At a Levelling Up Conference held in Gloucester last week, County Council Leader, Mark Hawthorne announced an additional £1.5m to support communities go further and achieve more.

This builds on £2.5million already committed by the county council to support levelling up in Gloucestershire.

The conference, held at Quayside House, Gloucester was attended by more than 100 people, representing a range of Gloucestershire groups and organisations and was an opportunity for local leaders and decision makers to listen to what communities need from them and what, with a greater level of co-creation and design of services and process, can be delivered and achieved in neighbourhoods and local area.

Five community organisations were showcased at the conference. Each showcasing what they are doing to support levelling up in their communities:

• G11 Hub
• Gloucester Community Building Collective
• Grace Network
• Fair shares community time banks
• Matson, Robinswood and White City Community partnership

Of the £2.5m already committed by the council, £500k was allocated to supporting a range of schemes and events to support market towns, which have all been brought together in an online calendar. A further £2m was allocated equally (£40k each) across the county’s 53 councillors to support communities recover and rebuild following covid-19.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council said: “Today we began setting the foundations for Gloucestershire’s levelling up journey. We heard what is important to communities and what they need from us and others across the county. We must work alongside the knowledge, strengths, and power in our communities, be even more flexible and responsive in our approaches and make sure we level up all neighbourhoods and communities, helping them flourish in ways some of us take for granted.

“I am delighted that we can go further in demonstrating our support for this vital work by committing £1.5m of additional funding that, with what we have previously set aside, will go a long way to making our great county even better, even fairer, and more prosperous for all, not just for some.”

Much of the discussion took part in smaller breakout groups, the content of which will now be brought together to help shape where, for Gloucestershire,  Levelling Up goes from here.

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