Grant Scheme Launched By SBC To Boost Town Centres

Swale Borough Council is making grants of up to £5,000 available to support activities to improve local town centres.

The council has set up the Town Centre Action Grant (TAG) scheme to help boost the borough’s principal towns of Faversham, Sittingbourne and Sheerness, as well as the smaller historic centres of Milton Regis and Queenborough.

The council wants interested groups to come together to develop co-ordinated action plans and projects for the towns, with grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to schemes that focus on:

• local arts, cultural, heritage and creative events and activities in and around the town centres that create interest and promote footfall and usage
• promotional campaigns to encourage visits and people to explore the town centres, increasing interest and footfall
• projects that enhance the existing cultural, historic & heritage offer, helping re-enforce a sense of place and encourage visitors.

The deadline for applications to the first round of funding will be Wednesday 26 July 2023.

Cllr Monique Bonney, chair of the council’s regeneration and property committee, told SFM News: “We want to help support our town centres by providing groups with financial support for new plans for projects. The grant has been set up to help kickstart new projects that will improve footfall and increase visitor numbers. We’re hoping to receive applications from a range of different stakeholders in town centres who have new ideas that will directly benefit the area for local people, businesses and visitors.”

To find out more about the scheme, and to apply for a grant, visit www.swale.gov.uk/tag.

The Town Centre Action Grants scheme has received funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.