Big News!

We have been awarded £222,569 in National Lottery funding over the next three years. This core funding will be used to consolidate what we’ve done. It provides a solid base to move forward with our future plans. Hurrah!

We celebrated the good news on  Saturday 9th March with our members and friends. Over 65 people turned out for our monthly Neighbourhood Care Walkaround followed by a delicious meal from Dwellbeing Community Chefs at Forum Cafe. It was great to see so many people out and about, even in the cold, wet weather!

Dwellbeing Shieldfield has been running since 2021 as a co-operative with four part-time workers and over 24 volunteers, and we now have over 100 members.  Our aim is for community members to play an active role in shaping life in Shieldfield.  This grant will enable us to continue running activities which help the community develop skills and leadership opportunities towards self-reliance and independence bringing about positive change in the community.

Thanks to National Lottery players  our core costs are covered until March 2027. This covers our basic running costs, salaries for worker members, support and training for volunteers and Stewards and our membership activities. 

This money will free up the time and space to look at our programmes and the projects that we’re passionate about, such as Dwellbeing Community Chefs and Community Archive and to develop these with our membership so that our work continues to respond to members’ expressed needs and interests.

Dwellbeing Community Chefs celebrate the good news by sharing a delicious meal at Forum Cafe, 9th March 2024.

The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. 

As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

Save the date: We’re going to share more details of what this grant means for Dwellbeing Shieldfield including ways to get involved at our next General Meeting on 27th April 10am - 12pm at Shieldfield Art Works.