PEOPLE, businesses and community groups across the district are set to benefit from the first phase of the district council’s £5m We Are Wychavon Support Fund.
The money will be invested over the next two years and is built around four key themes of supporting wellness, supporting business, supporting families and young people and supporting sustainable communities.
The first package of schemes, which will be introduced over the coming months, includes:
- Free swimming for under-16s.
- Free swimming for over-60s.
- Free learn-to-swim sessions for all ages.
- Reduced fares on the Worcestershire on Demand bus.
- One hour’s free parking.
- Support for businesses to create apprenticeships.
- Targeted support to help tackle youth unemployment.
- Funding for families facing financial hardship who do not qualify for existing support.
- Enhanced speech and language support for children.
- New ward budgets to enable councillors to support small-scale community projects that do not qualify for existing grant schemes.
Coun Richard Morris, leader of Wychavon District Council, said: “For more than 50 years, we have worked hard to improve the lives of our residents. The We Are Wychavon Support Fund is another example of that commitment in action.
“It’s about providing practical help where it can make the biggest difference, whether that is helping someone learn a new skill, supporting a family through a difficult period or strengthening a local community project.
“I’m delighted thousands of residents will have the opportunity to benefit from the fund over the next two years.”
Coun Emma Stokes, Wychavon’s executive board member for resources, investment and innovation attributed the scheme to the fact that there had been no rises in the Wychavon element of the council tax for the seven out of the last nine years.
“Whilst we all benefit from great parks, toilets and waste collections – all for just under £11 a month for the average Band D council taxpayer – we can now enjoy the benefits of swimming, on-demand travel and parking concessions, along with new investments into our early years and young people entering the workplace,” she said.
Details of each scheme and how residents can access them are currently being finalised with launch dates announced through Wychavon’s website, e-newsletter, and social media.
