Grants & Awards

Community Fund

Prescot Town Council is able to provide Grant Funding of up to £500 to support local community projects.

Who can apply?

The Community Fund is open to any community, voluntary, charitable or non-profit making organisation based in Prescot 0r which is located outside of the town’s boundary yet predominantly serves the Prescot community.  Organisations must be:

• Properly Constituted
• Have a bank account in the organisation’s name with a requirement for at least two signatories to withdraw funds
• Provide a benefit to residents of Prescot
• Be able to provide evidence of spend for the entirety of a project to which the Town Council have provided funding

For further details please read the guidance notes below:

Community Fund Guidance Notes 2024

If you wish to make an application please download and complete the application form below; and return it to enquiries@prescot-tc.gov.uk or by visiting Prescot Town Hall.

Community Fund Application Form 2024

 

Community Recognition Awards

Prescot has a rich tradition as a Town with a strong community, sometimes the efforts of particular individuals and groups stand out as being above and beyond that of a usual citizen. These groups and individuals are not always aware of the positive impact they can have, on both individuals and the wider community, and can go largely unsung for their actions.

In order to recognise these individuals and the positive contribution they make to the lives of others, the Town Council operate the Prescot Community Recognition Awards every year.

Nominations for 2024 are now closed.

2024 Winners

Prescot Cables Matchday Volunteer Group – Prescot Community Group of the Year 

The Matchday Volunteer group are the lifeblood of Prescot Cables Football Club and give their time for free to ensure thousands of those in our community can continue to enjoy the highest standard of football on offer in the borough. From the team operating the turnstiles to the maintenance team that installed them. From the friendly faces welcoming supporters into the bar to the stewards, tannoy, commentary team or half-time raffle sellers, everyone has ensured the club continues to thrive in what is now its 140^th anniversary season.

They are their rain or shine, and their efforts can often easily go unnoticed, but we recognise the incredible work of Prescot Cables football club’s volunteers.

Last season Cables won promotion to the next division after a semi final and final that saw crowds in excess of 2000 attend each game. This stretched the volunteers to the limit but they came though with flying colours. Up the Pesky Bulls!

 

Margaret & Malcolm Shepherd – Prescot Citizens of the Year

Margaret and Malcolm, both Prescotians, despite both being in their seventies, are integral to many of the groups serving Prescotians. They have selflessly, and consistently contributed to our Prescot Community to make other people’s lives better over a sustained period of time and they deserve to be recognised and acknowledged for their efforts that have benefited so many people. Margaret & Malcolm work with numerous community groups:-

Friends of Molyneux Drive Woodland & Forestry Space (FOMDWAFS)

Margaret is the Deputy Chair and Malcolm is one of the volunteers for this group. They are part of a small group of volunteers who have cleared a rat infested and neglected piece of land and developed a Woodland and Forestry Space for the two local primary schools and local community groups to use. They work tirelessly to improve and maintain the site, dedicating a minimum of eight hours a week. The site offers a FREE opportunity for the schools and local community groups to meet in a beautiful safe space to enjoy and engage with nature.

The group offered a ‘Winter Wonderland’ to the local schools (Approx 500 children)and the local community (300) for the past two years, in which Santa (Malcolm) sat on his sleigh for over fifteen hours and Margaret dressed as an Elf and assisted him in freezing weather to provide a magical experience for the community along with the nine life size wooden reindeer, the woodland was decorated with huge baubles adorning the trees and the sheds were decorated to look like Mrs Christmas’ House and the Elf workshop. Margaret and Malcolm helped decorate the woodland for days beforehand.

At Easter local schools were invited to meet the Easter Bunny, engage in craft and quiz activities. Margaret dressed as the Easter Bunny and Malcolm worked with other volunteers supporting the event. Over 500 children from the two local schools (who are in walking distance) attended. Margaret and Malcolm have also organised a tombola at Prescot Carnival to raise funds for the group for the past two years.

Friends of Eaton Street Park

These are a well-established Community Volunteer Group of the past 14 years. The group provide Free Lunch and Activity for the local community one day a week of every school holiday, with up to 500 people attending. Margaret and Malcolm have worked as volunteers for the group for over five years. For the past two years they have taken more of a lead in the school uniform and winter coat recycle scheme which saw Malcolm working with Cllr Smith to create a designated ‘recycle shop’ out of a container on the Town Council Car Park which they continue to upgrade and improve. Margaret is integral in sorting through the donations, washing, ironing and hanging them to give customers the best possible experience. Last year over 1000 school uniform items were recycled (over 600 families used the resource).

The Park Pantry Community Food Club

When the group was set up three years ago in partnership with the ‘Big Help’ Margaret and Malcolm played a valuable role. This offer gives support to families struggling in the current financial crisis by opening a shop allowing them to purchase ten items for £3.50 which would cost approximately £12-£15 in the supermarket. Food is often short dated, and this scheme has an environmental component in terms of preventing waste and landfill. This offer can help people get away from using food banks and be independent in their choice of food for their families. Margaret and Malcolm led the setting up of this offer on a Monday and other volunteers led on the Wednesday session. They were integral to forming policy and process along with the other main lead and the ongoing success of the shop based on these very important foundation stones is in part down to them.

Prescot Mission Christmas Dinner

Margaret and Malcolm have been part of this group since it was set up in 2018 to provide Christmas Lunch for those who would otherwise be alone in our community. In December 2019 they provided taxis for 30 people to bring them to the Town Hall to have Christmas Dinner prepared by a chef, entertainment by a local singer and the company of volunteers for the day. At the end of the afternoon, they were each given a Food Hamper and provided with a taxi home.  A further 30 people unable to leave their homes were provided with a delivery of Christmas Dinner and a hamper.

In December 2020 the group adapted to accommodate COVID and the impact on the community, many of whom were furloughed, on zero hours or became unemployed as a consequence of Covid 19. There was never a greater need to support the community than in those unprecedented times. The group provided 170 families with a butcher (or alternative for non-meat eaters) voucher 2 weeks before Christmas (£25) and a Hessian Christmas sack containing seasonal fruit and vegetables, a Christmas pudding, a box of Christmas crackers & a carton of sweets (£25) 2 days before Christmas (to maximise opportunity for fresh produce).

Families are identified by local primary schools, Children’s Centre and professionals and the cost of that initiative, feeding 170 families on Christmas day, was £8,500. In December 2021 the group delivered the same offer to 207 families at a cost of £50 per family (£10,350). In December 2022 and 2023, the same offer was delivered to 200 families at a cost of £55 per family (£11,000).

Margaret and Malcolm are two very important volunteers for this group, in terms of raising funds during the year, shopping for the 200 family bags, transporting and packing the food, and then being at the Town Hall all day for families to collect their food bags. Over 1000 people benefit from this offer each year, of which 130 are families (approx. 650 people).

Green Fingers Community Allotment Plot

The plot was taken on five years ago after being left very badly neglected. Five permanent raised beds were added, which extended the offer massively. Margaret and Malcolm were part of the group who set up the plot and invested hundreds of volunteer hours. Margaret is the Secretary of the Committee and Malcolm is a volunteer who alongside Cllr Smith has practically rebuilt the plot, making it accessible to people of all abilities. The aim of Green Fingers Plot is to provide a green space for local community groups to grow literally and psychologically, a place to network and support each other in between all of the work being done for others. On the plot currently twelve groups have a raised bed, Plan B, (Adult Autism Group), The Alzheimer’s Group, Evolving Mindset (Men’s Mental Health Group), The Brain Injury Bed (local lady recovering from a brain injury), The Elizabethan Ladies, Breast Mates (cancer group), Act for Action, Als Arc, Innovate Volunteering, Park Pantry Food Club, Friends of Eaton Street Park, Prescot Mission Christmas and 2 trains & carriages have been created for the local primary school in which 70% of the families are living in poverty. Margaret and Malcolm volunteer eight hours a week to maintain and upgrade the space, making this the best offer possible for the community groups. They are always on hand to help any of the users and are a massive resource in terms of their knowledge and ability to assist unconditionally. Around 80 people use the resource plus all of the schoolchildren.

Prescot Town Council

Margaret and Malcolm have helped the Town Council on many occasions when they asked for volunteers at the Christmas Cracker Event, Senior Citizen Event and as previously mentioned working as FOESP volunteers in partnership with the Town Council to deliver the School Uniform and Winter Coat Recycle.

 

2023 Winners

The Park Pantry Community Food Club – Prescot Community Group of the Year

 

The Park Pantry Community Food Club was set up around two years ago and is run by volunteers who care about our environment and preventing landfill. They access funding to also provide ingredients for a healthy family meal. The volunteers shop for these ingredients and also spend a whole day setting up and clearing away. The volunteers are like friends and make time to talk with all the customers for some of which, this might be their only interaction all week. There are approx. 60 – 95 customers every Wednesday. The shop opens at 11.30am after all deliveries but serves tea and toast to everyone waiting, demonstrating kindness and community spirit.

 

Jim Inglesby – Prescot Citizen of the Year

 

 

Jim has run the Coming Together group at Prescot Guild Hall for over 5 years. Everyone is welcome including anyone feeling isolated, alone or is suffering with a long-term illness such as dementia or Parkinson’s. The group has approx. 80 members who take part in an afternoon of fun and coming together as a community. The money raised from the group goes towards meals out, days out and Christmas Dinner. Jim also ran his group online through COVID. Jim has run fundraising events for Parkinson’s and dementia research the last one being held in May 2023. Jim has also helped the Town Mayors run prize bingo by giving his time to call out the numbers and provide bingo tickets and entertain all. Jim goes above and beyond in everything he does for the group including organising trips, food and entertainment.

 

 

2022 Winners

Evolving Mindset CIC – Prescot Community Group of the Year

Evolving Mindset are a not-for-profit mental health organisation that delivers high quality, industry leading services led by experienced and highly qualified Mental Health Nurses and facilitators. They are committed to challenging the stigma associated with mental health by providing free mental health support for adults and young people in our communities.

Since inception in 2019 Evolving Mindset have supported over 1900 people experiencing mental health difficulties completely free of charge throughout the pandemic. Participants have been referred through local GP services (Prescot Medical Centre) and social prescribing link workers in addition to self-referral process. None of this could have been possible without the dedication and commitment of the non-paid volunteer team at Evolving Mindset who have gone above and beyond in providing free support to our communities at a time when other Mental Health support services in the area closed their doors. This has benefitted the Prescot and surrounding areas so much and has been the lifeline of so many in our community that were experiencing mental health difficulties during and post pandemic. The volunteer team has helped keep our communities safe and offered emotional and psychological support at times from people in a suicidal crisis who due to the stigma associated with Mental health people were reluctant to access clinical support. The team of volunteers worked tirelessly in creating safe spaces for people to discuss their concerns and signposting to other support strategies or organisations to help people through their mental health difficulties. This all on top of their busy day jobs.

You can find more information on Evolving Mindset CIC here

Mrs Dorothy Krelle – Prescot Citizen of the Year

 

 

Dorothy is a member of The Salvation Army in Prescot and as well as helping at church she is constantly on the go responding to the needs in the community and surrounding area. She is a foodbank volunteer and does all she can to ensure any needs that can be met are dealt with to the best of her ability. This past year she has also supported her son Christopher Krelle in his duties as the Town Mayor, doing all she could to help him in his charity work as Mayor of Prescot. Most of her life Dorothy has looked to the needs of others wherever possible.

click here for more information on The Salvation Army Prescot

 

 

2021 Winners

Prescot Mission Christmas Dinner Group – Prescot Community Group of the Year

The group was set up in January 2018 as a direct response to members of the Prescot Community being alone in the community on Christmas Day. The group spent a year fund raising and then provided transport for 30 people to attend Prescot Town Hall on Christmas Day to enjoy Christmas Dinner prepared by a chef, entertainment by a local singer and the company of the volunteers for the day. They were each given a food hamper to take home. A further 30 people who were unable to leave their homes were provided with a delivery of Christmas Dinner and a hamper.

The following year the group’s plans were adapted to accommodate COVID and the impact on the community, many of whom were furloughed, on zero hours or becoming unemployed as a consequence of the pandemic. There was never a greater need than to support the community in these unprecedented times and the group fulfilled this objective.

The group provided 170 families with a butcher (or alternative for non-meat eaters) voucher 2 weeks before Christmas (£25) and a Hessian Christmas Sack containing Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables, Christmas Pudding, box of Christmas Crackers & carton of sweets (£25) 2 days before Christmas and all delivered discreetly to their homes.

Families were identified by all of the local primary schools, Children’s Centre and Professionals with Prescot Town Council Councillors also able to refer residents who were in need. The group fund raised close to £8000 to cover the cost of this initiative of feeding 170 families on Christmas Day.

Many families have given feedback stating what a massive lifeline this was for them and in view of this the group have been finding innovative ways to fund raise once again this time with a goal of meeting the need of 200 families in the community this Christmas 2021.

Given many organisations such as local foodbanks were unable to function during COVID it is a phenomenal achievement that this group carried on regardless, both in generating funds and being able to work with other partners in identifying the people who really needed this offer, navigating COVID guidance and getting the offer to the recipients in a safe manner whilst protecting their identities. In effect this group has made Christmas happen for many of Prescot’s residents and all the groups volunteers should be recognised for their work.

You can find more information about the group here and make a donation.

Mrs Jean Fletcher – Prescot Citizen of the Year

Jean Fletcher is a founding member of the Friends of Eaton Street Park and has been integral in the group’s development over the past eleven years. The volunteer hours given at almost every event ever delivered by Jean are incalculable, but they have been given selflessly. Running along parallel with this is her volunteering for Willowbrook Hospice, originally at their St Helens shop and transferring to Prescot when the shop opened here several years ago. Jean has been a shining light amongst the groups and is absolutely dependable with a ‘roll your sleeves up and get on with it attitude.’ Unfortunately, Jean lost her husband earlier this year and despite the massive impact of this she has continued to fulfil the volunteer duties previously mentioned.

Jean has contributed to the betterment of the Friends of Eaton Street Park and ultimately one of the two parks in Prescot, promoting its use and nurturing the green space. Jean certainly has made an outstanding contribution to the Prescot Community.

You can find more information about the Friends of Eaton Street Park here.

You can find more information about Prescot Willowbrook Hospice Shop here.

2020 Winners

ADAM – Prescot Community Group of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malcolm Fleet – Prescot Citizen of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al’s Arc – Prescot Community Group Runner up of the Year

James Inglesby – Prescot Citizen Runner up of the Year

 

2019 Winners

Karl and Clare Duvall – Citizens of the Year

Founders of the Red Box Appeal in Prescot and then Knowsley. It was through Karl’s role as school governor at the Prescot School that he became aware a startling problem affecting students.  Although the problem must have existed for some time it had never been addressed. Karl learnt that a number of female students were losing valuable schooling as a result of not having appropriate sanitary products to address their menstrual cycle, which led to them not attending school during this time. Appalled by this knowledge Karl and Clare decided to take action by developing the Red Box project. Initially for The Prescot School, the Red Box Project is a simple concept whereby a Red Box is provided to a prominent building enabling people to donate sanitary products, the contents of the box are then collected and distributed to those who need them. The project was such a success Karl and Clare soon moved beyond the town boundary and have pushed the project out to almost every school in Knowsley. We live in a Town and wider area where there exists high levels of deprivation, that deprivation is not solely experienced by students at our local schools but also their parents and it has also been the case that some male students have accessed the Red Box to provide its contents to their families at home.

The project that Karl and Clare have conceived, developed and delivered has addressed a serious issue affecting education and wider issues within our Town and indeed the borough. It is literally impossible to estimate the number of lives they have had a positive impact on and the number of school hours that would had been lost had they not developed the Red Box project, it is people like this that change perceptions, reveal problems and do something about them, we should be honored to call them Prescotians.