THE Oasis Centre for Young People in Ellesmere Port has been awarded a £3,000 grant from the Cadent Foundation, after being voted for by Cadent customers across the region. Through its ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative, Cadent employees in Cheshire were asked to trial a new approach to the way in which local grants are allocated – by nominating local charities which were then shortlisted and put forward to a public vote. More than 1,000 customers took part in the voting process, with the Oasis Centre for Young People being awarded the top grant of £3,000. Halton Haven Hospice in Runcorn and the Steve Prescott Foundation in Warrington were voted runners-up and will each receive grants of £1,000.
This provides some security for youth services in the town after a prolonged series of uncertainty. Support for young people has been cut back since the coalition government started to reduce the expenditure available to local authorities following the general election in 2010. “I am proud that Ludlow Town Council has stepped in to fund the running of the youth club for the next year,” said Tim Gill, Mayor of Ludlow. “The Town Council has suffered significant financial losses due to the pandemic, but my fellow councillors and I believe that supporting Ludlow’s young people is one of the most important things that we can do.’