Local community groups including the Friends of Riverside Park have benefitted from the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
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Southampton City Council held an event to celebrate the success of Southampton’s community projects, and said it has invested £217,326 into citywide organisations and community groups thanks to the fund.
Attendees at the UK Shared Prosperity Fund celebration event. Photo: SCC
It said that unlike previous funding programmes, UKSPF has enabled communities to “identify and shape their own priorities”, with the approach sparking creativity, deepening partnership working, and delivering “genuine community impact”.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to support local areas, small businesses and training programmes.
The council said UKSPF funding has also supported community safety measures, including CCTV, youth outreach work, street pastor patrols and safety equipment for students and welfare wardens, and broader projects such as helping residents into work, supporting start-ups and improving neighbourhoods through waste clearance, fly-tipping enforcement and mobile CCTV.
Local organisations that have benefited from funding and showcased how it was spent at the event include:
- Friends of Riverside Park
- Cross Culture Hub
- Friends of St James Park
- Gig Night
- Southampton Centre Ambulance Service
- Southampton Sight
- Street pastors
- Unity 101
- Voice FM
- Young Southampton
Francesca Prior, service manager of stronger communities at Southampton City Council, said: “It was great to be able to welcome partners to this event to highlight the difference we have been able to make through our combined efforts and the funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We will continue to build on these achievements to ensure that we create a city where everyone can feel safe.”