Aviva Ruddington!

Two groups in our village are currently competing for vital funding for their projects – and they’d like YOUR votes, please!

Once again cash is up for grabs from the Aviva Community Fund for important local causes. Everyone who registers is entitled to 10 votes to split between the nominated projects they wish to support – so 5 each per villager for our two Ruddington hopefuls might just make all the difference?!

Firstly, the Friends of St Peter’s Junior School are seeking funding from the “Health and Wellbeing” category of between £10,001 and £25,000. This is to install a 472m long by 1.2m wide exercise path around the perimeter of the school field as part of a national incentive to get school children walking and/or running a mile each week. The exercise path has been requested by their Head Teacher to address the national issue of child fitness and obesity.

It’s being proposed to install the path there to reduce any safeguarding risks because the children can easily be supervised as they are only in one area. Marking an exercise path on to the grass was considered, but this would mean that the path would be inaccessible for a large part of the year due to the field being wet. Therefore it was decided to install a hard standing pathway so the children can exercise all year round.

FOS Trustee, Lee Farrell, says: “What makes me proud of this project is the difference it will make to so many children in our community by improving their health and way of life. Such a simple idea can make a big difference. Especially proud of the charity (FOS) for supporting such a fantastic community involved project.”

Secondly, after a hugely successful “Big Sing” in 2016, Ruddington Community Choir is planning for something even bigger and better in 2018 seeking funding in the “Inclusivity” category of between £1,001 and £5,000.

Supported by funding from Aviva, last year their inaugural event brought together 270 singers from ten local choirs to celebrate the joy of singing in a number of village venues – culminating in a musical showcase at St Peter’s Church.

Choir Leader Bernie Bracha told RUDDINGTON.info: “Local businesses supported the event by offering discounts to singers, impressing them with the quality and range of hospitality available and showing Ruddington village at its very best. As well as providing a great day of singing in a wide variety of musical genres, the event raised almost £1000 for the TESO foundation. The choir is now hoping for your support as it seeks funding once more from Aviva for a second Big Sing on Saturday 12^th May 2018 to make it even bigger and better. Funding will keep costs low for participants and help provide additional workshops, some of which which will be open to the local community.”

Anyone who lives in the UK and registers on the Aviva Community Fund website can vote for projects between now and Tuesday 21st November. You don’t have to have submitted a project to vote and you can use your ten votes at any time during the voting phase of the competition.