The Mayor of Mansfield, Andy Abrahams, is calling on community groups and good causes to apply for grants from three local funding streams worth a total of £41,000.

Applications for grants of up to £500 have opened for another round of awards in the Mayor’s 500 Fund, which will see the mayor donate £7,500 to local community groups. The amount is part of the total he donates annually to good causes from 30 per cent of his salary.

The Robin Hood Community Fund is also considering bids of up to £2,000 for its Community Fund pot, which currently stands at £8,500. The deadline for applications to this and the Mayor’s 500 Fund is the end of December.

Also available is £25,000 for local support groups from the council’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which has been relaunched. This shares out grants of up to £2,000 on a first-come-first-served basis until all the pot is spent.

The Mayor’s 500 Fund supports local groups, individuals and volunteers to deliver a specific project for the benefit of the Mansfield community.

Among the causes the Mayor has already helped this year are Warsop Athletic Football Club and Ida’s Dreams, a Mansfield-based organisation that brings comfort to grieving families by turning a child’s clothes into memory items such as blankets, cushions, soft toys and bunting.

Details about the Mayor’s fund and applications can be made at www.mansfield.gov.uk/mayors500fund.

Mayor Andy said: “This year has been such a difficult year for so many charities and voluntary organisations and I will be pleased to support a few of them from my 500 Fund to help make a difference.

“This COVID-19 Community Response Fund proved a lifeline to many people and support groups during the first wave in the spring, and with more people affected during this second wave, these grants are likely to be even more needed this time round.

“I urge groups to make their applications as soon as possible so we can get this vital financial assistance out there without delay.”

The Community Response Fund aims to help those affected by physical or mental ill health, isolation, loneliness, food insecurity, fuel poverty and problems such as debt and financial insecurity, as a result of the pandemic.

Bids from voluntary groups, organisations and charities must demonstrate they meet the criteria under two themes: proactive and resilience.

Priority will be given to those that are proactively supporting local vulnerable people with specific projects and services, and to Mansfield-based charities and community organisations.

Grants can also be given to organisations whose operations and finances have been significantly affected by loss of income due to restrictions in place around COVID-19, but priority will be given to groups offering proactive support.

Applications can be made online at https://www.mansfield.gov.uk/community-response-fund. There is no deadline and bids will be considered within two weeks of application, and the money distributed until it has all been allocated.

The Robin Hood Lottery Community Fund pot is shared out twice a year. The first round this year saw £14,000 distributed, and among the 24 recipients were Double Impact Services, a Nottinghamshire-based service that helps rebuild lives devastated by drug and alcohol addiction, and Think Children, a local charity that supports children with special educational needs.

For more information about the lottery Community Fund and to make an grant application see www.mansfield.gov.uk/robinhoodcommunityfund.