Big Sparks

The Big Sparks funding will be used to support the delivery of the Phab Life Spectrum-Friendly Café project by purchasing resources and materials that will create a more inclusive, welcoming and interactive community space. Funding will be used to purchase reusable table-top activity resources, including LEGO sets, board and card games, simple craft materials, colouring resources and sensory items. These will be selected to be durable, inclusive and suitable for a wide range of ages and abilities, ensuring they can be used repeatedly over time. A proportion of the funding will be used to provide storage and organisation solutions so that activity resources are easy to access, well maintained and safely stored when not in use. This will help ensure the café remains tidy, welcoming and practical for all customers. Funding will also support the creation of clear, friendly signage and visual information to explain that the café is a spectrum-friendly, judgement-free space. This will help set expectations, reassure visitors and encourage people who might otherwise feel anxious about entering the café.

Some funding will be used to support staff and volunteer preparation, including basic awareness support and guidance to ensure everyone understands the aims of the project and how to welcome and support customers with different needs. A small amount of funding will be allocated to local promotion and outreach, including support with social media promotion and targeted local communications. This may include paying for specialist support to help reach families, carers and neurodiverse individuals in the neighbourhood who would benefit from the project but may not currently use the café. All funding will be used directly to deliver community benefit. The resources and materials purchased will remain available for ongoing use, ensuring the impact of the project continues beyond the initial funding period and provides long-term value for the neighbourhood.

Eastwood Cricket Club is raising funds to grow girls’ and youth cricket in our community by installing a new multi-age cricket pitch and providing essential junior equipment. This project will create safe, inclusive opportunities for young people to get active, build confidence, and be part of a welcoming local sports club.

Your vote will help us remove barriers to participation and inspire the next generation of cricketers in Eastwood.

Essex Wildlife Trust based at Belfairs Woodland Centre would like to establish a wildflower meadow on an area between the golf course and the Visitor Centre. Since 1930, 97% of UK's wildflower meadows have been destroyed. The wildflower meadow will be a critical part of a healthy environment, providing food for our pollinators, habitats for a wide variety of wildlife and absorbing carbon. In addition to improving the environment for the benefit of us all, the meadow will provide a learning resource for our local children. We will be establishing a volunteer group, who, with the help of our rangers, will be responsible for the meadow - mowing, weeding and collecting seed to replant. The volunteers will be from the local community and will benefit from working and learning together. If we are lucky enough to be awarded some money, in addition to buying the seeds, we will use it to buy education equipment related to wildflowers and pollination for local children, equipment for the volunteer group and an information sign telling the public all about pollinators.

Once established, everyone who comes to Belfairs will be able to enjoy the beauty of the meadow and learn how it benefits their environment. This will include the special groups who visit us at the Centre, people living with dementia, adults and children with learning disabilities.

We want to transform an ugly, neglected part of Leigh Library Gardens - the Nature Garden - into an attractive feature full of wildflowers and wildlife. We are bidding to fund Phase 1 of the project. This involves clearing a designated area, creating a pond surrounded by hard landscaping and growing swathes of wildflowers. The water feature and wildflowers will improve biodiversity and quickly attract butterflies, pollinators, birds, amphibians and small mammals. It will also create an attractive visual display. Later phases of the project will extend wild flowers over the entire Nature Garden.

St Aidan’s Church seeks to establish a youth choir for children in school years 5–8, as part of a new youth group. The choir will give young people a place to belong, make friends, and enjoy learning and making music together. It will also support children as they transition from primary to secondary school, offering stability, encouragement, and a community where they feel known and valued.

Lady McAdden’s Wellbeing Retreat Days bring people affected by breast cancer together in Leigh for four inspiring retreat days over 12 months. Each day provides a safe, welcoming space where participants can enjoy gentle yoga and Pilates, meditation, creative workshops, coaching, healthy meals, and goody bags with practical wellbeing resources. The retreats focus on building connections, reducing isolation, and supporting not only those living with breast cancer but also their friends and families. Participants are able to connect with others who are going through a similar journey, share experiences, form lasting friendships, and create supportive networks that extend beyond the retreats, helping loved ones feel included, understood, and less alone. Each retreat is designed to give participants the time and space to focus on their own wellbeing while learning practical tools they can take home. Through creative, physical, and mindfulness activities, people gain confidence, resilience, and a renewed sense of hope, leaving the day feeling supported, energised, and empowered. Through these retreats, Lady McAdden continues its nearly 50-year mission of supporting people in the local community by providing nurturing, community-led spaces where individuals and families affected by breast cancer can feel supported, empowered, and inspired. The project strengthens local connections, encourages compassion, and ensures that people in our local area know they are not facing their journey alone.

We are seeing a clear rise in SEND children wanting to join Little Steps Gym and access the same opportunities as their peers. However, mainstream classes cannot always meet the needs of children with more complex requirements. This funding would allow us to offer higher staffing ratios, including 1:1 support where needed, and deliver sessions in smaller, bespoke groups designed specifically for SEND children. We are also excited to partner with Ellie Langley, creator of Blossoms, who has recently launched monthly SEND sessions at Kingsdown School. Together, we can expand high‑quality, inclusive physical activity opportunities and give many more children and families the chance to enjoy gymnastics in a safe, supportive environment.

Cook and Play is a hands-on community project helping children and young people learn to cook from scratch using real ingredients and basic kitchen equipment, with the added extra of bring play time into the sessions, to support with confidence and team work. In a time of rising food costs and limited youth activities, we provide a safe, structured space where young people can build confidence, develop life skills, and learn how to prepare affordable, nutritious meals. By supporting Cook and Play, you’re helping create positive opportunities for local young people, reducing social isolation and anti-social behaviour, and building stronger, more resilient families within our neighbourhood. Vote for Cook and Play to invest in practical skills, safer communities, and brighter futures, and one with less screen time, and doorstop delivering services.

The Art Ministry will provide a weekly day time art and craft session for children with additional needs and their parents/carers during school holidays. Our creative sessions will provide an affordable and accessible reason for children with additional needs and their parents and carers to come together with other members of their local community, giving them the chance of increasing their social interaction, self esteem and self confidence with a beneficial effect on their mental health and wellbeing.

To make a Defibrillator easily accessible to any resident or passer by in Belfairs. Our church already has one which is housed inside our hall, it has reached the end of its life and needs replacing. We have already agreed that the replacement will be housed outside our building for the greater benefit of the Community once we have worked out how to fund it. A new Defibrillator will be purchased and placed in a cabinet externally, visible from The Fairway and the Bus Stop so it is easily accessible to anyone who needs it. Visible from The Fairway and the Bus Stop so it is easily accessible to anyone who needs it. (by calling 999 - for the access code).